Saturday night
OK, the Texas-sized woodshed beatdown is over. The Longhorns scored enough points to win this anticipated "shootout" by the midway point of the second quarter.
After a shaky start, when Vince Young was forcing throws into coverage, Texas settled in and found huge holes in the Tech defense. Billy Pittman and company ran free through lots of blown coverages by the Red Raiders.
I was impressed with the Horns defense again. Michael Huff is a great athlete -- flying around, blitzing, chasing down receivers. He and tight end David Thomas have a little Web-based weekly TV show on UT's site. It's pretty good humor, worth seeking out.
They asked me the kind of probing, direct questions that most TV writers won't, like "Which GameDay campus has the worst fans?"
Uh, gee fellas. Do I have to answer? I told them fans at Michigan are the toughest for our guys, heckling Kirk and Lee with psuedo-clever patter from the peanut gallery.
Back to UT's defense. It gave up 240 yards in the second quarter alone, but really buttoned down in the red zone. The game's key play, I thought, was the interception caused by Aaron Harris' deflection that landed in Tim Crowder's big paws.
Texas Tech QB Cody Hodges is much shorter and skinnier in person than I thought
he'd be. However, he's pretty quick on his feet and did a good job scrambling
today against a speedy bunch. Still, he had to make decisions and get rid of the ball quicker than he had all year.
It's weird to talk about the winning side dominating, 52-17, when the losers outgained them, outpossessed them by 12 minutes and ran 31 more plays. But Tech's special teams were awful and 10 penalties killed them. UT did a good job tightening up in the red zone.
Vince Young told me he's happy to be No. 2. There will be no lobbying to jump USC.
He would love a chance to match up with the Trojans in Pasadena. He asked for a contact in L.A. to get Leinart his number and Matt gave him a call this week. They just complimented each other on pressure plays in big games. It was a nice chat -- and probably not the last one they'll have. They will rendezvous in New York for Heisman weekend at the very least.
My AP top five
1. USC
2. Texas
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia
5. UCLA
I love offense. Others prefer defense. So, UCLA gets a slight nod over Alabama, because the Tide are so shorthanded on offense now that they struggle to beat anybody.
But I have to admire the guts of that defense. Roman Harper's courageous hit that created the game-saving fumble by Tennessee today was an enormous play in the context of Bama's season.
Can they keep doin' like it's 1992? That year, it was defense, defense, and a few clutch plays by Jay Barker. Croyle's deep ball to D.J. Hall after the key fumble was the one shining play in the passing game today -- and it was enough.
That's a wrap from Austin. Time to find where the yellow jersey posse is hanging out. Oh yeah, there's that bike ride in the morning, too.
Looks like the Cocktail Party next week for GameDay, where Georgia will try
to win it without D.J. Shockley. Talk to you when the bus gets to Jax!
Saturday afternoon
Greetings from sunny and pumped-up Austin. The bus is buzzing about the early kicks.
We can't believe that Michigan State's Drew Stanton, the nation's leader in passing efficiency coming in, has had two picks and a fumble inside the Northwestern 10-yard line in the first half! Ouch, two picks in the end zone.
Sparty's chances at being anywhere near the front of the Big Ten pack hinge on a win today. Will MSU go south after all the mistakes?
Northwestern's defense hasn't stopped them, but they need a few "service breaks" on defense.
Ohio State was put on "upset alert" by Corso this morning, but his old Hoosiers are not able to generate anything against AJ Hawk and crew. Can't hang close if they can't get a first down, LC.
Here's why we talk about games in which "somebody knows something": North Carolina (at 2-3) is a small favorite over the Virginia team coming off the huge FSU win. Hmmm. Seemed a little strange. Except the "somebodies" were on to something -- Carolina is controlling the game and should be shutting out the Cavs except for a punt snap that went 14 feet off the ground and out of the end zone.
Where is the Marques Hagans who almost single-handedly shredded the mighty 'Noles defense? This would be a huge win for John Bunting. His defense has been smothering and this game is headed to the fourth quarter 7-2!
Austin City Limits
Meanwhile, their is serious build up here. Locals in Austin say there has not been this much hybe and hullaballoo around a home game since the mid-80's! Who would've thought this would become the most energized Austin game in years?
It's been a little crazy this weekend. This is my favorite stop on the football tour, bar none. And the most social for me. When Kirk is in Columbus for the show, things get crazy for him. For me, it's craziest here. A lot of friends -- some old, some new, some distant -- show up and want to hang out and look for tickets, passes, etc.
If I didn't look well-rested this morning, well, it was big night. My guy Lance Armstrong has his big "Ride for the Roses" weekend -- a huge event saluting his cancer foundation's most loyal supporters. There was a nice little rooftop party at the local hotspot "6" last night. Friend of Lance and cycling enthusiast Robin Williams was in rare form. Isn't he always? He's all excited to watch the game today from the sidelines today -- an experience he's never had.
So, it was a big scene the night before the big game. Even "Hollywood Herbie," who always rolls with the hip, beautiful crowd, hit overload last night and had to
bail a bit early. Well, not early exactly. None of the crew, including producer Lee Fitting and researcher Chris Fallica, made bed check. Fines will be administered, but it was worth it. We are a veteran team. Much like Kenny Stabler in his day, we can play hard the night before a big game and still be sharp at kickoff.
Lance was a trooper to show up for GameDay after a late night! We used him on the demo field to play the role of a Texas running back that Vince Young can hand off to or fake it to. He's going to toss the coin here as the honorary captain. Lance, who grew up in Plano and moved to Austin years ago, will be the Rose Parade Grand Marshall and is hoping for a Texas-USC glamour game.
Somehow, I have to rally after a long Saturday and be ready to ride a bike 40 miles tomorrow morning at 7:30, joining the thousands of others in the "Ride for the Roses."
"The Drop"
I am still reeling from what will always be known in Demo Field lore as "the drop."
First, I ran a bad route out of camera range. Kirk threw a pretty good ball. It wasn't perfect, but was catchable. I tried to make a hands catch, but the slick ball got away from me. Wait, that sounds like an excuse. There are no excuses. We can't afford to fool the defense and drop an easy touchdown. I tried to act like I meant to drop it for comedy … that's a lie. No one was buying it anyway. I am relegated to defense from now on. Or maybe I'll just stay on the set like LC does.
Sputtering Sparty
Wow, now I see that Michigan State has completely caved at home, after the first half turnovers. Incredible. From leading Ohio State 17-7 before the blocked kick fiasco before haltime last week, the Spartans are in a spiral. The horse known as "Purple Cat" in the Big Ten derby is making its' move. As I type, Stanton has just thrown his third pick at the Northwestern goal line.
There goes Steve Breaston! Just like that Michigan is leading Iowa. After being outplayed early, UM just kept hanging around. Now, Drew Tate must answer or Iowa's done in the derby, too.
It's about time to join Lance, Robin, and the burnt orange nation inside Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium. I know. I apologize for the disgusting name dropping. It's just good to be alive and in Austin at a big game. I have packed dinner to take to the sidelines, in case this thing lasts four hours!
Talk to you again after the dust settles.
