DOWNFIELD COVERAGE: AHEAD IN THE POLLS

Two days before the presidential election, and I think it's non-partisan to state that one candidate has a slight edge in the polls over another. Two days before the presidential election, and while three BCS conference schools remain undefeated, I think it's non-partisan to state that one school has a slight edge in the polls over the two others. Which is why someone somewhere needs to post a headline that reads:

O! Bama!

**************

Notre Dame alums flinch at the mention of "David Gordon", the B.C. kicker who ended the Irish dream of a national championship in 1993 with his 41-yard field goal (and, yes, the team that won the title that season had as many losses as the Irish, one, as well as that loss having come to the Irish and life's not fair blah blah blah...). True Domerologists, though, will recall that on B.C.'s game-winning drive, Eagle quarterback Glenn Foley threw a limp pass right into the arms of Irish linebacker Pete Bercich, a terrific player who went onto a solid NFL career. Bercich, somewhat inexplicably, dropped the ball.

There are many plays in a game that determine the outcome, of course, but I've always had a knack for remembering dropped interceptions that come back to haunt you. Which is why, on the penultimate game of last night's shootout in Lubbock, my heart sank for Longhorn freshman defensive back Blake Gideon.

Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell was on the run, and could have just tucked it, but instead he tossed a throw into the left flat about eight yards downfield. The spiral, perfectly placed, ricocheted off the Red Raider receiver's hands and up into the air behind him. It was a soft wobbler, the kind of easy pick that defensive backs pluck in drills each day in practice (punctuating the interception by shouting, "Oskie!").

This time, though, the ball fell right through Gideon's arms. For a moment I thought he'd actually snared it between his calves (how ironic would that be for a Longhorn?!?) but the replay showed that the ball had fallen through his arms, bounced off the turf, and then been caught 'tween his legs on the rebound.

One play later, Harrell wised up and tossed a dart to the best wide receiver in the country, Michael Crabtree, who showed why. Texas Tech wins. Guns up!

If Gideon makes that pick (there were 8 seconds left), Texas is still No. 1 and Colt McCoy has just about wrapped up the Heisman Trophy. He doesn't, though, so now Tech is the last unbeaten school in the Big 12 South and folks get to argue whether Harrell or Crabtree is more deserving of the Heisman (though I still believe the winner will be the QB who leads his team to the Big 12 championship).

Anyway, I feel for Gideon. After all, he must be extremely talented if he was on the field as a true freshman that late in the contest. Everyone makes mistakes, but some loom larger than others. If you go onto Gideon's bio page on the Texas athletics website, you'll notice that near the bottom there's a place where he's asked to list some of his favorite things. For "Favorite Cartoon Character", Gideon has listed "Charlie Brown".

Augh.   

******************

Car-wreck enthusiasts must be gobbling up those Apple Cup tickets (November 22nd in Pullman...and really, College Gameday, that's where you should head that weekend). On Saturday Washington and Washington State were outscored 114-0 collectively by USC and Stanford, respectively.

In case you're wondering how close each northwest school came to scoring: the Huskies had a 92-yard drive in the 4th quarter that began on their own 2-yard line. So there they were on the USC 6--at least assured of a field goal--but then Ronnie Fouch tossed an interception.

As for the Cougars, they missed a 44-yard field goal once and another time advanced to the Stanford 23 before tossing a pick.  

*****************

Purdue beats Michigan on a hook-and-lateral play with 26 seconds left. Northwestern beats Minnesota on a 48-yard interception return with 0:12 remaining. Michigan State outlasts Wisconsin via a game-winning field goal with 0:07 remaining. Pittsburgh and Notre Dame slug it out for four overtimes in South Bend before the Panthers win 36-33. See how much fun the Midwest is when its Top 25 schools (Penn State, Ohio State and Ball State) all take the day off?

*****************  

This just in from a friend. The final score of the biggest game of the weekend, you may already know, was Texas Tech 39, Texas 33. And the over-under from the guys in Vegas? 71.5 points. That's why they're geniuses.