test (part 2): 2012 Outback Bowl Recap

So much more fun than last year.

Unedited again, except where the wording of my notes would've been completely incomprehensible.

OPENING COIN TOSS:

STOP THE GAME RIGHT NOW WE HAVE WON
Either the SMB is miced more loudly than usual or Jenn Brown is standing near them and they're taking full advantage.
The lipstick on Georgia's cheerleaders is frightening.

DEFENSE (kickoff):

Not a bad return. I would've liked to have seen him stopped five yards sooner.
Well, I guess the receiver falling down sort of counts as defense.
Good block downfield from the Georgia receiver.
We need to stop the run better than that, but it's early and I'm not concerned yet.
Need to stop the run better than that.
Open-field tackling is hard, but we had enough guys in the area to eventually stop them a yard short. Nice.

OFFENSE (punt):

Yikes, the 2.
AHHHHHHHHHH ROUSHAR

DEFENSE (kickoff):

Completely missed the kickoff. Not happy to see UG on the 40.
We must, must, must stop the run better than that.
It took us longer to disengage from the downfield block than we should have, but we still got a good tackle in there.
Yes. Stop the run like that.
Offside. :/
Glad our guys were there to hit Mitchell, but it's too bad that we let Murray get the pass off. Blitz failed hard.
Dennard's gotta turn his head around.
STOP. RUN.
Gholston. Blowin' up.
If we'd let them get through on that weak little shovel pass, I would've been unhappy.
Mr. Announcerman: "He's got it... he doesn't have it!" Nine or ten guys just fell on you.

OFFENSE (downs):

Bell for a few. I'll take it.
Bell for a handful more. Are we putting in an offset TE to double-team the UG DL?
We are definitely putting six guys on the line. I'm surprised by how long the line held with the blitz coming. Nichol's reception was kind of wacky — the ball was a little overthrown — but I will certainly take it.
Kirk dropped back a lot there. Glad we got the conversion.
"Edwin Baker, the backup back." :( Oh, well, four yards. Also, I'd forgotten that Baker is from Highland Park.
Trick plays. :(
Cousins smushed. Our offensive line is imploding a bit, even with Bell apparently trying to help.

DEFENSE (punt):

Nice punt!
Nicer stop! I'm excited to see what White can do next year. Also, this game is still 0-2.
This was an enjoyable play. Murray eluded a sack in the end zone, looked for a pass, looked for a pass, and finally gave up and slid down just short of the line.
Oh, crap.
At least we seemed to have figured out how to stuff them up the middle. Right?
Murray boosting both his passes and receptions, but probably hurting his total yards. I would've rather seen an interception/strip than a pass/catch, though.
Third and seventeen. And we hurry Murray. And he bumbles and fumbles. And I'm never happy to see linemen try to carry the football, and I'm very thankful that Gholston didn't fumble it back.

OFFENSE (fumble):

Glad to see that play not completely falling apart. Not happy to see it again, really. I've never really liked bubble screens.
Okay.
Aaaand a false start. Third and long, thank you.
LINTHICUM. :(

DEFENSE (punt):

I've been impressed with Sadler this year. I'm looking forward to three more years of generally good punting.
And we continue to hold the middle.
Okay stop.
I think I see why our MACtion rating is so high.
Niiice stop. Three i's. We have six tackles for loss? I guess that happens when you can't hang onto the ball yourselves. >:(
Wish we'd gotten the sack; will take the incompletion; didn't think the receiver was close enough for that not to be grounding.
Allen! With the sack!

OFFENSE (punt):

Decent punt; glad we didn't let it roll back to the 1, and yes, I know it would've been pretty hard for the punt to roll that far.
...and the announcers bring up the alligator thing. >_< Anyway, this looked like it was going to go down as a two-yard loss and I'll take the one-yard gain.
It really looked like Cunningham was going to drop that ball.
That one did get dropped. :(

DEFENSE (punt):

Missed the return.
Overthrown, but that was scary.
Holding them less well on the run than of late. I hope our defense isn't getting tired.
GHOLSTON OWNS YOUR FACE

OFFENSE (punt):

Didn't get a good look at it... but wow, we ended up with good field position despite the lack of a return.
Not really a good play there. We have three rushing yards, according to ESPNABC.
Ugly throw from Cousins there.
Too many guys on Cunningham. We need to figure out how to run the ball: the C-C combo isn't winning the game for us.

DEFENSE (punt):

Really nice roll on that punt. Still worried about our defense getting tired. Announcers: "Spartan Marching Band trying to get some movement..."
Oh, they just barely got that pass to go.
Glad Gholston was able to pick up the receiver's ankles there, because that could've potentially hurt. The longer UG's offense stays out, the more concerned I get.
Woo false start.
And the stop. Murray seems to be tired of getting hit.

OFFENSE (punt):

I'm not sure why Martin didn't call for a fair catch.
That was a really, really bad run. Did the color guy just say, "thirty-four defense?"
That was a better run, but now we're at 3rd & 9. :/
Stat line on the TV: 1/5 on 3rd; average of 8.2 yards to go. We had 9 to go and picked up 7. We might as well go for it here and give our defense a break.

