Remember what I said right after they got within seven about the gut check?
Passed with flying colors.
I've got to try and be calm here. I talked to my friend from Eugene, OR who is coming with me to the Arky game, and he said I sounded exhausted - he also loved the game and is looking forward to his trip to heaven (BDS).
I'm also one of the loudest pointing out here that while bad calls are part of the game, they RARELY cost you the actual game. It's pretty hard to put any loss on a bad call since you have to figure things like turnovers, etc - plus, nobody cares if the bad call was in the first quarter.
But THAT was atrocious. Those guys ought to forfeit their game checks for that nonsense. I'd get fired in the lab if I made that many mistakes that were so damaging. I - quite frankly - despise Tom Ritter and that crew. That's the same crew that cost us a first and goal at the one and called it a pick in the 2011 LSU game - and literally gave the Tigers the game there. I'll have to go back and watch but off the top of my head:
1) The phantom false start early in the game - that's why we got no rhythm. The first was our fault but that second one was a joke.
2) That ejection/penalty on Ha Ha was insane. When even Gary Danielson is screaming in favor of Alabama, it HAD to be awful. That was a great play by Dix - notice you never heard his name again? That targeting penalty is fair if you have actual targeting but that was too ridiculous.
3) Blocks in the back - Manziel is a great player so don't think I'm ripping him. But a 43-year old fat guy like myself could have stayed back there all day to toss passes at eventually open receivers with all the blocks those guys got away with.
4) The helmet call was the only questionable one I remember that went against aTm.
When we do good, bad, ugly, the ugly is the refs.
O-line - excellent, you grew up.
Defense - won't hold it against you because those two hosses were legit.
The big picture? No matter how bleak, our guys realize: "Hey, we were down by 14 to a top ten team on the road in 100 degree heat. No problem!!"