A real easy win marked by big plays.
To wit:
1. Rivers 49 yard TD pass to a wide open Antonio Gates.
2. Cromartie falling on a Texans' fumble in the end zone after the punter overran the ball.
3. Rivers 31 yard TD pass to a wide open Antonio Gates.
4. Cromartie intercepting Matt Schaub and returning ball 70 yards for the score.
Rivers also hit Chris Chambers with a 14 yard pass over the middle for another score (Chambers was wide wide open) and the Bolts walked to a win.
The most notable part of this game was probably the double plate of wings I housed at Time Out on Amsterdam Ave. Half mild, half hot. All good.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Illini 28, Ball St. 17
Homecoming. Bowl eligible. Mendenhall with a buck 89 on the ground.
Yes, yes and yes.
I'm hoping for the Alamo Bowl but I'd take the Champ's Sports Bowl.
Yes, yes and yes.
I'm hoping for the Alamo Bowl but I'd take the Champ's Sports Bowl.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Michigan 27, Illini 17
Flew out to Chicago and then drove to Champaign for the game. Sat in the Michigan section with my friend Tatt Mareeco, a Michigan alum.
I'll tell you the same thing I e-mailed to some other friends mid-game: the Illini looked great when Henne and Hart weren't in the game.
Hart of course missed the entire game and stood on the sidelines in sweats. His only apearance on the field was when he trotted out for the coin toss, which he punctuated with an elaborate handshake with Jake Long. Henne was in and out of the game with what looked like an elbow injury. Ryan Mallet played in his absence and showed an ability to move the ball but also made some costly errors in the red zone.
In the end, Michigan pulled away on the basis of (a) the Illini quarterbacks' - be it Juice or McGee - complete inability to hit a receiver in stride for a completion; and (b) Kyle Hudson's costly fumble after a Michigan punt. A roughing the kicker call on an earlier Michigan punt didn't help matters.
On a positive note it was an absolutely gorgeous day in Champaign. Joe's was a great spot before the game and C.O.'s and Kam's - always reliable - were nice and messy afterwards.
I'll tell you the same thing I e-mailed to some other friends mid-game: the Illini looked great when Henne and Hart weren't in the game.
Hart of course missed the entire game and stood on the sidelines in sweats. His only apearance on the field was when he trotted out for the coin toss, which he punctuated with an elaborate handshake with Jake Long. Henne was in and out of the game with what looked like an elbow injury. Ryan Mallet played in his absence and showed an ability to move the ball but also made some costly errors in the red zone.
In the end, Michigan pulled away on the basis of (a) the Illini quarterbacks' - be it Juice or McGee - complete inability to hit a receiver in stride for a completion; and (b) Kyle Hudson's costly fumble after a Michigan punt. A roughing the kicker call on an earlier Michigan punt didn't help matters.
On a positive note it was an absolutely gorgeous day in Champaign. Joe's was a great spot before the game and C.O.'s and Kam's - always reliable - were nice and messy afterwards.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Bolts 28, Raiders 14
The one thing holding me back from being fully on board with this Bolts' squad - I was never off the Bolts' bandwagon, mind you - was what happened at the 6:64 mark of the 2nd Quarter. Rivers was forced to his right and then he turned - inexplicably - and threw back left across the field into the hands of Thomas Howard who ran 66 yards for a touchdown. A 14-0 game was immediately 14-7.
This was worse than the ball he threw into Adalius Thomas' hands in Week 2.
This was almost as bad as the INT Drew Brees threw to Champ Bailey in Week 2 of '05.
It's that kind of mindless mishap that doesn't seem to happen to Brady and Manning and that, more than anything else, puts the Bolts as the #3 team in football.
But in the end the Bolts smashed the Raiders once again and I'm pretty happy about it. LT scored 4 times - a 3 yard run, a 27 yard run, a 13 yard run and a 41 yard run - and each score was better than the last. Actually, that's not right. Each was equally mesmerizing in its own right, whether you prefer the sweet vertical of the 3 yard TD in the 1st or the dagger 41 yarder that iced the game in the 4th.
