Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Weber's Game at Northern Colorado...Fighting off the Comeback.

At the end of the third quarter in Greeley, Weber State had a 21-17 lead.  The Cats had a commanding 21-14 lead at the half and the Bears dominated the third quarter.  The home team put ten points on the board and held WSU with only one first down.  The comeback bid and upset bid was on.  How did Weber stop it?

1.  Missed field goal drive.  Weber State's first drive of the fourth quarter ended up in a missed field goal for WSU.  Even though the field goal was missed, the drive burned nearly five minutes from the clock.  For the first time in the second half, Weber began to drive the ball.  It game the defense some much needed rest.

2.  After the missed field goal, the Bears were able to drive.  But the drive stalled and all that they were able to manage was a field goal attempt to cut the lead to one point.  This turned out to be a big boost for the Weber State defense.  Why?  You were ahead by less than one touchdown and you are still ahead by less than one touchdown.

3.  On the ensuing kickoff, Northern Colorado made a mistake that all but ended their comeback attempt.  The offsides penalty mean that they had to get cute to avoid kicking the ball to Bo Bolen, who had killed them so far that day.  Weber, however got to start the drive close to mid-field.  A Bo Bolen run later, the Cats are knocking at the door to score the game-ending touchdown.

4.  Even though the Bears had over three minutes left when they got the ball back, they got desperate and threw the game-ending interception on second down.

Now it is time for the showdown of the year in Missoula.


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