September 11, 2009 1:30 a.m.
Just starting to get all caught up and back up to speed with all the fall sports starting their competitions this past week. It was a tremendous week for the Cobber sports teams. It was as if someone was trying to throw a little good karma my way after all that happened last week.
The game against Willamette couldn’t have turned out better. The Cobbers started slow but then had a couple of patented multi-play drives at the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter to take the lead and tire out the Bearcat defense. And what can you say about the punt return from Zach Debeltz? How good was that? It will probably be the most electric play of the season and it was definitely the deciding factor in the game as it turned out to be the winning score.
The defense once again forced its will on the opposing team’s offense and held the Bearcats without an offensive touchdown until midway through the fourth quarter. All the question marks about the linebacking and defensive back corps were answered in a hurry and it is shaping up to be another great year of Cobber football.
With that in mind, here are some random thoughts about the game that you probably didn’t see in the recap or in the Forum:
- The day was hotter than it had been for most of the preseason. This definitely played a factor for both teams. I was surprised more players didn’t cramp up (think the very last Power Bowl in 2007 when players were dropping like flies).
- There was almost a foot-sized hole in the press box after the second play from scrimmage when the Cobbers fumbled the ball and Willamette “scooped and scored” for six. There were sudden flashbacks of the final home games of the 2008 season and a glimpse into a nightmarish 2009 future.
- That play also sent my brand new stat crew into a tailspin because it was something they hadn’t seen before in their previous trail run during the week. That play cost us to head into damage control mode and play catch up for the entire first quarter. We didn’t get caught up until the last minute of the opening period. I spent from the second play on, dictating the plays to my data entry person who was typing as fast as he could. I had two other people hand writing every play. Needless to say, we had to make some corrections but in the end everything turned out fine. Hats off to my new stat crew as they also had a very successful opening weekend!
- That brings me to my next thought. I get a lot of e-mails from parents, fans, players saying that this stat is off or this player made the tackle or how come this player wasn’t in the game stats. Just like the players on the field, my crew is made up of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. And just like the players, sometimes they make mistakes or make the wrong read. I apologize if we get something wrong but it’s just a fact of the business that we can’t get everything right all the time. In a perfect world we would have a video replay booth to sit in, be able to tell all the player’s numbers apart and never have any computer crashes. However, we are sitting up in the press box and have to tell a player’s number in a split second so we can keep up with the play. As I tell me crew – it’s the different between reading a car’s license plate number when you are passing them after starting up at a stoplight or passing that same car going 100 mph down the highway in traffic. It’s actually tougher than you think and I wish everyone could experience life in the press box on a Saturday. It can get pretty nerve wracking!
- Smiles of the week go to Andrew Larson, Zach Debeltz and Xavier Carroll as they were waiting around after the game to be interviewed by Eric Peterson from the Forum and the TV stations in town. It was like a bunch of 6-year-old kids on Christmas Day (trust me, I know that sight!). I wish they could bottle that feeling and then be able to let it out 5, 10, 15 20 years down the line when they have a bad day or find out some tough news. The feeling they had after the win on Saturday will last for the entire season and beyond.
- The Willamette coaching staff and kicking crew was complaining about the wind before and after the game. Line of the day comes from Cobber kicker Carl Hauser when he told the opponents ”this really isn’t blowing that hard!”
- Depressing item of the day – some of the Willamette players had never played on real grass before. Fields in the Northwest are mostly turf because of the rainy conditions and tight field space. Most players nowadays who come out of the Oregon area played their high school ball on the turf and play all their college games at Willamette on turf. Count me among the few that will miss real grass at The Jake when the new turf gets put down. I understand all the great things that it will provide but I will miss all the times in the mud and the great feel that real grass has when you fall on it and how it smells on opening day.
- The press box was filled with many people. I always try and go for the Sunday dinner at Grandma’s atmosphere where the media and other dignitaries feel very welcome and the old box feels “homey”. College Football Hall of fame coach Jim Christopherson spends Saturday afternoons in the press box and sits next to former Cobber athletic director Armin Pipho. Missing because of a wedding was Don and Helen Krause who were the backbone of the college for so many years. Cobber men’s basketball coach Rich Glas made an appearance as did a few players who helped out and then stayed for the halftime buffet. Special thanks goes out to D3football.com writer Adam Johnson who sat in the box and talked football for the game. He is always nice to have at a game and does a great job covering the West Region. His current column features the Cobbers front and center. Check it out:
Concordia Breaks the Mold by Adam Johnson
- The Willamette radio crew was a class act. Both Mike Allegre and Craig Spivey were fun to talk with and got in the spirit of all the “needling” that goes on in the press box during game day.
- Final thought from the win on Saturday belongs to Cobber offensive guard Josh Mitchell. I saw Josh coming out of the locker room after most players had left. He had ice bags taped to his ankles and knees but had a smile from ear to ear. I asked him if he had fun, he smiled wider and said ”yep.” Another fall sports season has begun – yahoo!!
There are a couple of other multimedia recaps from the game. If you haven’t checked out the photo gallery from the game, head on over to our Flickr page:
Cobber Flickr Photo Galleries
You can kill some time by checking out all the photo galleries from the weekend action of soccer, volleyball and cross country. If you check the post above this one you can watch the video highlights of the game on Saturday. Many schools in the conference followed the Cobber lead by adding their own YouTube channel but none have the quality of finished videos that we provide. Graphics, editing, music – nothing is too good for the Cobber Nation!
Final thought from last week that will once again get me in trouble. Zach Debeltz should have been named MIAC Special Teams Plyer of the Week. Unfortunately the committee decided they wanted to play nice and recognize as many players as they could so they gave the award to a player who ran two punts back for TD’s against Macalester – yeah, the same Macalester that dropped out of the MIAC several years back because they said they couldn’t compete with the St. John’s, Concordia and St. Thomas’ of the league. And then who do they go and schedule for the opening game of the season? Check out Zach’s MIAC Player of the Week release and pay attention to the editorial in the last paragraph (some people didn’t appreciate that but oh well, I can’t help it that I bleed maroon and gold now and will stick up for any Cobber player that I feel gets slighted in the smallest way).
- Zach Debeltz named MIAC Defensive Player of the Week
- Zach Debeltz on the D3football.com Team of the Week
That’s all from last week. This weekend’s game should be interesting as the Cobbers have to avoid a letdown, and also put away thoughts of the following weekend’s game against the Johnnies, when they travel to Valley City on Saturday. I hope many of the Cobber Nation will make the trip westward to show their team spirit. The football stadium at Valley City has a nice backdrop and is a fun place to spend a Saturday in the fall. I will be working the Cobber soccer tournament on Saturday but will be listening to the golden voice of Larry Knutson. My crew will be doing the stats from the stands as Valley City uses a completely different statistical program than the one that we have to use for NCAA reporting purposes.
Enjoy the weekend and I promise to have more updates next week as the Cobbers prepare for the Red Menace!
One last thing. We just signed a deal with Stretch Internet to broadcast all our athletic events on their server. This will impact all the football games and then the men’s and women’s basketball games in the winter. Now you will have a much better audio signal to listen to the broadcast and won’t have to play “hit and miss” with our broadcasts. It will also help us broadcast other sports that don’t get covered on a regular basis. So all you fans that had to listen to Saturday’s game on the Willamette site (you know who you are) can come back to the Cobber site and get all the action on a crystal clear signal!!!
