On Thanksgiving, America gets delivered a lot of turkey, a lot of pumpkin pie, and an awful lot of American Football.
In college, the outcomes were pretty darned Crazy.
“Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!” – Me, after Auburn’s Chris Davis returned a 57-yard field goal from Adam Griffith for the game-winning touchdown in the Auburn vs Alabama game on Saturday night.
If you go to Twitter and ask college football fans about this past weekend in their favourite game, you’ll get two words to describe it: The Crazy.
The Crazy is a travelling salesman of craziness. He started in Austin, Texas with
Texas Tech punter Ryan Erxleben, who took a fake punt 51 yards to the house in the opening minutes of Texas Tech’s game with Texas. Then he moved to Starkville, Mississippi, where he tripped up Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace en route to the end-zone for a game-tying touchdown in overtime in the Ole Miss/Mississippi State game, giving the game to a grateful Mississippi State.
The Crazy didn’t stop there. On ‘Black Friday’, the craziest day of the year for shoppers where there are stories of people beating each other up for a new Xbox, The Crazy filled the eyes and lungs of Nebraska coach Bo Pellini, who told the media after his side’s convincing home loss to Iowa that he didn’t care whether he got fired or not. Then The Crazy moved to the Home Of Crazy (Tiger Stadium, Louisiana), where he ensured LSU took more steps backward than forward in their game against Arkansas. You know, until The Crazy got bored, talked to his favourite Crazy Coach Les Miles, and brought on Anthony Jennings for injured future NFL 1st/2ndround pick Zach Mettenberger, who did everything right, including throwing a prayer to Travin Dural who caught it and sent the LSU crazies home happy. After an hour or two for whiskey, The Crazy then put on some sunglasses and invited himself to The Civil War between Oregon and Oregon State in Eugene, Oregon, where both teams, dressing in kits that could only be described as, well, CRAZY BRIGHT, played out an incredibly entertaining game, which Oregon (wearing LOUD YELLOW AND GREEN) scored the winning TD with 29 seconds to go in a 36-35 shoot-out. And for good measure, The Crazy made sure that ranked team Fresno State lost to San Jose Statein God’s equivalent of a basketball game, 62-52.
The Crazy’s Saturday was straight out of Arkham Asylum, starting in The Big House, Michigan, where Ohio State and Michigan played ‘The Game’. There was a fight at the start. The teams then traded blow for blow like two heavyweight boxers, putting up 1,129 yards of offense (yes, that number was real). With 30 seconds to go, Michigan had just scored and was down 42-41. The choice: Go for the extra point or go for two. The Crazy took over Brady Hoke. He decided on something ballsy....and Michigan missed the extra point. Ohio State had won. Maybe we’ll see The Crazy at The National Championship Game, folks.
Anyway, The Crazy raised up Duke to its first 10-win season in school history, shone for Vanderbilt and Baylor (who both won in fun finishes), and crushed hopes in Camp Randall, Wisconsin as unfancied Penn State went to Badger Country and pulled out a stunning 34-27 victory that included some (shock, horror) excellent pass defence. But The Crazy could actually tell you that he was around all day long. After all was said and done, 27 out of 59 games in the college football’s top division were decided by 10 points or less. That’s a whole ball of crazy.
Then there was crazy in 'Clean, Old Fashioned-Hate' in Georgia, who beat 'The Nerds' of Georgia Tech in double-overtime. And there was bickering between Virginia and Virginia Tech, TCU vs Baylor, two private Big-12 schools who ABSOLUTELY FREAKING HATE EACH OTHER, and even Coach O got us all excited at the start of the USC vs UCLA game before UCLA's talent reigned. Oh, and Stanford won the Battle Of The Nerds between The Cardinal and Notre Dame.
Then there was crazy in 'Clean, Old Fashioned-Hate' in Georgia, who beat 'The Nerds' of Georgia Tech in double-overtime. And there was bickering between Virginia and Virginia Tech, TCU vs Baylor, two private Big-12 schools who ABSOLUTELY FREAKING HATE EACH OTHER, and even Coach O got us all excited at the start of the USC vs UCLA game before UCLA's talent reigned. Oh, and Stanford won the Battle Of The Nerds between The Cardinal and Notre Dame.
But The Craziest, a big brother of The Crazy, was in Auburn, Alabama for the Iron Bowl – the clash between Alabama and Auburn for state bragging rights. In the past, a hatred of one Alabama fan, Harvey Updyke for Auburn sent him to Auburn’s campus, when he poisoned Auburn’s famous Toomer’s Oaks. The move earned him a spot in jail. But although Updyke was probably watching the game on TV, the Craziest had no time for him. The Craziest was too busy at Jordan-Hare Stadium, ensuring that Alabama looked nothing like the 2011/2 and 2012/3 National Champion. Alabama was mistake-laden. Still, they lead 28-21 with just 30 seconds left, before The Craziest took over and Auburn scored the equalising touchdown to send the Stadium into raptures. Then, with just one second on the clock, The Craziest took over normally the most un-crazy of coaches, Nick Saban, and he opted for a 57-yard field goal with one second left of normal time remaining, instead of playing overtime. The kick from Adam Griffith dropped short, and was run back by Chris Davis to the end-zone. The House That Bo Jackson Built Exploded. All the losses of the year before were forgotten. The Craziest ruled. Until November 29th, 2014, Alabama, Auburn fans must have though. That’s when Crazy will rule again- this time in Bryant-Denny Stadium at the University of Alabama.
“No question – the win over our rival is better” – Urban Meyer after Ohio State’s victory over Ohio State
