College football nirvana in Chicago

By Todd Erickson  |   Saturday, September 06, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

BYU Cougars
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What do you do if you find yourself in Chicago on business travel on college football game day and you don't want to miss your team's game? If you're like Derrick and Patty Malone of Xenia, Ohio, you head straight to 43 East Ohio Street--home of Chicago's ESPNZone, a place where more than 110 high-definition TV screens in a variety of configurations offer up to 16 games simultaneously.

That's the same dilemma I found myself in this weekend and arrived at the same conclusion. Hence this live blog from a table at the third level of the 13-screen room on the second floor of ESPNZone ...

12:37 p.m. (Chicago Time)

We arrived early and waited to be seated at a table in the large screening room that I had reserved using my ESPNZone MVP Club membership privileges. My son Zack, who just graduated from basic training at the U.S. Navy base at Great Lakes, Ill., and college student-athlete daughter Whitney accompanied me. They rushed off to the Zone's game area to take each other on in an all-important contest of brother-versus-sister hoop-shooting accuracy.

12:55 p.m.

It didn't take me long to figure out whom Derrick and Patty were rooting for. They were in mortal agony as their beloved Buckeyes were losing to the Mid American Conference's Ohio University.

1:12 p.m.

Antoine, one of ESPNZone's production techs, just figured out a solution for getting me an extension cord plug-in for my laptop. This will allow me to keep my same table for the next few hours while I cover the BYU-Washington game on a Fox Sports Net feed. Imagine that: ESPN is gracious enough to offer its competition's games here. Sweet.

1:36 p.m.

Following appetizers, Zack enjoys his order of pesto pizza and Whit is overwhelmed by the size of her chicken tender salad. Our server Carrie brings silver covers for their plates while they head off to explore NikeTown and some of the other attractions in the area.

1:55 p.m.

Ohio State had a huge fourth quarter and came back to defeat the Bobcats, so Derrick and Patty are happy campers as they leave the Zone.

2:10 p.m.

The Boston College-Georgia Tech game ran over schedule, so by the time the BYU- Washington game comes on screen "feed #6," the Cougars are already winning 7-0.

2:58 p.m.

Jake Locker has thrown for a touchdown and scored on a run, while BYU's Max Hall has tossed two TDs. The score is deadlocked at 14-14 halfway through the second quarter. I think I'm the only person watching this game in the room; everyone else seems preoccupied with the Notre Dame - San Diego State game that has come on the big screen. Server Carrie swings by to make sure my lemonade is refilled.

3:22 p.m.

BYU and Washington are even at 14 at the midway point of their game. A few quick observations: Aside from hauling in a 38-yard TD pass on BYU's first drive, Austin Collie has dropped at least four throws. Very uncharacteristic of him. Harvey Unga is running over everyone and everything in his path. Unless the Cougars can find a way to contain Jake Locker, they are not going to win this game.

3:56 p.m.

The second half is underway and Washington launched a long touchdown drive to take the lead 21-14. It's pretty obvious the Husky O-line is holding on nearly every pass play. Wonder what the officials are seeing?

4:08 p.m.

BYU counters with a long drive of its own, capped off by a bruising 11-yard touchdown run by fullback Fui Vakapuna. The game's tied 21-21. I finally decided to order my entree and take Carrie's suggestion of the Cajun Chicken sandwich. Notre Dame fans in the room are vocally expressing their displeasure at the inability of the Irish to score on the Aztec defense. SDSU leads 7-0 with less than 2 minutes remaining in the first half.

4:15 p.m.

BYU finally holds Locker & Co. It's still 21-21 with under a minute remaining in the third quarter. I predicted a close game earlier this week, with BYU winning by four points. This will be an interesting fourth quarter coming up with a Husky punt now pinning the Cougars on their own 3-yard line.

4:21 p.m.

Irish fans are whooping it up as the golden domers just scored to tie the game up at 7. The fourth quarter is now underway and Max Hall just connected with tight end Dennis Pitta on a 29-yard completion to get the Cougars out of a hole on their 3-yard line. Another Husky is hurt and down on the field; by my count, that's the fifth Washington player helped off the field today.

4:26 p.m.

