Happy day, football season started yesterday. It was hotter than Houston, but we lucked out this year, because our seats are in the shade until about 20 seconds before the half. Our group doubled in size this year, so it's a lot of fun to hear what the new people think. Plus with two new quarterbacks to critique, it was a fun game.But before we get to the game itself, let's talk Godzillatron.
Oh. My. Gosh. The thing is freaking unbelievable. Four stories of pure, high-definition, booming sound, instant-replay goodness. What I don't understand is why the powers that be have chosen not to use the full screen for the game. Instead, we get half the screen showing play action and the other half (and the area of the screen that forms a border) covered with ads. Ads. I understand showing ads between plays, and even having that border there, but they should be using the whole screen to show us truly HD shots and replays of the game. (Oh. Apparently they will eventually.) Also, I would've liked to have seen Chuck Norris in widescreen.
Now to the point. The game was good. North Texas was a lot more competitive, at least in the first half, than the score shows. They took advantage of some sloppy mistakes and were able to move the ball down the field, even though they couldn't score against our defense. The real question, though, was how our two freshman quarterbacks would do.McCoy's the real deal. I cannot imagine what it feels like to be under that kind of pressure at 19 years old. But he did well. He's not as exciting as Vince - and definitely not as fast, but he's definitely capable of growing into the job. Plus, he's the son of a football coach named Colt McCoy. What else was this kid going to grow up to be?
The same cannot yet be said about Jevan Snead. It was pretty clear why Mack chose to start McCoy - clearly his redshirt year gave him an opportunity to learn our offense and get comfortable with the atmosphere. Snead didn't get as many chances yesterday, but throwing an interception your first game out isn't going to help your argument much.
Jamaal Charles is even more exciting than he was last year, and seventh-year senior Selvin Young did well. The receivers missed a few catches, but I'm of the opinion that it was more the quarterbacks' faults than it was the receivers. That's the kind of skill that experience improves. It'll be okay. I'm just not sure it'll be okay by next week. The Ohio State defense is not as good as it was last year, but if they can shake McCoy's confidence, we might be in real trouble for the rest of the season. For the moment, though, we so deserve to be ranked ahead of Notre Dame.
At any rate, it was so much fun to be out at DKR, enjoying the game with friends. The cheers that went up for the picture of the national championship trophy in the new pre-game video were unlike anything I've ever heard at the stadium. It was a great day for football and to feel like I'm home at last.
Plus, you know, Chuck Norris showed up. And that's just cool.
(I have more pictures, but they won't load. Maybe tomorrow.)