UVa 34, Indiana 31
I didn't get to watch this game live but I did listen to a lot of it on the radio, including the last five minutes when Virginia tied it and then won. I went to the JMU football game with Holly, her dad, and her granddad and took my iPod in so I could listen to the radio and try to catch the UVa game. I found a nice, clear station and listened to the first half -- Virginia led comfortably at that point, 13-3 --the same score the Hoos led William & Mary by at halftime.
When Holly and I got in the car to head to Ham's for some grub, we were delighted to hear it was now 23-3 in favor of the Cavaliers. It was all downhill from there. By the time we left Ham's (where we actually were able to see some of it on TV), it was 31-23 and I was thinking once again about what could have been for UVa. The superstitious side of me made the comment, "Ever since we started paying attention to this game again it's been bad. Maybe we just need to not listen or watch it."
We got in the car again to go drop Holly off at Bridgewater College, where she goes to school, and that is when we heard the final drive, the fumble, and the winning field goal. It reminded me a lot of the 2001 Clemson game. I was relegated to listening to that game on the radio as well and Virginia won it 26-24 in Death Valley when Billy McMullen snatched the game-winning TD catch as time expired.
The Cavaliers made this game a lot more stressful than it needed to be on themselves and their fans. Virginia held a 23-3 lead in the third quarter and 23-10 lead early in the fourth quarter only to fall behind 31-23 before rallying in the last five minutes to pull within two, tie it, then force an improbable fumble and kick the game-winning field goal as time expired.
A win is a win though and 2-0 feels better than 1-1, especially when this game was pretty much a must-win if Virginia wants to get to bowl eligibility. And these are the games last year Virginia lost. In November of 2010, the Cavs held leads in three games and lost all three. A win like this, building a solid lead only to fall behind but then to come back, should give this young team a lot of confidence. The Hoos answered the call when they experienced their first adversity of the season. I thought this game was a little bit like a game from 2007, when the Cardiac Cavs pulled out five wins by two points or less. This game had that feel, especially with Michael Rocco calmly conducting the tying drive (a little bit like Jameel Sewell did against Maryland in 2007, though that was a winning drive) and a big play happening on defense with Cam Johnson not only sacking the Indiana quarterback, but snatching the ball away from him in the process to set up the win (that '07 victory over Maryland probably doesn't happen without Chris Long's thunderous sack and safety of the Maryland QB).
The offense had some good runs and good passes at times, but obviously needs to improve. Rocco needs to be more accurate. His second interception was a really awful, Verica-esque throw. And like they were against William & Mary, touchdowns were hard to come by. Luckily, kicker Robert Randolph is absolutely on fire and made all four of his field goals, just as he did against the Tribe. Without his efforts, we lose to the Hoosiers.
The defense was spectacular up until allowing 21 points in the second half. It wasn't helped by the offense, especially the fumble by Perry Jones which was recovered by the Hoosiers and run in for a touchdown. That play definitely sped up the comeback for IU.
The freshmen were humbled somewhat by an FBS school after dominating FCS school W&M. Darius Jennings in particular made a couple of boneheaded plays. On one play, he stepped in front of Dominique Terrell to catch a punt (Terrell was the actual return man), causing a fumble, and on another he caught a kickoff inside the 10-yard line and fell out of bounds, instead of letting it go out of bounds where the Cavaliers would have taken over on the 40.
These are growing pains for a young team and inevitable. The good thing is it is a lot easier to learn from these mistakes after winning the game than losing the game -- or at least it feels better. This Saturday, the youthful Hoos will have their biggest test yet when they travel to Chapel Hill to take on longtime rival UNC.
