I’m aware the catch Stedman Bailey makes here is just ridiculous. I know Tyler Bitancurt’s field goal won the game. I just happen to think the first is perhaps forgotten and the second never happens if Shawne Alston doesn’t keep his head on and save the day in between.
“I was just trying to do something smart,” Alston said. “I knew we didn’t have any timeouts left.”
… twas quite a finish Thursday night. Take a walk with the players as they retrace their steps in the final 10:10 in Tampa.
ESPN: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski and Lisa Salters.
ESPN Radio: Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore and Quint Kessenich.
The Orange Bowl is now set and we’ll get to know the matchup and the actors over time, but the early indication is to expect what you might expect when two potent offenses and two enabling defenses share the field.
“Offense is I think what people want to see, but the only way to win a game is defensively to stop people,” Holgorsen said.
They teams also are similarly troubled on defense. Clemson is No. 62 in scoring defense (26.15 points per game) and allowed 30 or more points six times. WVU is No. 63 in scoring defense (26.25) and allowed 30 or more points five times.
“You never know what to expect when you have a month off,” Swinney said. “Often times the defense is a little bit further ahead early in the game. But I’d be surprised if there’s not some points scored in this one. I don’t think it’s going to be a 6-3 ball game like maybe some other games. This should be an exciting game for the fans.”
No chats for two weeks. No F Double for two weeks. Weekday games [reek] and travel doesn’t help. But don’t be mad. I come with TFGD and the best, clearest and most obvious reason why we do this.
I mean, that was a blast, right? That game last night had more swings than the Dunlap twins after dad slugs his sixth cup of coffee and pushes the tandem stroller to the neighborhood playground. The texts show it, too. Love and hate, fury and sadness, despair and elation. Aaaah, good stuff, all of you.
I enjoyed going through them all because, on my level, I could relate. For me, it was impossible to write for two reasons:
1) Wholly unpredictable
2) Very entertaining
Those are the best games. It wasn’t artistic, not at all, but it was entertaining, especially late. I couldn’t keep my eyes on it because I was writing … and yet I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. That was drama. That was fun. That was your time capsule game for this season for WVU, though with some updates for the end of this regular season.
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4:45: Welcome one and all. Back and better than some other time when things weren’t quite as good as they are now. You are looking live at the theme for the night: South Florida, the Evil Empire.
West Virginia is 1-2 here all-time, garnished the already-earned BCS invite in 2005, embarrassed itself with the Yankees caps thing and then had a near-BCS buster loss in 2007 and lost timidly in 2009 when Bill Stewart did not throw anyone under the bus … and then promptly threw Keith Tandy under the bus.
And now the Mountaineers need a win tonight and a Cincinnati win at home Saturday to get to the BCS — and certainly this part of the equation is the hardest.
Leading the Bulls on parade, it appears, will be B.J. Daniels. He’s officially a gametime decision, but word is he’ll start barring anything unexpected. Obviously, he’s a threat with his legs, but the Mountaineers were confidently convinced that if he played he wouldn’t run often and risk injury.
At stake for USF — and, by association, for WVU — is bowl eligibility. The Bulls can get it and the Mountaineers can block it.
Off to the stadium. Texts from Game Day is on. See you in a bit, but be warned: I’ll be on deadline tonight and probably limit my commentary, especially in the second half. Entertain yourselves, as can.
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