Monday, September 24, 2007

college football recap: "the passing game lives" edition

So much football...so little time...
(you know the drill. today's blog post is under the recap)

  • Let’s start with a Thursday game, Miami vs. Texas A&M. Seriously, does anyone care about Miami anymore? In a development that only made Oklahoma look good (see below), Miami upset #17 Texas A&M. I’m not sure what to tell you about this game, other than that it is probably the last nationally televised game that Miami will play in the Orange Bowl.
  • Speaking of #4 Oklahoma, they beat Tulsa by a lot (41 points to be exact). Tulsa would be the latest in Oklahoma’s sub-par opponents (Miami being another one of the 4). Can someone please wake me up when Oklahoma plays someone good? Looks like I’ll be napping til October 6th when Oklahoma plays Texas (that is, if you want to call Texas “good”).
  • In a game that surprised no one, WVU beat ECU. I read somewhere that WVU has had trouble with ECU in the past which is surprising to me considering how easily the Mountaineers won that game. Their next game is at #18 South Florida which should be a good test for WVU.
  • In other Big East news, Louisville lost again this week, this time to lowly Syracuse. This is what happens when you don’t play defense, peeps. You see, when you don’t play defense, you make a so-so team like Syracuse look like a Big East title contender, led by a so-so quarterback who suddenly looks like a Heisman candidate (ummm...hello? 17 of 26 passes for 423 yards and 4 TDs). Oh well. It looks like this will be my last bullet point on Louisville for the rest of the season.
  • Let’s talk about my favorite unranked team—Notre Dame. I can’t tell you how much it pains me to report this, but after this Saturday’s game against Michigan State, the Irish finally have positive total yardage. Damn it! Damn you, Spartans, for not keeping the Irish in the red. Well, this doesn’t matter too much as the Spartans easily beat the Irish and now the Irish are 0-4. Apparently, this is a record futility mark for Notre Dame. They’re playing at Purdue next week.
  • My other favorite unranked team is Michigan who played Penn State this week (formerly #10) and won. Apparently, Mike Hart was the key to this Wolverine victory as he amassed 153 yards on 44 carries. 44 carries? That’s insane. That’s less than 4 yards per carry. But still, Hart got a TD and Michigan only needed one other TD to beat the Nittany Lions.
  • I should say something about the Nebraska/Ball State game. The Huskers won by 1 point. And they had to pray that Ball State didn’t score in the final seconds of the game in order to ensure the victory. Either their loss against USC completely demoralized the team or they just aren’t as good as everyone’s been saying. Which makes USC’s victory over Nebraska look not that great.
  • In another game that was no surprise to anyone, Virginia Tech hosted William and Mary (a Division 1-AA team). Because this makes sense to the TV peeps for some reason, the Tech game wasn’t televised locally. And rather than listen to the game online (which is NOTHING like watching it on TV), I opted to go to the gym instead. After my trip to the gym, I found out that Tech had easily beaten the Tribe (which was to be expected). But the score was unreal—44-3—for a team that’s known for its defense. At first, I had hoped that Tyrod Taylor (Tech’s big time freshman QB) had a stand out day. Unfortunately, when I read the recap, I realized that it was just another game of Beamer Ball—where Tech’s defense and special teams take over. Still, it was nice to see such a big point differential for a Tech game. Taylor had an ok day, going 6 of 13, for 72 yards and 1 TD. Sadly, Glennon got some play time too. He probably had to whine to Coach Beamer in order to play. Glennon went 5 of 9 for 49 yards.
  • Last but certainly not least, USC opened Pac-10 play this week by hosting Washington State at the Coliseum. Last week against Nebraska, USC’s running game earned the victory. But this time, USC’s passing game took over. QB John David Booty had a stellar game, completing 28 of 35 passes for 279 yards and 4 TDs. That’s right. 4 TDs. There might have been a little interception thrown in there, but the game had been sealed by then. In fact, after Wazzu scored a TD late in the 1st quarter, they just couldn’t keep up with the Trojans, who attacked from both the ground and the air. As the WSU coach said after the game, “This was an old-fashioned butt-whipping.” Yes, it was.
  • One more thing about the USC game...I’m really impressed with the offense. One of the things I like about it is that every game features a different stand out player. Last week, it was RB Stafon Johnson. Against Idaho, it was Johnson and WR Vidal Hazelton and his one-handed grab. This time, it was TE Fred Davis. I’m truly amazed with how many weapons we’ve got on offense. Now if the defense can just work on getting some more turnovers...