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Jets 27, Cowboys 24
This game followed a similar track to that of the Virginia-Indiana game -- up until the end, when Cowboys were unable to mount a final scoring drive and win. The Cowboys mostly dominated early, building a 24-10 lead into the fourth quarter. Then things fell apart. Dallas was trying to go up 31-17 midway through the fourth quarter when Tony Romo fumbled near the Jets goal line. On the subsequent drive, Dallas caused the Jets to fumble, but it actually ended up being a good thing for the Jets, because the Cowboys went backwards, then the Jets blocked a punt and returned it to the end zone for a touchdown, tying the game at 24. After trading punts, Romo had a couple minutes remaining to drive the Cowboys down for a win or to just take a knee and head into overtime. Romo, however, threw his most errant pass of the game -- an interception right to Jets cornerback Darelle Revis -- and the Jets ended up kicking a winning field goal. Unlike Virginia, Dallas didn't have enough time to answer the score and ended up losing.
Romo had a great statistical game, but he is the ultimate "yeah, but" player. Yeah he is really good, but he makes crucial mistakes. As a team, Dallas made lots of little mistakes here and there. In that regard, the Cowboys aren't playing a lot better under Jason Garrett than they did under Wade Phillips. But he does have them more motivated. Hearing the players after the game, it sounds like they are ready to get back after it. I don't think Phillips exactly inspired confidence in the team after losses. But Garrett praised them for playing hard, then told them to start watching film and working hard to get better.
Obviously, the Cowboys are playing better than they did at the beginning of last year, and that's thanks mostly to the breath of fresh air that Garret has provided. However, if they continue to gloss over the details of how to win and continue to make critical mistakes, like allowing the blocked punt, I don't think they can be much better than an 8-8 team. The Jets are a good team, though. They've been to the last two AFC title games. Dallas had a chance to blow out the two-time AFC runner-up in New York on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 -- an emotionally charged and inspiring atmosphere for the Jets to play in, no doubt about it. That is an impressive feat for the Boys. So the talent is there, as it has been in recent years. It is just a matter of eliminating the little mistakes and coming together at the end of games. If Dallas can bounce back from this loss with a vengeance and learn from their mistakes, there is still hope for a run to the playoffs.
I didn't get to watch this game live but I did listen to a lot of it on the radio, including the last five minutes when Virginia tied it and then won. I went to the JMU football game with Holly, her dad, and her granddad and took my iPod in so I could listen to the radio and try to catch the UVa game. I found a nice, clear station and listened to the first half -- Virginia led comfortably at that point, 13-3 --the same score the Hoos led William & Mary by at halftime.
When Holly and I got in the car to head to Ham's for some grub, we were delighted to hear it was now 23-3 in favor of the Cavaliers. It was all downhill from there. By the time we left Ham's (where we actually were able to see some of it on TV), it was 31-23 and I was thinking once again about what could have been for UVa. The superstitious side of me made the comment, "Ever since we started paying attention to this game again it's been bad. Maybe we just need to not listen or watch it."
We got in the car again to go drop Holly off at Bridgewater College, where she goes to school, and that is when we heard the final drive, the fumble, and the winning field goal. It reminded me a lot of the 2001 Clemson game. I was relegated to listening to that game on the radio as well and Virginia won it 26-24 in Death Valley when Billy McMullen snatched the game-winning TD catch as time expired.
The Cavaliers made this game a lot more stressful than it needed to be on themselves and their fans. Virginia held a 23-3 lead in the third quarter and 23-10 lead early in the fourth quarter only to fall behind 31-23 before rallying in the last five minutes to pull within two, tie it, then force an improbable fumble and kick the game-winning field goal as time expired.
A win is a win though and 2-0 feels better than 1-1, especially when this game was pretty much a must-win if Virginia wants to get to bowl eligibility. And these are the games last year Virginia lost. In November of 2010, the Cavs held leads in three games and lost all three. A win like this, building a solid lead only to fall behind but then to come back, should give this young team a lot of confidence. The Hoos answered the call when they experienced their first adversity of the season. I thought this game was a little bit like a game from 2007, when the Cardiac Cavs pulled out five wins by two points or less. This game had that feel, especially with Michael Rocco calmly conducting the tying drive (a little bit like Jameel Sewell did against Maryland in 2007, though that was a winning drive) and a big play happening on defense with Cam Johnson not only sacking the Indiana quarterback, but snatching the ball away from him in the process to set up the win (that '07 victory over Maryland probably doesn't happen without Chris Long's thunderous sack and safety of the Maryland QB).
