Lazy Monday

January 1st was the kind of slothful, gluttonous day that I revel in. I got to the P St. Whole Foods at 10:30 and had to bum around the CVS until they opened up at 11. I flew in, fixed a hot two-meat hashbrowns-and-salsa two-cheese scramby egg breakfast plate, picked up a six pack of Stone IPA and trucked back to the house, only missing the first seven or eight minutes of the Penn State – Tennessee game.

The Nittany Lions took down the Vols, though it was closer than it sounds at 20-10. Pete came over for the second half, we started drinking, Justin emerged from Laura’s room, he started drinking, Laura and Emily plopped down, grabbed some beers, Takai came over and he started drinking. We watched the end of the Nebraska game, got another case of tasty bottles and put them on ice in a cooler in the middle of the living room. I broke out the coozies, then we ordered two large two-toppings and some wings from Papa John’s. I passed out for a while and woke up around 7:30, at the end of the Michigan-USC game. It was a good one to miss, at least, according to the no-UM grads in the room.

Justin and Pete and I kinda looked at each other at this point. We’d been watching 9 hours of football, we were drunk, we probably smelled like each other’s farts and shitty pizza meat… but the Boise State – Oklahoma game was an intriguing match-up. Undefeated mid-major underdog vs two-loss historic powerhouse. Plus, Pete’s second semester in law school was still a week away, Justin didn’t head back to school until the 14th and I, well, I had to be at work at 8:30.

Boise State opened up a big lead early, mostly due to Oklahoma's QB throwing two picks and losing a fumble on his own 15. Still, Oklahoma moved the ball late and the first half ended with Boise on top 14-10. Good game. Promising. I wanted to grit it out, but work was looming and I had to cash out.

So, Pete headed home, I headed upstairs (no television in the bedroom) and Justin headed to the bar. But we all kept up with the game. I was following in on ESPN’s Gamecast until late in the fourth quarter, when Oklahoma tied it up at 28. Fuck. Great game. So I headed back down to watch the end on the HD. I was treated to the most incredible end to a football game I’ve ever seen.

I showed up downstairs with, I dunno, 2 minutes left. Oklahoma had just scored a touchdown on a sustained drive, just having ground down the smaller BSU defense. Boise State gets the ball back and their QB immediately throws a pick six, putting OU up 35-28 for their first lead of the game. BSU gets the ball back. The QB looks sharp after what had to be a huge kick in the nuts and pushes his squad to the 50. 45 seconds left. Sack. 2nd & 18. Incomplete. 3rd & 18. Incomplete. 4th & 18. 20 Seconds left. Their coach calls the hook & ladder? Yeah. A 15 yard reception gets hauled in, the guy takes to steps in and flips the ball to a wide receiver trucking the other way. The lateral hits him in stride and he crosses the goal line with under ten seconds left. 35-35. OT. Fucking incredible.

It gets better. Oklahoma starts with the ball and Adrian Peterson bombs down the left sideline for a 25-yard touchdown on the first play. They kick the PAT and go up 42-35. They've got the swagger. They're dominate. Now it's BSU ball. They pick up tough yards and tough downs. They're on their second fourth down of the series at the 6. They need three for the first and six for the score. Coach calls a direct snap to a halfback, who sweeps rights, pulls up and flicks it to the tight end. Halfback pass option? Yeah. On 4th & 3. In OT. Touchdown.

That mad genius Boise State coach was not done. On comes the offense – they’re going for the two-point and the win right there. Even if they didn't make it, this is a smart move. He struggled to punch it into the endzone, had to coach them in to get it done, while Oklahoma was ready to run his boys over.

So they line up and run a little flanker screen, with the QB flicking it to the right to a receiver… only he didn’t throw it. It’s a fake, a Statue of Liberty play. The fullback, who was just kinda milling around behind the QB, scoops the ball off the back of the QB’s upfield hip and runs untouched into the end zone.

It was 1 in the morning, the house was dark and quiet. I was bouncing off the walls – I just had to tell someone, but there was no one to tell. I think I stayed up until 3. Hell of a game.