Something for everyone.
I also liked the defense. Cromartie's INT. Phillips' sack forcing the Culpepper fumble. Merriman's 4 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Simply put, that's the kind of pressure the Bolts have to have to win games.
This was worse than the ball he threw into Adalius Thomas' hands in Week 2.
This was almost as bad as the INT Drew Brees threw to Champ Bailey in Week 2 of '05.
It's that kind of mindless mishap that doesn't seem to happen to Brady and Manning and that, more than anything else, puts the Bolts as the #3 team in football.
But in the end the Bolts smashed the Raiders once again and I'm pretty happy about it. LT scored 4 times - a 3 yard run, a 27 yard run, a 13 yard run and a 41 yard run - and each score was better than the last. Actually, that's not right. Each was equally mesmerizing in its own right, whether you prefer the sweet vertical of the 3 yard TD in the 1st or the dagger 41 yarder that iced the game in the 4th.
Something for everyone.
I also liked the defense. Cromartie's INT. Phillips' sack forcing the Culpepper fumble. Merriman's 4 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Simply put, that's the kind of pressure the Bolts have to have to win games.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Hawkeyes 10, Illini 6
Just when you think you're out, they pull you back in.
To mediocrity, that is.
I shouldn't be surprised, I guess. Illinois is a young team, the Zooker isn't known for winning so-called "Trap Games" and the Illini haven't won at Iowa since, I believe, the Clinton Administration ... if then. (I could be wrong about that. Research is so not what blogs are about.)
Anyway, like last week's Bolts' game, I had to miss this Illini game, though this time around I had a good excuse. A friend of mine had an extra ticket to Game 2 of the ALCS so I spent the afternoon driving from New York to Boston. Anytime you have a chance to see live playoff baseball, especially in a city as whacko about their sports teams as Boston is, you have to go. It's like when you go to a buddy's house and he offers you a Miller Lite and maybe Coors Light is your favorite and you don't really care too much about Miller Lite but it's still a beer so you take the Miller Lite and suck it down like a man. That's what it's like being offered Red Sox playoff tickets even though you could stay home and watch the Illini play Iowa.
(Okay that analogy isn't quite right - it should be something less common than a Miller Lite - but I don't feel like taking the time to think it through and get it right. Let's face it, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.)
So what news I got from the game I got by standing in my friend's grandparents' backyard in Wellesley, Mass. (a 'burb of Boston) about ten feet from the fence and adjacent to the back deck and facing East at which spot, if I held my blackberry at just the right angle, I could get internet reception and follow the game through minute by minute refreshes.
Not an ideal way to follow the game but they don't have cable at that house and the local game was Syracuse - Rutgers and I wasn't about to sit through that. And anyway we had a Heineken mini keg tapped and flowing like wine so that was nice.
But why delay any longer. You know how this story ends. As I clicked through my blackberry I could tell the Illini were driving toward a score and that McGee was in and that they had the ball deep in Iowa territory and then ... nothing. Suddenly it was 1st and 10 Iowa ball with about a minute to play. It wasn't at all clear from the blackberry what had happened (though I had my guesses) and I didn't find out until later that McGee threw the goal line pick (guess confirmed).
From what I heard the big deals of this game were these:
- the Iowa D game planning the Illini perfectly and stifling the spread option
- McGee's 83 yard touchdown pass mooted by a motion penalty
- Zook accepting two penalties when he should have declined them
- McGee's goal line interception with 1:20 to play
That's about all I can offer on this one. I DVRd the game but I haven't had the time - or the balls - to watch it.
To mediocrity, that is.
I shouldn't be surprised, I guess. Illinois is a young team, the Zooker isn't known for winning so-called "Trap Games" and the Illini haven't won at Iowa since, I believe, the Clinton Administration ... if then. (I could be wrong about that. Research is so not what blogs are about.)
