Tons of action yesterday and some pretty close contests to boot. In game 1, we had another back and forth battle that was eventually decided in the last 10 seconds of the game as BYU capped off their final drive with a touchdown to seal the victory. Two memorable highlights from this game stick out in my mind. The first was right before halftime when BYU offensive tackle Matt Reynolds lost his helmet but kept playing and laid a huge block on a defensive end to give his QB just enough time to throw a beautiful touchdown pass. This was a display of a true never give up attitude when many guys would have just quit on the play. Of course the other highlight of the game was the game winning touchdown toss as the BYU QB faked like he was spiking the ball to stop the clock, but kept the ball alive and hit his favorite target of the night to clinch the victory. It was truly a beautiful play.
Game 2 featured Rutgers against Iowa State. Many of us picked Iowa State to win this one, but Rutgers jumped out to an early lead by halftime and never really looked back. I didn’t get to watch much of this game, so not really sure how it went. One thing for sure, Rutgers won, so I missed this pick.
Game 3 pitted Mississippi State against Wake Forest. The cowbells were in full force so I feel sorry for anyone who attended this game. It was bad enough to have to listen to it all night on TV, so I can’t imagine having to be in the stands with that noise. It may have affected the Deacons as they just couldn’t get anything going. Wake scored first, but once the Bulldogs tied it, Wake would never lead again. Dan Mullen’s squad held on despite a few unfortunate interceptions to take home the Music City Bowl hardware.
The final game of the day had Oklahoma facing the Iowa Hawkeyes. Oklahoma was ranked at the top of the polls for much of the season, but had a few rough games and found themselves underachieving yet again. Iowa has been known in recent years to play well in Bowl games. The big question for this contest was whether or not the Sooners would come out ready to play, or just ready to get their disappointing season over. Powered by some bruising runs from backup QB Blake Bell, the Sooners punched it into endzone plentyof times to take the victory. They also got some help from their defensive squad, whose last outing was the embarrassing massacre from Oklahoma State. The Sooners were pretty relentless on that side of the ball, especially in comparison to their last game. Good to see them bounce back from that horrible display.
With so many games, there was definitely some more movement. Here are the updated standings:
The Office Crew:
Bacon: 14-4
Rebecca: 12-6
Rambo: 11-7
The Rest:
1st place: 15-3 – T-Bone, Charlie Flint
2nd place: 14-4 – Pistol, Trip, Cass Waddell, Michael Humphrey, John Lloyd
3rd place: 13-5 – Jacob Bottomley, Steve James, Nike, Kay Lloyd, Mary Katherine Lloyd, Sharon Latimer, Kelsey Weed, Caitlin Weed, Aaron Sims, Robin Dent, Becky Martin, Snaps, Steve Lowry, Baylor Rainbow
Notables: Dill and Bubbles both took quite a plunge today to vanish from our leaderboard. Not a good day for these two Awahili staffers.
Five big games tomorrow as we countdown to the New Year. Of particular interest to many of our fans, Georgia Tech will meet Utah. GT should win this game, but they had a few horrible displays this season, so this could be a close one if the Jackets don’t come to play. Later in the night, defending National Champs Auburn lines up against Virginia. Auburn had a decent year, considering all that they lost. Virginia also had a great year for their program but I’m not sure they can hang with the Tigers. It’s going to be a great day of football, so tune in to a game or two.