![]() ![]() Penn State’s defense probably isn’t as good as their #6 ranking coming into the game suggested they hadn’t really played a competent offense outside of Purdue’s all year while Michigan had moved the ball effectively against a great Iowa defense. And like the OSU game they did so despite actively telegraphing what they were going to do McCarthy only threw the ball 4 times in that second half and none for more than 7-10 yards downfield. They added a FG and another touchdown in the 4th and in the end Michigan, much like they did against the Buckeyes, blew out a top-10 team in the second half on the way to a convincing victory. Never one to turn down an opportunity to play the hits, Michigan spent the entire second half of this game demolishing Penn State on the ground, scoring 2 60+ TDs on successive drives to open the second half and keeping Penn State out of the endzone. As noted above, that game was close at halftime as well, everyone got a little rowdy, and Michigan proceeded to spend the second half pummeling the Buckeyes with everything they had available. (□: /ajzbnaz8Uq- FOX College Football October 15, 2022Īnd with that, the narrative switched from 2021 PSU…to 2021 OSU. Y'all gotta stop trying to fight in the tunnel at halftime □ At that moment I was fully prepared for the second half to look a lot like last year’s game, where both teams got a bit more on track and it was a tight slog to the end.īut then a fracas broke out in the tunnel between the two teams at halftime. ![]() Michigan was a bit more dominant in this first half than PSU was last year but still, Michigan barely led at halftime despite out-gaining PSU 274-83 because they failed to convert multiple redzone trips into TDs. Michigan was able to weather that initial storm and put together one solid scoring drive to take the lead, and PSU ended the half with a FG to close within 1 at 7-6 despite, again, dominating on the stats sheet. It was eerily similar to Michigan's trip to Happy Valley last season, where Michigan only had 5 yards on 6 plays in the first quarter while PSU marched down the field twice on 14-play drives but only would up with 3 points because of redzone troubles including a botched fake FG. The first quarter of this game couldn't have gone better for Michigan they marched down the field on their first two drives and scored while PSU only picked up 9 total yards on 6 plays, 8 on the only completion Clifford had on 2 attempts. But not this week against PSU, as I only had to look back to last year to see mirror images of the first and second halves. Usually when I find myself cobbling together such a narrative it's comprised of a hodge-podge of games from by-gone eras, some collection of standard-definition classics with Keith Jackson intoning the viewer about the majesty of the sport and guys with crop top jerseys celebrating last-minute scores. who's open downfield) are left as jump scares every time the QB hurls a ball downfield. But on the other hand, if the game starts to take on the shape of a Bad Time then you're basically locked into 3 hours of watching for various shoes to drop while agonizing over the fact that we as football consumers love horror movies wherein the scariest parts (e.g. Conversely, when you see one team dominate the other so thoroughly that the refs are calling roughing-the-passer penalties seemingly because, as Joel Klatt noted, the QB was getting hit so hard so often they felt bad for him, you know you're free to flip around channels, mow the lawn, or start writing a diary about college football your wife encouragingly describes as "your thing you like to do" as she shakes her head on the couch. You see both teams trading scoring drives with minimal defensive resistance (looking at you Alabama and Tennessee or basically any Big 12 game between 20) and you settle in for a game of attrition, where the last possession likely decides the game. On the one hand it tends to subconsciously calm the nerves a bit to recognize the familiar, much in the same way "tropes" in movies and TV give the viewer an easy shorthand for following the plot. It's like one-shoting Heardle because of your Pavlovian response to the first beats of Take On Me. You watch enough football and you not only stop being surprised by what happens on the field but you also start viewing the current contest through the lens of the past, seeing patterns from previous games and putting those bits and pieces together in such a way that you can (sometimes) predict how a game will turn out. ![]() Best: What life choices led me to make this? #littlemermaid #rem #mashup ♬ Losing My Religion Under the Sea - There I Ruined It ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |