So, just after I grab a quick post game snack, and find myself sitting in front of the screen and staring and staring and staring and wondering where’s the hook here, how to fashion a take on a truly odd football game?
Scoreboard at 00:00: Louisville 31, Georgia Tech 19.
I mean, honestly, I stare some more, at which juncture I get an email from a former editor, which reads in it’s entirety: “I have no idea how you write this up. I mean, just when you think there isn’t enough lipstick in the world to make this pig pretty, the pig starts singing, dancing and playing the piano.”
The lipstick’s colored Cardinal on that oink.
Where I land is what seems perhaps an obvious choice. Defense. FG Defense. Each of which scored. Otherwise, the final tally, all else playing out as it did, Wreck 19, Cards 17.
Which means I shall mention but one supposes ignore the total breakdown by the defensive secondary at the end of the first half. Surrendering a 51 yard King to Singleton completion for 1st and Goal at the Louisville 3 with seconds left before the marching band show.
Despite, uh, “double coverage.”
GT ran it in with:04 left to cut the visitors’ disadvantage to 14-17.
At the time it appeared significant.
But there was more good than not so from Ron English’s and Karl Maslowski’s charges.
Like Quincy Riley and Ramon Puryear taking advantage of a Haynes King immature gaffe — backward pass when being sacked. QR batted the pass in the air. RP grabbed and took it in to knot the score at 7 at the 2:11 mark of the 1st.
Then at a time of fright for the home team — they’d suffered a safety after a great stop at their own 1 yard line — Tayon Holloway came up hugely. He blocked a FG, scooped and scored on an ill advised 50 yard attempt by Brent Key’s wobbly kicker.
It pushed the Cards lead to 12 late, essentially securing the game.
That U of L stop at its own one wasn’t the only one of those.
There was also the game sealer shutting down GT on it’s last gasp possession on a 4th & 1 at the Cardinal 21.
* * * * *
Besides Tyler Shough’s unfortunate — but obviously not fatal — slip and fall in the endzone, there were several others by U of L RBs.
I’m wondering if there might not have been some condensation on the fiercely hot turf.
I’ve been on that field on a day like Saturday. The heat rising from the artificial turf is subtropic suffocating. And the “grass” — plastic that it is — is literally hot enough to melt shoe soles.
I dunno what was happening. Just riffing here.
* * * * *
How less than pretty inefficient were these two team.
Tech: 6 penalties for 44 yards. Several at key moments. Like, ya know, running into Cardinal punter Brady Hodges there at the end, handing Louisville a first down for the kneel down game closing series.
Cardinals:7 penalties for 69 yards. Several at key moments.
Example of Cards weirdness. In first quarter, U of L had 77 yards of offense, 37 yards of penalties.
FG Kicking: Tech was 1/3, Cards 1/2.
Louisville had, gulp, only 57 net yards rushing. Hayes King had 58 by himself.
Harris King airmailed 43 more yards than Tyler Shough. But TS had a couple passing TDs, King none. On the second along the right sideline, Ja’Corey Brooks was interfered with, forced to do a 360 spin, but still made the grab for the score.
No ESPN Instant Classic this one.
But it’s a W.
— c d kaplan
It was a VERY UGLY W but there is no asterisk for ugly. The team came through when resilience was needed.
My favorite play of the game was when the GT player interfered with Ja’Corey Brooks, the ref threw the flag, the GT player looked at the ref, and the play continued as Brooks caught the pass. TV couldn’t have presented a better angle to view that touchdown.
Agreed on all points, although I will say the final tally, sans the big D and FG D plays was actually 17-17, since the GT safety was the direct result of the zebras giving Tech a phantom timeout.