Pop Tarts Bowl

Pop Tarts Bowl: would’ve been a tall task for the Jackets to have beaten a team many thought should’ve been in the playoff.

BYU took the opening kickoff and matriculated down the field – but Tech engineered a nice goal line stand. Jackets rushed for seven on first down, then decided to pass. Run the dang ball. Cougars came to play. Not sure our inner city Atlanta kids have seen little white Morman boys who could run so fast. Those BYU receivers catch passes that might not be perfectly thrown. Refreshing.

You gotta like a QB who wears number 47 – because that’s the number he’s worn since he was 8 years old. The BYU QB has his favorite receiver – number 20. Jackets need to cover him.

Tech drives. More passes than runs, though the runs have worked – even on the slow developing late handoff plays. BYU spots a trick play and calls time out, with only ten defenders on the field. Jackets run the play after the whistle and expose the halfback pass. King is forced to get rid of the ball quickly, and throws two incompletions. Jackets gamble and go for it on 4th and goal, The RB stretches the ball across the goal line, and the game is tied at the end of the first quarter.

Another Tech drive and the King TD pass makes it 14-10. Then BYU fumbles the kickoff return and Tech recovers. On the first play King throws another TD pass and all of a sudden the lead is 21-10. Lots of game to play.

After halftime the Jackets threaten, only to fumble the ball away. BYU returned the favor, throwing an interception in the end zone. So many things going Tech’s way. GT assistant coach Chris Weinke doing a good job calling the plays after the departure of OC Brett Faulkner. Perhaps the former Heisman Trophy winner Chris Wienke will be promoted to take Faulkner’s place.

I hate it when announcers call a kicker “Mr. Automatic” right before the attempts a field goal. Almost invariably the kicker misses. What happened to GT kicker Birr.

BYU drives the field and scores, then cuts the lead to three by converting the two point conversion. Momentum shift starting with the blocked field goal. All those things that were going Tech’s way are starting to tip toward BYU. Jackets are stuffed on first down. More mo to BYU. King’s third down pass misses “by the length of a pop tart” calls announcer Roddy Jones, the ex-GT RB.

Cougars wearing their classic royal jerseys with the same stripes they’ve worn for decades, the same uniforms worn by Jim McMahon and Marc Wilson. Tech wearing white helmets with the gold outlined GT logo that simply cannot be seen on TV, unless on the close ups. Sad. At least the white facemasks look better than navy or gold masks. Nobody in the upper decks, but plenty of crowd noise coming through my TV speakers. The Tech band made the trip, playing the same old tired tunes they’ve played the past 50 years. Like half the other teams in the nation, they also keep playing the one line from Beauty & the Beast. Sorry that one got old quick.

BYU punt pins Tech deep. Jackets fumble the ball away, and the Cougars take the lead. Then Tech’s decisive final possession. Many moaned over the horrendous clock management, and it was. Huge chunks shaved off the game clock. Key stuffs his three timeouts in his back pocket. Legendary GT QB King standing around, not rushing the offense up to the line of scrimmage.

MY TAKE: it wasn’t poor clock management that cost Tech the game. King looked hurt. Might’ve had a concussion. Looked dazed. Refused to run the ball. Was that on King, or on the play caller?

But King completes a miracle bomb on 4th & 15. More poor clock management. Wide open yardage for King to run down the sidelines, where he can gain 5-10 yards and get out of bounds – but King refused to run. Instead they ran four dropback / sprintout pass plays. Tech didn’t run out of time. They ran out of downs. BYU dserved to win, but Tech made it easy for them.

Pinstripe Bowl: Penn State has been moving the ball better than Clemson, but only led 6-3. Many were predicting not much offense. I napped during the first half, and have been cleaning out junk emails and looking for books to read. Evidently Clemson’s punter decided on his own to fake the punt - a bad decision. Penn State’s uniforms look good with the grey face masks and large numbers. The stripe on their pants looks better than no stripe.

Zero offense from Clemson, and eventually leaks sprung in the Tiger defense. Clemson had 29 players opt out, or miss the game due to injury – including 11 starters.

South Carolina went 4-8 but are thrilled to have three of their top players returning for next season, including a QB who ranked 61st in the nation. Might’ve been good to let him transfer. The receiver is fast but more of a track star than football player.