Thanks to the weirdest game I've ever seen

I watch a lot of football. More college than pro but a great deal nonetheless. The 2013 R&L Carriers Bowl might be the weirdest I have watched yet. It was between Tulane & Louisiana-Lafayette. In my bowl pick ‘em game, I chose Louisiana-Lafayette. I chose them because in my college football rankings, they hovered around the Top 25. This was the fourth game of the college football bowl season. I needed a victory after starting 0-3. Louisiana-Lafayette quickly grabbed a 14-0 lead. Tulane’s offense marched down the field to the Louisiana-Lafayette 7. Nick Montana, son of Joe, stared down a receiver. Yet the cornerback jumped in the way, intercepted the ball & 93 yards the opposite way, Louisiana-Lafayette had a 21-0 lead.

That was Part 1 of the game. Tulane put in a different quarterback & found a spark. Additionally, for some reason Louisiana-Lafayette altered their offensive game plan. Before halftime, Louisiana-Lafayette had a potential opportunity to drive the ball but they declined. At halftime, Louisiana-Lafayette was reeling as Tulane had all the momentum, but Louisiana-Lafayette led 21-14. At some point in the second half, most likely the third quarter, Tulane scored again & the score was tied at 21. Then the game became a defensive battle.

Part 3 began when Louisiana-Lafayette switched back to their original offensive game plan. Then, after an interception thanks to a horrendous pass followed by a player’s stupid action leading to a personal foul, Louisiana-Lafayette had the ball in field goal position. They appeared as if they were going to get a first down converting a third down but cramping in the quarterbacks’ legs cut that play short. Field goal, Louisiana-Lafayette up 24-21. Tulane drove the ball & appeared to have a shot at about a 55-yard field goal to tie it. With the best kicker in America, you take the shot. They passed & Louisiana-Lafayette got the ball back. Their backup quarterback played well but failed to take play clock down as much as possible. Then, before clock expired on a third down, they called timeout. They punted, giving Tulane one final last chance. Miraculously, their quarterback avoided a sack & heaved a ball to about midfield where the wideout caught it as the corner lost track of the ball. Following some bad, if not horrible but certainly not good clock management, Tulane’s kicker missed a game-tying field goal & Louisiana-Lafayette won; so, did I.

When they announced MVP, I did not who deserved it, nobody really stood out. It was weird. Both teams had a combined dozen fall-start penalties. There was a questionable defensive pass interference call & a missed intentional grounding call. Both teams dealt with the clock in odd ways. Both teams offensively played strange. Louisiana-Lafayette’s shift & Tulane should have run the ball more. Both quarterbacks played suspect at times. Both teams had problems with their kicker. Tulane’s refusal to initially let theirs try to tie it. Louisiana-Lafayette’s using a different kicker for the first time all season. Tulane was smaller & slower, yet Louisiana-Lafayette’s offensive line sometimes forgot to block. If I thought harder, I could probably continue. But hey, I got my first victory today. Thanks to the weirdest game I have ever seen.