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Well we finally got a game in and it was an all time Classic MNC game the likes of which USC-Texas can't compare with.
We kicked off and UTEP moved the ball with ease until they bogged down int he red zone and had to settle for a FG.
We could do nothing to move the ball against Gramm's STUD OLB who was seamingly beating the ball to the QB in shotgun snaps. 3 and out and this was looking like every other one of Gramm and mines games.
In the blink of an eye he had railed off a 83 yard TD run and we were looking for some lube.
More of the blitzing OLB put me quickly into a 4th down situation but I had to go for it to try and recapture some sense of momentum. We converted and using a west coast offense featuring our tailback as our primary receiver we scored to make it 10-7.
Less than a minute later Gramm answered with a 33yard pass and it was 17-7.
Sticking with our West Coast offense we drive back down the field in 3:30 and make it 17-4
I started guessing and going for broke at this point and somehow managed to stop UTEP and get the ball back with right at a minute to go before half. Drove the ball well but my dink and dunk offense wasnt going to get anywhere fast and that damn OLB was making sure that anything more than a 3 step drop was a non factor. We were out of timeouts and setting up for a 54 yard FG (well within my K range) to tie it up before half. But somehow I guess the signals got crossed and the punt team went on the field instead. We pooched it and headed into the half a respectable 14-17 trailer with the ball coming our way to start the 3rd.
We took the kickoff and it took us 7 minutes to bumble down the field before a TD gave WSU their first lead at 21-17.
More gambling and dice rolling blitzing and cover 9 mixes and somehow we forced UTEP into a 4th down that they failed to convert and our offense was back on the field.
We barely moved the ball but the excellent field position allowed us to kick a FG and go 24-17.
Suddenly the script flipped again and Gramm was back in business. a 5 minute drive ended with a 32 yard TD pass to knot it up at 24-24.
We set out to drain the clock and hoped to put it away with a last second FG. We were moving the ball well but that damn ROLB was still in the backfield. I am not sure how many tackles or sacks he had but he harassed me ALL. DAY. LONG. Finally with me trying to chew clock and UTEP calling timeouts a run up the middle to position us for a game winning FG slipped through a tackler and stumbled home for a TD giving WSU the 31-24 lead with only :28 seconds left.
We squib kicked it to prevent a big return. I am not sure why I did this, it was stupid. We had kicked every kick out of the back of the endzone with our Guy Award winning kicker all day but my brain died and I panicked. UTEP returned the squib across the 50 and things were tense.
A heroic drive by UTEP ended when the clock ran out with them on the WSU 18 yards line.
What a game. We are thrilled to win but feel like every yard I got was fought for while Gramm gashed me all game long.
Stats bear that out.
My longest rush of the game was 21 yards.my longest reception was 38.
Comparatively UTEP had an 83 yard run and 2 of their WR had 30+ yard catches.
Great game Gramm.
One final note. I am concerned that you think I cheesed out a bit on the HB motion flare pass. FWIW I have no less than 9 different plays that include HD motion into a flat flare route from 2 Shotgun and 2 Pistol formations. While my RB did the brunt of the heavy lifting against your blitz it was not one repeat play. We used all of them and threw to the backside of it a few times as well to WR when you bit on the action.
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