Sometimes you just get a premonition when you’re watching a
game. It happens to me from time to time, and they come in various degrees of
clarity.
I think the two biggest premonitions I’ve ever had in
football came just before two different Dartmouth offensive plays five years
apart… which leads me to believe that maybe I’m not so clairvoyant as I am
someone who’s become very familiar with the way Dartmouth Head Coach Buddy
Teevens thinks.
The first came in 2007, when while calling the Lions game in
Hanover I suddenly felt like the Columbia defense was really not ready for a
play late in the first half. I even said on the air: “The Lions aren’t ready,
they need a time out!”
Sure enough, the Big Green ripped off a huge running gain on
that play, (Columbia never did call time out), and the play led to a Dartmouth score.
The second big premonition came late in the 3rd quarter
of last year’s Homecoming game with the Lions leading 10-7 and the Green taking
over at their own 33.
When freshman Dalyn Williams trotted out on the field to
take over at QB, I kept thinking about how he had dazzled the crowd earlier in
the game with his footwork. Surely, that’s what Teevens wanted everyone to
think. Then it suddenly clicked: Teevens wanted us to think that because not
only was Williams about to pass, but he was about to go long!
So, I resorted to yelling loudly from my seat about how a
long pass was coming even though I knew it would make no difference.
Sure enough, on the very first play Williams hooked up with
a totally wide open Bo Patterson for an easy 67 yard score.
The strange looks I got from the older fans sitting in front
of me who wanted to know if I had ESP were no comfort.
Columbia had lost the lead and it looked like the game was
lost too.
5 comments:
Jake,
You said in an earlier post that we were beaten on a long pass against somebody.
I replied that there were too many times last year that we left a receiver "WIDE OPEN".
This was another example. The QB made a good play and we failed to cover it. Was it poor coaching or a lack of smart football on the part of inexperience on our side of the line?
A bit of both I suppose.
Out of curiousity, how can a defense not be ready to defend a "huge running play?" If it's 3rd and five, and you sense "run," and you don't have the proper personnel on the field, ok fine--call time-out. But what adjustments would Columbia need to have made to defend against a huge running play?
Seems to me that the safeties have been taught to play the run first and the pass after they determine that the play is not a run. I keep thinking back to the 60+ point beating at Harvard. The D is lacking talent. Can not be the coaching staffs is entirely to blame.
Well, this running play was way back in 2007 and it was a 100% preparedness thing. Columbia was very slow making some personnel changes and the whole team looked like it was sleepwalking. It really didn't take ESP to see the Lions needed a time out.
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