Back on the road...
Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:44 am
Seems like I just got home from Pittsburgh, but it's time to load up the car and head "home" to BG.
But about Pitt...
I didn't know what to expect going in... certainly most of us knew we were capable of coming away with a "W", but there's always a balance of question marks to go with the "we're gonna be f'in sweet!" in the days before the first game. The credit card business didn't help add to the optimism, either.
But on the drive to PA, a couple funny things happened. Driving through some small town, a local store had a big sign in the front (presumably for the local H.S.) that said "THIS IS FALCON COUNTRY!" We were in too much of a confused rush to go back for a pic, unfortunately. Then, while visiting Fallingwater, there was a painting of some marsh hawks, aka "Falco cyaneus". That's two. (And here's a thought in line with that... instead of the tacky "Sweet Caroline" at the start of the fourth, why not a little Falco? "Rock Me Amadeus" or the German version of "Der Kommissar" would be fantastic.)
From there, I was set... getting up the next morning to the Herbstreit prediction and some positive vibes from former Herdling RB Doug Chapman, and I was ready to go watch a BG win. Need another sign? Despite rolling up to the tailgate a little late, the Freakmobile pulls in alongside about 30 seconds later. Karma, baby. Good to see all (or most of) you guys again and meet and chat with Neal Dahlman's dad for a bit.
As for the game, I think a lot has been said already (that's what you get when you come home three days later), but what an outstanding job by all the units that have traditionally been bashed the most. Coaching was great, defense was lights out from the opening kick (was it Sanderson that popped a guy on the kickoff? Or J. Brown?) Even the few longer runs they had, it didn't seem like the first defender missed a tackle because of sloppyness, and if there was a missed arm tackle, someone else filled the hole and brought some pain. Great job out of the D.
Once the offense got into the "Eh, screw it, let's play football" mode, they were fantastic. I knew Freddie was up to something on the first TD, there were too many guys patting him on the head during the timeout. But I don't know that I expected the toss to the TE. Excellent play call after selling the AT/FB run for a quarter and a half. Great route by Jimmy Scheidler on both his TD's, too and how about the soft hands on the second!?!?
And the last TD... after using Tyler as pretty much the passing QB and FB/AT as the straight draw QB's, how about calling #13 to run an AT-esque play for six? I caught the very tail end of the ESPNU replay of the game, from just before that TD and went back to watch Bojicic's pancake again and again. Great call and great execution by all.
Walking around PNC Park that night in a BG shirt was pretty sweet, and all the Pitt fans seemed to be pretty congratulatory, even if they joked a bit about wearing the shirt around town... I opted not to wear one the next day as we walked around campus, though.
As we were heading out of our return trip to Fallingwater Monday, we came across a fellow Falcon in a BG shirt. Much to the marketing department's dismay, I offered a "GO BG!" instead of the suggested "Roll Along!" and it worked just fine. 
One final note, a former roommate of mine in Columbus said one of his co-workers, a WVU student/alum, was at the West Virginia game Saturday, and when they announced the BG score, the crowd let loose "one of the loudest 'EAT SH!T PITT' chants I have ever heard there." Glad we could help. (Though honestly, I'd love to see Pitt turn it around and run the table, of course.)
Now then.... I'm off to BG!
But about Pitt...
I didn't know what to expect going in... certainly most of us knew we were capable of coming away with a "W", but there's always a balance of question marks to go with the "we're gonna be f'in sweet!" in the days before the first game. The credit card business didn't help add to the optimism, either.
But on the drive to PA, a couple funny things happened. Driving through some small town, a local store had a big sign in the front (presumably for the local H.S.) that said "THIS IS FALCON COUNTRY!" We were in too much of a confused rush to go back for a pic, unfortunately. Then, while visiting Fallingwater, there was a painting of some marsh hawks, aka "Falco cyaneus". That's two. (And here's a thought in line with that... instead of the tacky "Sweet Caroline" at the start of the fourth, why not a little Falco? "Rock Me Amadeus" or the German version of "Der Kommissar" would be fantastic.)
From there, I was set... getting up the next morning to the Herbstreit prediction and some positive vibes from former Herdling RB Doug Chapman, and I was ready to go watch a BG win. Need another sign? Despite rolling up to the tailgate a little late, the Freakmobile pulls in alongside about 30 seconds later. Karma, baby. Good to see all (or most of) you guys again and meet and chat with Neal Dahlman's dad for a bit.
As for the game, I think a lot has been said already (that's what you get when you come home three days later), but what an outstanding job by all the units that have traditionally been bashed the most. Coaching was great, defense was lights out from the opening kick (was it Sanderson that popped a guy on the kickoff? Or J. Brown?) Even the few longer runs they had, it didn't seem like the first defender missed a tackle because of sloppyness, and if there was a missed arm tackle, someone else filled the hole and brought some pain. Great job out of the D.
Once the offense got into the "Eh, screw it, let's play football" mode, they were fantastic. I knew Freddie was up to something on the first TD, there were too many guys patting him on the head during the timeout. But I don't know that I expected the toss to the TE. Excellent play call after selling the AT/FB run for a quarter and a half. Great route by Jimmy Scheidler on both his TD's, too and how about the soft hands on the second!?!?
And the last TD... after using Tyler as pretty much the passing QB and FB/AT as the straight draw QB's, how about calling #13 to run an AT-esque play for six? I caught the very tail end of the ESPNU replay of the game, from just before that TD and went back to watch Bojicic's pancake again and again. Great call and great execution by all.
Walking around PNC Park that night in a BG shirt was pretty sweet, and all the Pitt fans seemed to be pretty congratulatory, even if they joked a bit about wearing the shirt around town... I opted not to wear one the next day as we walked around campus, though.
As we were heading out of our return trip to Fallingwater Monday, we came across a fellow Falcon in a BG shirt. Much to the marketing department's dismay, I offered a "GO BG!" instead of the suggested "Roll Along!" and it worked just fine. One final note, a former roommate of mine in Columbus said one of his co-workers, a WVU student/alum, was at the West Virginia game Saturday, and when they announced the BG score, the crowd let loose "one of the loudest 'EAT SH!T PITT' chants I have ever heard there." Glad we could help.
(Though honestly, I'd love to see Pitt turn it around and run the table, of course.)Now then.... I'm off to BG!