Anyway, like last week's Bolts' game, I had to miss this Illini game, though this time around I had a good excuse. A friend of mine had an extra ticket to Game 2 of the ALCS so I spent the afternoon driving from New York to Boston. Anytime you have a chance to see live playoff baseball, especially in a city as whacko about their sports teams as Boston is, you have to go. It's like when you go to a buddy's house and he offers you a Miller Lite and maybe Coors Light is your favorite and you don't really care too much about Miller Lite but it's still a beer so you take the Miller Lite and suck it down like a man. That's what it's like being offered Red Sox playoff tickets even though you could stay home and watch the Illini play Iowa.
(Okay that analogy isn't quite right - it should be something less common than a Miller Lite - but I don't feel like taking the time to think it through and get it right. Let's face it, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.)
So what news I got from the game I got by standing in my friend's grandparents' backyard in Wellesley, Mass. (a 'burb of Boston) about ten feet from the fence and adjacent to the back deck and facing East at which spot, if I held my blackberry at just the right angle, I could get internet reception and follow the game through minute by minute refreshes.
Not an ideal way to follow the game but they don't have cable at that house and the local game was Syracuse - Rutgers and I wasn't about to sit through that. And anyway we had a Heineken mini keg tapped and flowing like wine so that was nice.
But why delay any longer. You know how this story ends. As I clicked through my blackberry I could tell the Illini were driving toward a score and that McGee was in and that they had the ball deep in Iowa territory and then ... nothing. Suddenly it was 1st and 10 Iowa ball with about a minute to play. It wasn't at all clear from the blackberry what had happened (though I had my guesses) and I didn't find out until later that McGee threw the goal line pick (guess confirmed).
From what I heard the big deals of this game were these:
- the Iowa D game planning the Illini perfectly and stifling the spread option
- McGee's 83 yard touchdown pass mooted by a motion penalty
- Zook accepting two penalties when he should have declined them
- McGee's goal line interception with 1:20 to play
That's about all I can offer on this one. I DVRd the game but I haven't had the time - or the balls - to watch it.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Bolts 41, Broncs 3
Glory be in the Highest.
Are you kidding me? A 41-3 win at Denver. Not even Fouts could spring that action. Welcome back, Bolts.
I had to miss this game because I was at my cousin's wedding in Washington, D.C., but I stepped out to check scores on my blackberry every 6 minutes or so until the score was about 34-3 and then I almost - almost - relaxed and accepted what the Bolts had done in Denver. Trust me, if you've never been at a Sunday wedding in October and stepped out of the cocktail hour and started walking down the long hallway of the hotel toward the lobby waiting for your blackberry to access the link for the game and then holding your breath as you click on espn.com and go to NFL scores and then turn your eyes away and then turn back and see that your team - which was predicted to be a Super Bowl contender but started 1-3 - is winning 27-3 on the road against a division rival at a place they rarely win, well, my friend, I say you haven't really lived.
Here are a few key moments I could glean from the highlights:
The Siler Recovery - 1Q, 6:15
You're on the road, you go up 7-0 and then you force the home team to fumble the ensuing kickoff and you take it to the house to extend the lead to 14-0 halfway through the 1st Quarter. As they say in Mexico, muy bien. Seeing Brandon Siler go horizontal into the end zone is the best Bolt highlight of the season to this point.
The Marshall Fumble - 1Q, 3:20
Cutler has the Broncs driving into Bolt territory courtesy of a few nice passes and a 10 yard Bolt penalty and then completes a dagger pass over the middle to Marshall to about the Charger 10 yard line but then Marshall coughs it up and the Bolts recover. SWEET! Instead of 14-7 or 14-3 the Bolts have the ball back and Rivers leads them downfield (converting two third downs) leading to a Kaeding field goal and the score is 17-0 Bizzolts.
The First Michael Turner Monster Run - 2Q, :26
Bolts lead 17-3 and look ready to let the clock run to end the half. Then Turner busts free for 49 yards to the Denver 17 and not even Norv can resist getting some points now. Kaeding kicks a field goal a few plays later and the Bolts head to the locker room up 20-3.
