Some observations from a marathon afternoon/evening watching college football:
** Couldn’t help but think of Jim Tressel’s mantra about solid special teams play while watching the Pitt-Cincinnati game. Had the Panthers been able to cover a kickoff after going ahead 31-10 in the first half, they might have gone on to the victory. Letting Mardy Gilyard return that kick 99 yards for a touchdown kept the Bearcats in the game and also kept them thinking they could come back. Later, it was a missed PAT that cost Dave Wannstedt’s team a chance to at least go to overtime. Think about those things the next time you ridicule Tressel’s emphasis on solid special teams play.
** Same thing happened to Nebraska after it took a 12-10 lead on Texas in the final minutes. A kickoff out of bounds gave the Longhorns the ball at the 40-yard line, setting up a short field and allowing Colt McCoy to move his team into position for the winning field goal.
** McCoy nearly lost the game by taking too much time to throw an incompletion at the end of the Big 12 title game. That indiscretion and a so-so performance against a superlative Nebraska defense will undoubtedly cost him some Heisman votes. I have to admit that it gave me pause – pause enough to consider giving my vote to Mark Ingram of Alabama.
Read the rest by clicking on this link: Rea's Day Blog: Dec. 6.