Harvey Unga just rambled for another 8 or 9 yards and he's over 100 for the day. Hall connects with Pitta again for another 20 yards. Another Washington player is down on the field. BYU has driven to just outside the Washington 20-yard line on this drive.

4:31 p.m.

The Husky player must be hurt really bad. They are taking him off the field on a stretcher. Jake Locker is leading his kneeling teammates in a prayer on the Washington sideline. OK, I have to mention two minor drawbacks to covering a game here; one, the wireless connection is really slow. Also, if there is any way to get audio on a game other than the big screen, I haven't figured it out yet; there must be a way, because some Connecticut fans were sitting in the booth next to us not too long ago and the play-by-play announcer for their game against Temple was clearly audible. I checked with Leslie LeSage, operations manager, and she was very helpful and said she'd look into it.

4:32 p.m.

My main order just arrived. Wow, Carrie was right about this Cajun Chicken sandwich. It is delicious.

4:37 p.m.

Harvey Unga just fumbled the ball at the goal line and the play is under review by Pac-10 officials. That's not a position you want to put yourselves in as a visiting team, but it was pretty clear that he fumbled before breaking the plane of the goal line. Washington has the touchback and the ball on its own 20 with 11:33 left in the game. What a punch to BYU's gut after a 97-yard drive would have put the Cougars up by 7. That's the second BYU drive deep into Husky territory that has ended in a turnover this game. They are shooting themselves in the foot.

4:45 p.m.

BYU holds on the Huskies and forces the punt. There's 8:19 remaining on the clock. I just noticed that a house salad accompanied by sandwich. Kudos to ESPNZone chef for using a baby green mix instead of iceberg lettuce in the salad.

4:49 p.m.

BYU is driving again. Max Hall is 25-of-36 for 282 yards. Hold on; he just hit Pitta for another 25 yards or so. BYU is down near the Husky 30-yard line with 5:20 left on the clock.

4:53 p.m.

Notre Dame fans just went silent as SDSU intercepted Jimmy Clausen in the end zone. Back to the BYU game. Hall just hit Pitta for a 15-yard score. BYU 28, Washington 21 with 3:31 remaining in the game. Can the BYU defense hold Jake Locker on this next drive to seal the game? Unga already has 133 yards on 23 carries in this game.

4:57 p.m.

The Cougar defense forces a third-and-3, but Jake Locker drills a pass into one of his receivers for the first down -- 2:15 remaining.

A quick note to my readers here. ESPNZone did not comp any food or services today. I do appreciate their hospitality and service rendered today.

5:03 p.m.

Locker just ran for a first down on fourth-and-8 to keep the Huskies alive in this game. A play later, he got creamed but completed another pass for another first down. There is 54 seconds left and Washington has the ball on BYU's 29-yard line. Both teams have two timeouts left.

5:16 p.m.

After Locker was flagged for intentional downing the ball, he completed a long pass for another first down on the Cougar 18-yard line. Thirty-six seconds left.

Incomplete pass on first down. Thirty-one ticks left. Locker just tucked the ball and ran it to the BYU 3-yard line. Twenty-three seconds left. Another first down. Locker tosses one into the corner and BYU defender Scottie Johnson breaks it up. Second down. Locker overthrows a receiver in the end zone. Eight seconds left. Third down. Locker runs it in to make it 28-27. Unsportsmanlike conduct on Washington. Will they be assessed the 15 yards on the extra point or the kick off? Here we go ... BYU blocked the extra point attempt and recovered the ball. The score is 28-27 and the clock still shows two seconds. There's another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Not sure whom it's on, but Washington just attempted an onside kick and recovered the ball. It looked like he caught the ball inside the 10-yard zone. Penalty on Washington and there will be another kickoff. The clock shows NO time remaining, but the game cannot end on a penalty.

5:17 p.m.

Another kickoff attempt by Washington -- this time into the end zone for a touchback and BYU will have the ball on its 20-yard line. One second left. Hall will take a knee on the snap. He does, and that's it. BYU holds on to beat Washington for the first time ever in Seattle. Final score 28-27, BYU over Washington.

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About Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and pens the RealFootball365 Top 25 college football power rankings and "Fourth and inches..." weekly columns from August thru January. He is currently working on the second edition of Road to the Rose Bowl...
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