The offense had some good runs and good passes at times, but obviously needs to improve. Rocco needs to be more accurate. His second interception was a really awful, Verica-esque throw. And like they were against William & Mary, touchdowns were hard to come by. Luckily, kicker Robert Randolph is absolutely on fire and made all four of his field goals, just as he did against the Tribe. Without his efforts, we lose to the Hoosiers.
The defense was spectacular up until allowing 21 points in the second half. It wasn't helped by the offense, especially the fumble by Perry Jones which was recovered by the Hoosiers and run in for a touchdown. That play definitely sped up the comeback for IU.
The freshmen were humbled somewhat by an FBS school after dominating FCS school W&M. Darius Jennings in particular made a couple of boneheaded plays. On one play, he stepped in front of Dominique Terrell to catch a punt (Terrell was the actual return man), causing a fumble, and on another he caught a kickoff inside the 10-yard line and fell out of bounds, instead of letting it go out of bounds where the Cavaliers would have taken over on the 40.
These are growing pains for a young team and inevitable. The good thing is it is a lot easier to learn from these mistakes after winning the game than losing the game -- or at least it feels better. This Saturday, the youthful Hoos will have their biggest test yet when they travel to Chapel Hill to take on longtime rival UNC.
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Jets 27, Cowboys 24
This game followed a similar track to that of the Virginia-Indiana game -- up until the end, when Cowboys were unable to mount a final scoring drive and win. The Cowboys mostly dominated early, building a 24-10 lead into the fourth quarter. Then things fell apart. Dallas was trying to go up 31-17 midway through the fourth quarter when Tony Romo fumbled near the Jets goal line. On the subsequent drive, Dallas caused the Jets to fumble, but it actually ended up being a good thing for the Jets, because the Cowboys went backwards, then the Jets blocked a punt and returned it to the end zone for a touchdown, tying the game at 24. After trading punts, Romo had a couple minutes remaining to drive the Cowboys down for a win or to just take a knee and head into overtime. Romo, however, threw his most errant pass of the game -- an interception right to Jets cornerback Darelle Revis -- and the Jets ended up kicking a winning field goal. Unlike Virginia, Dallas didn't have enough time to answer the score and ended up losing.
Romo had a great statistical game, but he is the ultimate "yeah, but" player. Yeah he is really good, but he makes crucial mistakes. As a team, Dallas made lots of little mistakes here and there. In that regard, the Cowboys aren't playing a lot better under Jason Garrett than they did under Wade Phillips. But he does have them more motivated. Hearing the players after the game, it sounds like they are ready to get back after it. I don't think Phillips exactly inspired confidence in the team after losses. But Garrett praised them for playing hard, then told them to start watching film and working hard to get better.
Obviously, the Cowboys are playing better than they did at the beginning of last year, and that's thanks mostly to the breath of fresh air that Garret has provided. However, if they continue to gloss over the details of how to win and continue to make critical mistakes, like allowing the blocked punt, I don't think they can be much better than an 8-8 team. The Jets are a good team, though. They've been to the last two AFC title games. Dallas had a chance to blow out the two-time AFC runner-up in New York on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 -- an emotionally charged and inspiring atmosphere for the Jets to play in, no doubt about it. That is an impressive feat for the Boys. So the talent is there, as it has been in recent years. It is just a matter of eliminating the little mistakes and coming together at the end of games. If Dallas can bounce back from this loss with a vengeance and learn from their mistakes, there is still hope for a run to the playoffs.
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