Next up for Virginia Tech is UNC. USC will be playing at Washington next week. The Huskies just lost a close one to UCLA (and to Ohio State before that) so I’m sure they’re hungry for a victory.

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There are very few things I enjoy doing alone. Shopping is one of them. That’s because I get so anxious and excited when I go shopping that sometimes I get impatient when waiting for others to make a decision on what to buy. My motto is “Buy first, ask questions later.” This may also be why I suffer from buyer’s remorse alot.

However, I don’t like eating alone. I really don’t like sleeping alone now. And I most certainly don’t like going to a bar all by myself. But that’s what I did on Saturday when I went to Crystal City Sports Pub to watch the USC game. It was the only place I could watch the game—the local ABC affiliate was playing the Iowa/Wisconsin game.

So, I got all dressed up in my USC t-shirt and brand new jeans purchased earlier in the day. I did my hair and then decided to pull it back because the weather was kinda warm. And then I walked out the door, praying that I would meet someone at the bar that I could talk to.

One of the great things about watching the USC game with other DC-area alums is the fact that it’s impossible to feel like you’re alone while amongst them. We’re all chatty and usually not from this area so we’re all willing to meet new people. In fact, Jesse and I had met some new people last week during the Nebraska game and I was hoping they would be there this week.

The place was crowded and I got a beer at the bar while I waited to see a familiar face. A man approached me and started talking to me about USC. Actually, he wasn’t talking to me, really. He was addressing his “respect” for USC at my boobs. It’s times like these when I wish that (1) Jesse was with me and (2) my boobs weren’t so big. When he decided to order a drink, I decided not to waste my time with the perv and I walked away from him. If that guy is a prime example of what’s in the dating pool these days, I am so relieved that I found one of the good ones and I’m no longer single (no offense to my single blog peeps, but I feel your pain).

One of the alumni chapter officers came up to me and offered me a table. It was a table for 4. Hmmm...I took it because I didn’t want to be around in case Mr. Perv wanted to talk to me (note to Jesse: an engagement ring would’ve come in handy). But I felt really selfish for taking it, considering tables are such a hot commodity at the Pub and I had three available seats. The good news is that the table was right next to someone I met last week so I had someone to talk to. The bad news is that I had three available seats.

A short while later, a young Trojan couple came into my view. I watched them as they searched for a table. When they got closer to me, I offered them my empty seats. They were very grateful. I can’t remember their names (I’m getting old, you know, and the memory is the first to go) but they were recent graduates and had recently moved to Arlington a few months ago. I told the girl half of the couple (who was from San Diego; the boy half was from St. Louis) that she will NEVER, EVER get used to the weather here and to buy a really good winter coat. I think I might’ve scared her. Well, at least she’ll be prepared come January when it snows a few inches and the city shuts down.

The game was a good one and I made some new friends. All in all, it wasn’t so bad to be alone.

But I still can’t wait for Jesse to get back today!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's so cool that you went to see the game all by yourself! Worshiping at the altar of Liz today ;o)

sunchaser said...

"He was addressing his “respect” for USC at my boobs."

What a charming fellow. :p

Anonymous said...

I wonder if it's partly evolutionary reasons that people may feel uncomfortable eating alone? (going back to caveman days when food was scarcer?)

Some people have informed me that they like watching me eat (strange but true) but it can feel a little odd, depending on the situation and when they're not eating themselves.

Anonymous said...

That actually came out sounding much different than was intended (really!). It seems to be a chronic problem for me.

Technology. :p

an orange county girl said...

madame--thank you! it was definitely challenging.

sunchaser 1--i'm not sure if i would use the word 'charming' to describe him...

sunchaser 2--i hate it when people watch me eat. i've had a couple of people tell me the same thing. apparently, i have a peculiar way of eating...i guess...

sunchaser 3--ha! that's ok!