Your Basic 1st-33 Conversion - 3Q, 11:51
You've blown second half leads the last three weeks. You're on the road against a division rival. You don't know if you know how to put teams away anymore. You have a 20-3 lead but that seems precarious when you take 3 straight penalties and face a 1st-33 from your own 39 early in the 3rd Quarter. So what do you do? Isn't it obvious? You throw a strike to Vincent Jackson for 45 yards to the Denver 16 and thereby give the implied finger to anyone who ever doubted you. Nice effing play Bolts! Rivers hits Gates for a 9 yard touchdown a few plays later.
The Second Michael Turner Monster Run - 4Q, 10:26
The game was mostly over by this point but anytime you rip off a 74 yard touchdown run you need to get a mention. Plus this basically sent all the Denver fans home early to focus on their upstart Rockies and that nice little run they're on. Enjoy it while it lasts guys. Spring training is only 5 months away and then you have to figure out all over again how to deal with Peavy and CY.
Good luck with that.
Are you kidding me? A 41-3 win at Denver. Not even Fouts could spring that action. Welcome back, Bolts.
I had to miss this game because I was at my cousin's wedding in Washington, D.C., but I stepped out to check scores on my blackberry every 6 minutes or so until the score was about 34-3 and then I almost - almost - relaxed and accepted what the Bolts had done in Denver. Trust me, if you've never been at a Sunday wedding in October and stepped out of the cocktail hour and started walking down the long hallway of the hotel toward the lobby waiting for your blackberry to access the link for the game and then holding your breath as you click on espn.com and go to NFL scores and then turn your eyes away and then turn back and see that your team - which was predicted to be a Super Bowl contender but started 1-3 - is winning 27-3 on the road against a division rival at a place they rarely win, well, my friend, I say you haven't really lived.
Here are a few key moments I could glean from the highlights:
The Siler Recovery - 1Q, 6:15
You're on the road, you go up 7-0 and then you force the home team to fumble the ensuing kickoff and you take it to the house to extend the lead to 14-0 halfway through the 1st Quarter. As they say in Mexico, muy bien. Seeing Brandon Siler go horizontal into the end zone is the best Bolt highlight of the season to this point.
The Marshall Fumble - 1Q, 3:20
Cutler has the Broncs driving into Bolt territory courtesy of a few nice passes and a 10 yard Bolt penalty and then completes a dagger pass over the middle to Marshall to about the Charger 10 yard line but then Marshall coughs it up and the Bolts recover. SWEET! Instead of 14-7 or 14-3 the Bolts have the ball back and Rivers leads them downfield (converting two third downs) leading to a Kaeding field goal and the score is 17-0 Bizzolts.
The First Michael Turner Monster Run - 2Q, :26
Bolts lead 17-3 and look ready to let the clock run to end the half. Then Turner busts free for 49 yards to the Denver 17 and not even Norv can resist getting some points now. Kaeding kicks a field goal a few plays later and the Bolts head to the locker room up 20-3.
Your Basic 1st-33 Conversion - 3Q, 11:51
You've blown second half leads the last three weeks. You're on the road against a division rival. You don't know if you know how to put teams away anymore. You have a 20-3 lead but that seems precarious when you take 3 straight penalties and face a 1st-33 from your own 39 early in the 3rd Quarter. So what do you do? Isn't it obvious? You throw a strike to Vincent Jackson for 45 yards to the Denver 16 and thereby give the implied finger to anyone who ever doubted you. Nice effing play Bolts! Rivers hits Gates for a 9 yard touchdown a few plays later.
The Second Michael Turner Monster Run - 4Q, 10:26
The game was mostly over by this point but anytime you rip off a 74 yard touchdown run you need to get a mention. Plus this basically sent all the Denver fans home early to focus on their upstart Rockies and that nice little run they're on. Enjoy it while it lasts guys. Spring training is only 5 months away and then you have to figure out all over again how to deal with Peavy and CY.