DEFENSE (punt):

...wow, that was a really long kick.
Damn.

OFFENSE (kickoff):

Return: Pretty good.
That was a tough pass.
That was a really bad pass.
Long huddle. Georgia got scared and took a timeout. Interesting... and then we ran a screen that failed completely.

DEFENSE (punt):

Panic. And they're playing Low Rider in the stadium for no reason.

OFFENSE (kickoff):

Return: Meh.
Cousins looked nervous just taking the snap, and I have no idea why he threw the ball into an area where we were outnumbered 4-2.
"LeVeon Bell uses his patented spin move."
False start. There goes our chance at running for a first down. Meanwhile, every Big Ten team currently playing is currently losing.
I'm happy to see a completion, but I'm really unhappy to see us only get five yards on third and seven, especially after a false start.
End first half.

HALFTIME:

National Events Massed Band? I understand that the university bands are playing music that would require licenses, and that it's cheap to show some high school kids play Grand Ol' Flag and military anthems and such, but making this the one part of the halftime show to be televised is even more insulting to the university bands than the cheerleading thing that gets played during the Capital Citrus Bowl.

OFFENSE (kickoff):

Don't take kickoffs out of the end zone.
Wacky play for loss! Getting bitter... now.
Did Cousins just gain ten yards running?
Really curious what the spot was on that throw... short. :/ GO FOR IT ARRGH TOO CLOSE TO END ZONE

DEFENSE (punt):

Let's just keep having the punts bounce. Also, that was a really good punt.
Meh.
Meh. At least they didn't convert.
Not happy to give them that completion. Happy it was only a short pass.
INT!

OFFENSE (interception):

Cousins looked confident throwing, and very nearly threw a counterpick.
I don't know why Cousins insisted on taking that bubble screen.
Finally a catch on the other side of the line.
...and we follow it up by handing the ball off to Martin 8 or 9 yards in the backfield for an eventual gain of 1 yard.
What is this formation DOESN'T MATTER FIRST DOWN.
LeVeon's stiffarm looked closer to a facemask than usual. Oh, well, will take the four yards.
I just noticed that we're in the red zone. And the line pushed Bell up inside the ten.
Not a happy pass, but we didn't take a sack. Announcers, on something involving the Georgia sideline and towels: "Slims the guy! Little Slim Shady!"
BELL.
Linthicum was wide open. Very happy to see the line holding up, Cousins scanning the field, etc.

DEFENSE (kickoff):

Good coverage. And there's a fight. And there are no flags. Okay.
Robinson had to come way back upfield to make that stop. Happy time.
Our defense looks a bit better-rested this half.
Bounce bounce bounce.

OFFENSE (punt):

I think we called punt-block there, but thankfully, we didn't run into anyone. I still think Martin should call fair catches more often.
Big catch!
Hopefully not as big false start!
That would've been a more useful run on 1st & 10.
The announcers claim Georgia is going to make MSU win by passing, which is interesting given that Bell picked up most of the yards at the end of our last drive. Anyway, that play collapsed.
Ugly pass on the hurry. At least it wasn't picked.

DEFENSE (punt):

AT THE ONE.
Not a safety. Happy anyway.
Not a safety. Happy anyway.
DAMN.
We can't keep letting them cut around our defensive line like that.
OH MY GOD YES. Remember Dennard getting beaten earlier in the game on that touchdown? Remember that? Yeah.

OFFENSE (2-pt. attempt following interception return for touchdown):

D'oh.

DEFENSE (kickoff):

Kind of disappointing that we couldn't hit Boykin at the 20 after he bumped into his own guy and stood there. Perhaps he was thinking of handing it off to confuse us or something.
Stuffed.
Boykin was very close to the line there. Also, there was a block in the back, but it wasn't much of a block in the back.
Drone blew that one up nicely.
Norman absolutely destroyed that run. It happened so fast I thought it was a sack at first.
I really wish we hadn't given them all those yards on the screen, but I will happily take the stop.

OFFENSE (punt):

I didn't see the return, actually.
And that's why Cousins doesn't scramble too often.
That didn't work. And somebody is hurt. And the announcers don't know who is hurt, and I can't see the numbers on my TV, and we're going to commercial.
Nice pass, surprising yards-after-catch given that Martin was hit almost immediately.
Overthrown a bit.
Stuffed. :(
(kittens)

DEFENSE (interception):

That tackle hurt over the TV.
I don't know what happened there.
NICE PASS!
Very happy to only be down one score. We absolutely need a touchdown now, though.

OFFENSE (kickoff):

Good return. That might've gone for a TD if his blocker had been faster.
Screen? Screen! SCREEEEEEEEN! (and it actually worked this time)
Baker for something a little bigger than peanuts. Baker for brazil nuts.
That was an absurd pass. I don't know if Cousins meant to overthrow that, but I certainly hope so.
I THINK THEY'RE GOING TO BLITZ. And they don't. And NICHOL CATCHES THE FOOTBALL NICHOL CATCHES THE FOOTBALL NICHOL CATCHES THE FOOTBALL. Color guy fail: "I didn't think there was a chance they could come back in this football game after that first half of misery."
Yeah, that was doomed pretty quick.

