Trav's Thoughts

Washington is giving #15 BYU fits. The Huskies are tied with the Cougars at 21.

It's always tough when Pam's teams and my teams are playing at the same time. We usually flip a coin to see who gets the 42" Plasma. I won this week, so we've had the UW game on the tv in the bedroom.

I flipped over to check out the action real quick, just in time to see BYU fumble just outside the goal line and the Huskies recover to keep the score tied. The Cougars had driven 92 yards, only to cough up the ball at the goal line. UW recovered in the endzone and gets the ball at the 20 on the touch back.

Go HUSKIES!



Well, the Irish open up with a penalty on the kick off return and follow that up with a 3 and out.

Wooooooooooooooooooooo!!! The interior defense stuffs a SDSU screen pass and LB Kerry Neal gets the interceptions.

DAMMIT! Clausen gives it right back by throwing a pick in the endzone. Although in his defense, Kamara didn't fight for the ball very well. He had his back turned to the play and looked more like a defensive back beaten on the play instead of the intended receiver.

Rats.

GAH! The Irish defense forces a punt, but the special teams jumps offsides. The five yard penalty is enough to give SDSU a first down. You just can't have those kinds of mistakes. It deflates your defensive intensity.

SDSU takes advantage of and drives down for a TD, but they miss the extra point. So the score is 13-7 now.

DAMMIT! RB Armando Allen gets a good run, but fumbles at the end of it after taking a hard hit and the Aztecs recover. Allen is shaken up on the play, but he's able to walk off the field on his own power.

I think we need an interlude.


Let's check out UW for a minute. BYU is leading 28-21, but the Huskies are driving behind the strong leadership of QB Jake Locker. They have the ball inside the 5 yard line with just 8 seconds to play.

Wooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Locker took a huge risk and was able to just run into the endzone. That was a great run, putting the game into overtime after the extra point.

Wait...unsportsmanlike conduct? WTF? The refs call Locker for spiking the ball over his head and showing up BYU. That's chicken shit. What a stupid call. All the kid did was toss the ball in the air and jump up and down with his teammates because he just scored a TD that could tie the game with the extra point. How is tossing the ball in the air and jumping up and down showing up BYU?

The penalty resulted in a 35 yard point after attempt that was blocked, and UW loses the game.

What complete crap. Unsportsmalike conduct is open disrespect to the officials or the other team. Kids jumping up and down in the endzone because they just got a TD at the end of the game to have a chance to tie is not disprespect.

Spiking the ball and yelling in a defender's face would have been unsportsmanlike. Showing joy in your achievements is part of the game.

I'd like to see that play reviewed and some sanctions against those officials. That was bullshit.

That play in the UW game leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And the Irish aren't playing well as the third quarter ends.

I'm getting a bit grumpy now.

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Right no cue to make me feel a little better. SDSU was driving but the Irish force a fumble at the goal line and recover in the endzone for a touch back.

Wait...SDSU is challenging the ruling. After seeing the replay, it's possible that the ball crossed the plane of the goal line. The officials review and uphold the call of fumble. So the Irish get the ball at the 20 yard line.

Whew!

Now Clausen is looking sharp on slant patterns in the passing game. He's thrown a couple of bullets for first downs to WR Golden Tate. And now he throws a beautiful pass to Tate on a go pattern down the sidline for a TD!

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! The extra point is good, the Irish lead 14-13, and I'm not grumpy anymore!!

GO IRISH!

Great tackle on the kick off. And the Irish defense follows up by forcing the Aztecs to punt, giving the offense good field position near midfield.

Let's get another quick interlude for the ladies. Here you go.


For those of you who were wondering, both Robert Hughes and Armando Allen have made it back into the game for the Irish after being shaken up, Hughes in the first half and Allen in the second half. Ironically, both were injured on plays where they fumbled.

Golden Tate just laid out and almost made a fantastic diving catch. He trapped it agains the ground for an incompletion, but there was a penalty on SDSU resulting in a first down.

The Irish offense looks more confident now. They have a good rhythm, and even on the missed plays they are showing some toughness. That's the quality that was missing last season. Case in point...Hughes just bounced off a defender and picked up 5 more yards on a tough run for a first down. And he followed that up by pushing through defenders after first contact for another 4 yards. He's not going to the ground on first contact, which was something the Irish players did a lot of last year.

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Clausen throws a great fade into the corner of the endzone, and WR David Grimes hauls it in for the TD! The extra point is good and the Irish lead 21-13.

The defense steps up on the ensuing possession and forces 3 straight incomplete passess from Aztec QB Ryan Lindley, and then the knock down the last pass on 4th down.

The Irish are going to win the opening game of the 2008 season! Woooooooooooo!!

It wasn't a great game. The Irish turned the ball over too much. They didn't rush for 100 yards as a team. Hughes and Allen proved that they can be tough running backs and can improve the running game. Clausen to Tate emerged as a strong pass and catch combo.

But the key positive is that the offensive line did not give up a sack.

So we'll take the W and get ready for Michigan next week.

GO IRISH!