Tech, Dawgs, Tigers All Win

BC was picked to be blown out by GT, but like NC State, the Golden Eagles moved the ball at will against Tech. Gonna make for some tough games against Pitt and UGA. 14-14 at the half. Then BC took the second half kickoff and scored, taking a 21-14 lead. Zero first half rush yards for Haynes King. 

A rare missed field goal by Birr, but he hit a 35 yarder to cut the score to 21-17 after the RB dropped a certain TD pass. Then BC drove 75 yards for another TD to go up 28-17. First second half lead for BC In months.

Maybe Tech needs to go back to wearing gold pants. After moving the ball consistently in the first half, the third quarter was a struggle. Poor blocking by the O-line. Several dropped passes. Drives stalled. Field goals instead of touchdowns.

But there's no quit in Haynes King. After giving up a couple of first downs, the Tech defense finally forced a punt, and King drove Tech down for a touchdown. The trick formation 2 point conversion play failed miserably. 28-26 BC.

Two dropped passes by BC helped, as did the short punt by the punter, a transfer from Yale. And a 54 yard TD run by Allen gives Tech a 33-28 lead with 6 minutes remaining. Then it only took BC two minutes to retake the lead.

Sad that Rivers didn't catch that bomb. Gotta make that catch with the game on the line. Then the RB doesn't get out of bounds. Thankfully a BC injury stopped the clock. Jackets drive. No real Heisman moment for King, but the ball was in his hands for the final few plays. Tech was playing for the game winning field goal, but left 11 seconds on the clock. Made for the exciting finish. Tech wasn't going to pass, but keep running the clock down. Had they scored a TD, then BC would've gotten the ball back. Had King broke loose for a TD he would've taken a knee on the one yard line.

Heard a rumor that Tech called timeout with 12 seconds left because the down marker had been incorrectly flipped to first down. This gave BC time to run two plays, including a hail mary pass into the end zone. I'm sure Key was spent after the game. Like Nick Saban, Key was happy they won but knew they have a lot of work to do to get ready for Pitt.

Dawgs went up 14-3 but Texas had no trouble moving the ball early.

Both Arch and Gunner played well, but both threw interceptions. Gunner threw for four TD's and ran in another.

Top UGA LB #3 went to the locker room with a leg injury, and missed most of the game. Still, the UGA defense looked great.

UGA's punter Brett Thorson thundered sky high punts, shutting down the dangerous Texas returner Niblett.

Bama lost a close one. I wasn't expecting that. The missed field goal hurt, and several turnovers. Probably cost QB Ty Simpson the Heisman.

I love listening to Wes Durham call a game. Love his old school sidekick as well.

Couldn't believe when I flipped over and discovered SC was beating #3 Texas A&M. Aggies were making one mistake after another: multiple interceptions by the supposed Heisman candidate QB, multiple missed field goals, a defensive giving up multiple big plays to the Gamecocks. SC led 30-3 at the half.

But it only took A&M nineteen minutes to come back. SC reverted to SC. Gamecock QB LaNorris Sellers is terrible. Can't make a play unless it's served up on a platter. Can't create. His coach called him a Heisman candidate. That's bull. Sellers' dad did encourage his son to stick to his commitment to SC for more money, which is commendable - but there are rumors he's headed to Miami. I wouldn't want him.

Aggies may make the conference championship game without playing Bama, UGA, or Tennessee. We'll see how the hyped up Aggie QB fares against a real defense. He won't always have a Texas State Trooper messing with the opposition.

Dang Clemson was just flat out trying to lose, the entire game. Dropped pass after dropped pass. No open receivers for Klubnik. Missed tackles. Botched plays in the red zone. Lost fumbles. A 32 yard punt in the first half, then in crunch time the punter can't handle a low snap, virtually handing the game to Louisville, who didn't exactly play a stellar game themselves. Cardinals had a chance to get the ball back at the end of the first half and try a field goal, but mismanaged the clock.

One team would make a bad play, then the other team would return the favor. Again and again. A Clemson defender was standing over a downed ball carrier taunting him. A Cardinal offensive lineman pushed the defender, drawing one of four personal foul penalties in the game. Louisville missed 3 field goals and an extra point. Clemson should've won by 2 touchdowns, but they couldn't even run out the clock. 

Louisville scored one touchdown after fumbling the ball out of the end zone, a call that was missed by the officials. A rare case where the official in the TV booth disagreed with the refs on the field.

Cardinals deserved to lose because of those ugly uniforms. What an ugly game. Penalties. Long replays. Even the announcers were making mistakes. Neither team deserved to win. Clemson got lucky.

Notre Dame beat Pitt. Not sure that there are any good teams in the ACC. UVA dominated Duke in the first half, shutting down the Blue Devils much better than Tech did. With Virginia blowing out Duke, UVA will be ranked ahead of Tech even though the Jackets came back. Just a whole bunch of bad foreboding for Tech.

Six years ago in 2000 the GT QB was Jeff Simms. He's just taken over as the starting QB at Arizona State. 

Note: when a team decides what uniform they're going to wear, part of what needs to be considered is what will you think  in 20 years when you look at at pictures from the game.