Sure, it's been a few months since I blogged. But it's been 47 years since Mizzou has fielded a football team that's this good. And I have the night to myself. So, to honor that achievement, I'll attempt to liveblog Mizzou-OU, and pray I haven't cursed the whole shebang in the process.
8:16: Kickoff. OU kicks to Maclin. Keep it up.
8:20: Last week's Mizzou-KU game started with both teams jittery, and this week's looks to be the same. There's not a lot of big-game experience in both of these teams.
8:30: Mizzou went four and out, OU picked up one first down off a broken tackle, then stalled. Mizzou's defense has been a little suspect this season, and KU wore them down by the end of the game. They'll have to make their tackles to win. (Thanks, Musberger.)
8:35: Injury timeout forces ABCESPN to call up the XBox simulation of the game early in the first quarter. Like wart removal and gutter cleaning, let's just be glad we got this out of the way. (And nothing makes me want to drop $400 on a game console like seeing my favorite college team turned into stuttering bunches of pixels and beaten. Marketing -- it's where it's at.)
8:40: So far, both teams not really testing each other -- throwing little dump passes toward the sidelines, nothing really big downfield like MU tried at KU. Only the speedsters on each team are getting any yards.
8:50: When Texas Tech's coach suggested his team was the victim of biased referees and was fined $10,000, OU coach Bob Stoops said homer-ism among the zebras was "something worth discussing." Uh, Bob -- I think the refs went ahead with that conversation without you.
8:52: Daniels missed at least one open receiver on 2nd down, threw high on 3rd. I think the jitter excuse expires at the end of the 1st quarter. 3-o.
9:04: Blogger eats a post. Mizzou eats dirt on a pass over the middle. The Sooner Schooner arrives. I remember how much enjoyment some people have being idiots in college. 3-7.
9:12: "I tell ya boys, they brought the plastic." -- Musberger. Wha?
9:16: Mizzou gets a TD scotched by the zebras. And what happen to last week's statements from Pinkel that "we welcome the blitz?" I'm holding off on more pizza to keep my stomach settled. 6-7.
9:21: OU, 58 yards in penalties, 2 yards rushing. And did they just pipe the ABCESPN sideline reporter's mic into the PA system? Congratulations, Chase -- everyone knows your upset now.
9:42: Mizzou goes three and out. OU follows with a TD. Not good. 6-14.
9:52: A few plays back, The Mus asks "Why isn't Daniels running up the middle more when it was working so well?" Because they don' t want Daniels smacked, and they wanted to save it for where it would do the most good. And the 2-point was a reverse (not a double-reverse). 14-14.
10:11: I miss my fresh TV shows as much as anyone, but I think the writer's strike may be a refreshing time out for the "Desperate Housewives" crew. Note to self: In spare time, Lexis the oldest reference to "Hysteria Lane."
10:12: Blog colors updated. Refreshments secured. Dr. Pepper passing competitors evaluated. Game on. Mizzou has two edges going into the 2nd half -- the semblance of a rushing game, and posession time.
10:31: Things were going well, but now Daniels is backing up to the 50, and getting chased out of the pocket. He's wary of turnovers, rightly, and not finding a rhythm. The Sooners are giving a seminar on how to defend against spread offenses -- jam the recievers tight, show lots of blitzes, try to minimize the damage from the run. Mizzou's running plays always take time to develop, because they want to freewheel with whatever holes open up rather than choosing a route and trying to power their way through. That doesn't work as well with defenders as fast as OU's. I'll go ahead and place my bet on Intrade for a Jeff Wolfert fantasy ending.
10:39: OU then shows how to run the ball. 14-21.
10:57: OUch. Points off turnovers hurt bad. Meanwhile, Tony Temple has carried 12 times for 26 yards. I'll be surprised if Mizzou can win with those stats. 14-28.
11:03: At least 50% of my office pod will be in a sour mood Monday thanks to West Virginia. Meanwhile, Wolfert appears for the first time in the fourth quarter after Mizzou fails to convert another goal-to-go. That's what I mean by needing some running game. 17-28.
11:15: Yeah, Chase, I feel the same way. 17-35.
11:27: For all the talk about quarterbacks, the O-lines are the key to this game. OU's line can open the lane for a running back to get some room. Patrick's averaging nearly 7 yards a carry. Meanwhile, MU doesn't pound, and its offensive line can't hold the Sooners back long enough to let Temple or anyone else get going.
11:39: All right, all right. 17-38, and Pinkel punts on fourth and one. ABCESPN can start cutting to the Sad Fan shots. But as someone who went to his first Mizzou football game when he was six, I can say this has been the best season I've known. And I'll take the occasional great season with some dry spells in between rather than the warping pressures of the football factory schools.
