The arrival of my birthday each late August heralds the start of another college football season a couple of days later, as well as the Labor Day weekend itself, making this time of year a wonderful time for myself and my friends and family.
Got up at 7 a.m. to catch Fulham hosting Spurs fully expecting a resurgent Spurs side to shellac an injury-plagued home side, which is what I got for the first half anyway. Fulham looked very shaky at the back the entire half, and Younes Kaboul made them pay early on with a tap in on a failed clearance from the box. Dimitar Berbatov added a second goal midway through the half, on a great pass from Keane, ending with a strong blast of a shot from the right side that goalie Antti Niemi had little chance of stopping.
As is usual, especially with leads, Spurs found themselves in some dangerous positions at close range, and goalie Paul Robinson watched one shot fly over the bar, taken at point blank range. The usual "fail to mark someone on a set piece" concern manifested itself late in the first half, when Clint Dempsey headed one home off of a corner (actually, I'm kinda glad Dempsey scored, I always want U.S. players overseas to do well, and with the confident way the Spurs were marching across the field, surely a 2-1 lead halftime would hold).
It was at this point that I left for the Duck game in Eugene, and thus spared the shock of watching live as Spurs throw away two valuable points. I did enjoy the replay of Gareth Bale's first Spurs goal to pad the lead, but the deflected goal that Fulham's Alexey Smertin got that pulled the home side to within 3-2, in combination with the bicycle kick that Diomansy Kamara nailed to tie it, just as regulation time was ending, were the type of goals that make lesser men throw things at other things.
Made it down to Eugene in time to get together with the usual crew to remember those like us who had passed away in the last year, and the slightly sombre tone was accented by the not-unexpected phone call from my mother about her mother, who had passed away early on Saturday morning. As noted, this was an event for which we were all preparing ourselves, though it's still hard when the actual phone call comes in, and one looks at the caller ID, and grimaces cause one knows what's about to be said. Thank you for helping to make such great memories of you and your house, grandma, you are already missed.
I got the call just as I was walking in to Autzen, so that kept me on the quiet side of things for awhile (the sun beating down relentlessly on us northsiders took its toll after awhile as well).
The Ducks played the Houston Cougars, finishing a home and home series begun in 2005,
and most of the Duck fans were aware of one Anthony Alridge, a speedy back who had 95 carries for 959 yards in 2006, over ten yards a touch. That's still a heckuva average, even in Conference USA, so we knew the Ducks "D" would be in for a long time, the memories of Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson running riot last year still fresh in our minds.
The Ducks got off to a good start on both sides of the ball and grabbed a 14-0 lead with most of the first quarter gone, though the Cougars got a touchdown back just before it had ended. It was nice to see that Matt Evenson could nail a couple of field goals from beyond 40 yards, always a great option to have when the offense bogs down for whatever reason.
Houston alternated quarterbacks like the Ducks did last year, and I thought that the Cougar offense began to click when Case Keenum was on the field. Regardless of who the QB was, the ball was thrown around the field very efficiently to a number of receivers, sometimes for short gains, but those short passes were always just enough to get another first down. Of course, handing the ball of to #22 Aldridge wasn't a bad way to go either, and when the Duck offense began to sputter, the Cougars began to take advantage of getting the ball back so quickly.
The biggest factor as to why Oregon won the game though was turnovers, plain and simple. Two fumbles and two very key interception totally negated whatever total yard advantage that Houston had up to that point. Patrick Chung stepped up and made a huge pick in the endzone when the score was tied at 20 late in the third quarter, with the visitors having all of the momentum going their way. That pick set up the first good drive that the Ducks had had since the first quarter, ending in a wonderful 29 yard pass from Dennis Dixon to Brian Paysinger that set the Ducks on their way to a victory. The people in my section could see the play develop and were all wondering if Dixon could see it unfold as well. It was a great pass, and we were all thinking that Dixon probably wouldn't have made that pass last year, especially in the latter stages of the season.
The defense responded with a quick three and out, the first they'd had for quite awhile, and then blocked a punt deep in Cougar territory to set up another quick strike to build the lead to 34-20 in the waning minutes of the third quarter. The Cougars then threw a screen pass to the dependable Aldridge, who took the ball 86 yards down the right side to put the visitors right back in the game. Dixon took it upon himself on the next play, and when just about everybody in the stadium was expecting Jonathan Stewart to get the ball, Dixon kept it for himself and ran 80 yards down that same side to put the Ducks up again by two scores. The Ducks added another score early to the fourth to finish the scoring for the game.
Didn't hear too many quibbles about the play calling from new coordinator Chip Kelly, though I do recall one key third and long opportunity when the play was a sideline screen to Paysinger, who then took it upon himself to get the yardage for first down; when he caught the ball, I recall thinking that he had no chance to get that yardage at all, so kudos to Paysinger for that play.
The defense wasn't particularly great, though it made some plays when it absolutely had to, but there were still too many third and long conversions for most peoples liking, The special teams were fine, though they gave it up on kick coverage a couple of times.
Kept up with the Mets as best as I could, and I am not surprised in the least that once the division lead got down to two games following the disastrous four-game trip in Philadelphia that the Mets would respond with wins when the team absolutely HAD TO HAVE ONE, but I'll try to recap their whole week later on. Right now, I'm burnt to a crisp physically and emotionally.
FULHAM/SPURS RECAP
DUCKS/COUGARS RECAPS
COUGARS GIFT GIVING
Can't forget the other big news for the day: APPALACHIAN STATE BEATING MICHIGAN and NOTRE DAME GETTING THEIR ASSES KICKED. Could be bad for the Ducks next weekend when they travel to Ann Arbor to face the Wolverines, but it should be an entertaining game as both teams try to improve the weaknesses on display in week one.
Might as well bring this classic video back to life, Appalachian State is indeed HOT HOT HOT...Well done Mountaineers!!!
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