Good luck with that.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Illini 31, Wisconsin 26
Zook. Juice. Benn. Vontae. Kevin Mitchell. Josh Brent. McGee. Leman. Dufrene. And, of course, Mendenhall.
What a pack of beasts.
A solid, confident performance by the Illini on Saturday. A few things that jumped out at me were these:
- When Juice (or McGee) goes to the option with Mendenhall on the outside I don't recall feeling so confident about a play succeeding since just about every time Luther Head lined up for a three in Spring 2005. That play is difficult to stop, especially when the Illini can mix it up with Benn as well.
- Mendenhall's 32 yard touchdown run in the first quarter (7:25) was sprung by a great block on the outside but I neglected to write down who made the block. Did anyone catch that?
- Reda is looking good. He had the wind with him (according to the TV guys) but his 50 yard field goal in the second quarter (11:01) seemingly needed no help in splitting the uprights.
- Wisconsin's Travis Beckum is a good receiver. He consistently got open and made big plays over the middle despite the fact that ... the Illini have some excellent defensive backs. Kevin Mitchell and Vontae Davis are playmakers who make plays. Both made big interceptions in the second half. Davis' in particular was a huge grab on the sideline (4Q, 10:53), the result of some blanket coverage on Beckum.
- The Illini engineered two identical touchdown drives in the second half. The first started at the 10:00 minute mark of the 3rd Quarter, consisted of 9 runs and 0 passes (5 runs by Juice, 4 runs by Mendenhall) and culminated in a 5 yard Mendenhall touchdown run at the 7:10 mark. The second drive started at the 10:00 minute mark of the 4th Quarter, consisted of 9 runs and 0 passes (3 runs by Mendenhall, 2 runs by Juice, 3 runs by Dufrene and 1 run by McGee) and finished with a 5 yard McGee touchdown run at the 6:05 mark. Bielema probably thought he was seeing double.
- Arrelious Benn is the first person I've seen injure himself by stiff arming a guy on an end run. It was a violent stiff arm that didn't result in any extra yards. Benn played on and hopefully won't miss time.
What a pack of beasts.
A solid, confident performance by the Illini on Saturday. A few things that jumped out at me were these:
- When Juice (or McGee) goes to the option with Mendenhall on the outside I don't recall feeling so confident about a play succeeding since just about every time Luther Head lined up for a three in Spring 2005. That play is difficult to stop, especially when the Illini can mix it up with Benn as well.
- Mendenhall's 32 yard touchdown run in the first quarter (7:25) was sprung by a great block on the outside but I neglected to write down who made the block. Did anyone catch that?
- Reda is looking good. He had the wind with him (according to the TV guys) but his 50 yard field goal in the second quarter (11:01) seemingly needed no help in splitting the uprights.
- Wisconsin's Travis Beckum is a good receiver. He consistently got open and made big plays over the middle despite the fact that ... the Illini have some excellent defensive backs. Kevin Mitchell and Vontae Davis are playmakers who make plays. Both made big interceptions in the second half. Davis' in particular was a huge grab on the sideline (4Q, 10:53), the result of some blanket coverage on Beckum.
- The Illini engineered two identical touchdown drives in the second half. The first started at the 10:00 minute mark of the 3rd Quarter, consisted of 9 runs and 0 passes (5 runs by Juice, 4 runs by Mendenhall) and culminated in a 5 yard Mendenhall touchdown run at the 7:10 mark. The second drive started at the 10:00 minute mark of the 4th Quarter, consisted of 9 runs and 0 passes (3 runs by Mendenhall, 2 runs by Juice, 3 runs by Dufrene and 1 run by McGee) and finished with a 5 yard McGee touchdown run at the 6:05 mark. Bielema probably thought he was seeing double.
- Arrelious Benn is the first person I've seen injure himself by stiff arming a guy on an end run. It was a violent stiff arm that didn't result in any extra yards. Benn played on and hopefully won't miss time.
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