Utah St. 10/24/09

Well it is Aggie week Part 2! We are on the back side of our back to back with the Aggie's. This means I have to post another Aggie joke. Why did the Aggie get rid of his freezer? He got tired of cutting the ice into little squares to fit into the trays. That is way too funny! Sorry Jake it’s all in fun! How many Aggie teams are there in ALL of college football? I did some research and there are actually 8 teams with the Aggie nickname. So I said what the heck, let’s check out the world famous Bulldogs nickname. I fell on the floor! There are 39 schools with the Bulldog nickname. I don't care that this includes all divisions that is a lot of Bulldog merchandise. Wow! The travel business had a little spark of interest this week. Maybe that is a good sign. With the holidays coming up who knows what could be in your stocking this year! I talked to Matt several times during the week. He said the practices and the breakdown of the film had gone well. His mid-term tests and classes had also gone well. He has been trying to determine his major and how to get his masters in 4 years. I hope he declares this spring. They started the week off with one kicking approach and soon moved to another later in the week. I am not totally sure I understand all of this, but I guess you have to prepare for changes that might present themselves during the game. I know that Coach Dooley is a firm believer of teaching the power of being prepared for the unexpected. Matt was still pretty stoked about the win against New Mexico State, but knew that game was history and Utah St was on his mind. He said the team really came together this week during practices. The glue was starting to harden! I did not get any head coach speeches from Matt this week, but I am sure he will give me one before the season is over. Friday is upon us and I cannot wait for game time to get here on Saturday. Matt sent me a text message a little after 9:00AM and they were headed to the Monroe Airport. They landed about 2:10PM CST in Logan, UT. The buses were waiting for them and they headed directly to Romney Stadium for a team walk through. I guess you would call it marking your territory with a little sprinkling of your blood, sweat and tears. I just hope our markings don't get covered up and we sprinkled the whole field. I talked to Matt later that evening and he said that after college life and any other life that was presented to him before he settles down that he would live somewhere in the mountains. He hates cold weather, but loves the scenery of the snow in the mountains. I am not sure how he is going to combine the two, but I am sure Matt will figure it out. I would live in the south and have pictures on the wall of mountains. HaHa! My Saturday had arrived. I would be home alone watching the game as Janet (Wife) is working full time in Dallas and I am in San Antonio trying to sell our house. Since we had not won on the road yet this year I decided to do a few things different. I get a little wild when I am home alone. No not that kind of wild! I just get a little crazy with food, football and adult beverages. My hair is short anyway, but I decided to shave my head. Maybe this was going to be the luck we needed. I have worn the same shirt for every game except the Red Out. What the heck! If you are going to shave your head, then wear a different shirt? So I did! I was going to watch the game on ESPN360 and I had everything ready for the kickoff. I started off with a Shiner Blonde as Matt was set to start the game off. The kick was good and about 3 yards deep in the end zone. The first quarter was back in forth with no points. I had moved on to a Shiner Bock by this point and we went down 7 - 0. Then we were down 10 - 0 and my hair and shirt changes had not helped at all. Ok it has to be my adult beverage, so I poured a glass of wine and Phillip ran the kickoff back 105 yards. This is it! I had finally done something right today. I see Matt come out for the extra point and when I see the snap I about utilized my spare set of drawers. The snap was low, the ball was on its side and Cade still had both hands on the ball when Matt kicked it. It went thru, but I am not sure how. Holy Shoot! Ok, I still like my choice on changing the adult beverage. The half is over and we are down 20 to 7. Now what am I going to do? I switched to water and Utah St kicks a field goal. I am really trying hard not to bite my tongue, but what in the heck are we doing? This is like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I know our guys are the same or do we play on the road with imposter's? Are these the same teachers of the game? Do we carry multiple play books? I will never bad mouth anyone on the team or related to the team, but sometimes my super fan emotions come out. If I offended anyone, please accept my apologies. It's the 4th quarter and I knew the wine would work, but was my computer in the right position. I decided to put my computer on the floor and make the picture smaller and see it that would help any. Oh my, we scored and made the 2 point conversion. The wine is staying with me and the computer is staying on the floor. Matt, Tyler (Matt's Brother) and I have a very special number that we seem to see quite often either forwards or backwards. Our number is 619 and when it was 6:19 left in the quarter, 3rd down from our 20 I knew that something good was going to happen. Sure as “shoot” we scored. Even though we were down by 2 we had the momentum and still had a chance. Tyler called me shortly after they scored and said "You know why they scored?" It was the number! I know I am crazy, but that number appears more times than not. The kickoff was good and they call off sides. They have not been off sides all year and we just had pinned them at the 12. Are you kidding me? The kickoff goes to the same spot and they run the ball past the 40 yard line. We were able to hold them, but should have had a much shorter field than we got. I just knew we were going to march down the field and Matt was going to get an attempt at a game winner. I am not sure I could of watched though. Our efforts came up a little short. Utah St would win 23 to 21. I was not pissed that Matt did not get an attempt or the team did not score, but was pissed that to become bowl eligible our mountain became a whole lot higher. Our team showed a lot of character and this was the first time we had come back from adversity all year. I think this will help us in the upcoming games. I turned off the computer and poured myself another glass of wine. I had to think about what had just happened. I was not sure if Matt would call or not and I had no clue what he would even say. About 20 minutes later he called and he was pretty disappointed. He said they had a good game plan and thought they had a shot at the end to win. They just did not execute when they had to. I asked him about the PAT and he said the ball was lying sideways, but that they made it and that is all that matters. They would look at film and get it fixed. He said the fans were absolutely horrid behind the bench and he wanted so much for them to score and win so bad. He just thought the Nevada fans were bad. I got a message from Matt at 6:30PM and they were on a 2 hour delay on the flight back and they were going back to the hotel. They watched film at the hotel and the call on the off sides on the kickoff was not a good call. The ref said that 3 people were off sides and the film showed not one person was off sides. It looks like the refs blew that call and that sure did affect our field position. I got a call from Matt a little later and they were not projected to leave Logan until after midnight Logan time. They could not start the plane and were flying in another one from Birmingham, AL. Wow! I am glad they made that decision instead of trying to get a jump start! They went to a steak restaurant where they set up a banquet room and some TV’s so they could watch some football. I got a text from Matt at 1:10AM and they were finally leaving. That really sucks after a loss to have a delay like that, plus it screws up the next day with practice. Matt called Sunday afternoon right before practice and said he got back to the apartment about 5:30AM. That is pretty tough in my book. The weekend is over and life goes on. I am confident that Coach Dooley will use these lessons and have this team ready for Idaho. Idaho has a good team this year, but so do we. It is time for us to step up to the plate and show what this team is made of. I am not going to the game and do not know what I am going to do different on my part, but it will be something new. I just know that I will find the right piece of the puzzle to help us win. I know the weather will not be a factor for this game since it is played indoors. I know Matt will be ready to kick some Spudly butt in Idaho! I want to give a special thanks to Tom Morris for letting me use some of his photos. If you ever need any pictures of your favorite kicker please visit LaTechSportsPix. I can't wait to hear my friends at BleedTechBlue on Tuesday. Maybe they can get Coach Dooley on the show one Tuesday. Good luck this coming Saturday at Idaho. Until our paths cross again, have a blessed week! College Football Dad!