DEFENSE (kickoff):

We need a stop. Big open-field hit by Elsworth there.
Johnny. :(
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Allen hurting people now.
Poof!
(kittens)
Well, that was sad. I wish I hadn't italicized, "need," earlier.

OFFENSE (kickoff):

Weird kick.
ABCSPN only let me see the second half of this play. Bell caught the football.
That was a terrifying play.
Did Anderson just catch that for a first down? I believe he did. I believe he did.
That play went from LeVeon about to get stuffed to LeVeon about to break it to LeVeon going down quietly for about three.
I am eating Altoids compulsively now. That could've been a first down if Martin hadn't fallen down.
DO NOT COMMIT A FALSE START PLEASE oh no that was even worse

DEFENSE (interception):

I hope we stop them on more than the first two downs this time.
Oh, that just barely worked.
Offside.
What? ...actually, I can see that penalty on the replay. Wait, what are we challenging? ...they initially ruled that a completion?
Stop #1.
Stop #2.
Did Georgia just call a running play? Seriously? Are they that confident in their defense? Are they going to fake it? What is going on?

OFFENSE (punt):

Not faking it. My eye hurts.
Lots of time to throw there.
Oh, right, Georgia's giving us the center of the field because we're out of timeouts.
Cunningham should've gone out of bounds there, but I understand going for the touchdown somewhat.
At least he got out of bounds.
Cousins? Cousins! COOOUUUUSIIIIIIINNNNNNS!
Nichol out of bounds.
That was an ugly pass and Cunningham was covered too tightly to have a chance at it. Also, I'm out of Altoids and I just blew mint-dust and now my other eye hurts.
MARTIN. Unfortunately, he was definitely short on the replay. We have at most four plays to win from a yard out, with thirty-four seconds on the clock and no timeouts. Why does Michigan State football do this to me?
Flag? Facemask?
oh no that was supposed to be a catch
Flag? We're inching even closer? Can we get five seconds put back on the clock instead?
TOUCH-(kittens)ING DOWN MOTHER(kittens). And we are tied. Sonntag saves the game.

OFFENSE (kickoff):

I don't know what Boykin was thinking when he stopped there and I don't care. We got the stop. I trust our "real" defense more than our kick coverage. Overtime.

OVERTIME COIN TOSS:

We're the visitors? Well, Georgia won.

OFFENSE (first overtime):

Acceptable run by Bell.
Wacky pass. Cousins was about to get walloped, though.
Well, that's probably the game.

DEFENSE (first overtime):

Meh.
Meh.
Huh.

DEFENSE (second overtime):

The deep ball! Not deep enough to beat Adams. One effect of playing in overtime.
False start.
Murray had a lot more time than he should have and I'm glad he didn't get the chance to throw. We must've been doing a good job covering downfield. ...actually, the replay showed that our coverage wasn't that great, and Murray was probably looking for a specific receive who wasn't open.
Almost got the pick.
Good kick this time. The bar has been set.

OFFENSE (second overtime):

I was expecting a run. I'll take a 12-yard pass. Wait, a 7-yard pass. I like the booth guys more than the on-field guys.
I'm not sure why we went play-action there.
We're gonna run it, right? No, we're gonna set up to pass and get blown up.
Kick is good.

OFFENSE (third overtime):

That was a really awful throw.
Bell took three hits, and one of them involved dragging a guy about five yards downfield and ten yards across the field. It sometimes seems strange that we ever gain fewer than three yards on a play.
Someone just drew a tiny arrow pointing to Jarvis Jones. Brooks is jealous. Anyway, Bell got the first down and I think I'm out of adrenaline.
The announcers just said we're at 51 passes out of 79 plays today. That's ridiculous, especially given that Bell just ran for 6 yards.
A much shorter run for Bell this time. Are we gonna just run it again? I think we should.
No, Martin. :(
Delay of game.
I actually didn't watch this kick, but I hear that it was good.

DEFENSE (third overtime):

Murray had way too much time and I don't know why his pass was that bad.
Rush had has back turned. I won't criticize him for not picking that.
WILLIAM GHOLSTON IS NOW THE SACKMASTER. Your Jonal Saint-Dic is invalid.
HOLY (kittens) WE WON

Some notes in closing:

At the beginning of the game, I was concerned that our defense didn't seem to be stuffing every run attempt. That concern quickly faded. The fact that I was even worried is a testament to how good the MSU defense has been this year (and how bad the Capital One Bowl was last year).
Aside from Georgia's sudden outpouring of points in the last few minutes, the second quarter was a barren wasteland of football futility.
Dennard's interception in the third quarter seemingly led us out of the wasteland.
In terms of the number of plays, our one-and-a-half minute drill near the end of regulation may have been the longest drive of the day. Its length in that regard was somewhat inflated by repeated penalties on Georgia's part, however.
Congratulations to the best MSU team in four decades on their hard-fought win.

test (part 2)

Monday, January 2, 2012

2012 Outback Bowl Recap

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