Thursday, January 2, 2014

Bowl Week: Fiesta Bowl Game Day

Well, what can we say. It's been a great, record-breaking season for Baylor. Six months ago, if someone told me Baylor would finish 11-2, be outright Big 12 champs, and play in a BCS bowl, I would not have argued with an outcome like that. 

But last night's 52-42 loss to the University of Central Florida ends the season on a sour note. The OSU loss was tough. We knew Baylor's chances  of playing for a national championship were slim, but the OSU loss took away all hope. However, we knew we could still win out and get at least a Big 12 co-championship. Not only did the Bears win those last two games, but OU beat OSU, giving Baylor the outright championship. But now the season is over and the pain of this loss to UCF in the Fiesta Bowl will sting all the way til next season. 

But enough whining and negativity!  We had a fun trip, and got to experience a great BCS game in the last year of the BCS. Elliot did not want to get in a picture here with dorky me ....
.... so I had to sneak this one of him.
We went to the Tostitos Tailgate Party at the stadium, watched the band march in and sang the fight song with many other Baylor faithful.
Somehow I convinced Elliot to dress up like a jar of queso.
When we'd had our fill of the tailgate, we found our way to our seats. We had great seats--10 rows up behind the bench. Thanks, Mom and Dad!  The stadium feels like a big, drafty barn. (After going to games at Jerry World, I think every other stadium will feel like a dump.) There was a nice-sized Baylor crowd on hand, pretty clearly outnumbering UCF fans.  The team ran onto the field looking ready to play. 
Unfortunately they weren't. The Bears spotted UCF 2 touchdowns, so they were down 14-0 halfway through the first quarter. The rest of the night was playing catch up, and they never quite could get in front.
They committed way too many penalties, including 2 key pass interference calls which extended drives resulting in TDs. They did not capitalize on turnovers. And, most disappointingly, Tevin Reese was a non-factor; the revived passing game I was hoping for failed to materilaize. 
What a horribly disappointing end to an unimaginably fantastic season. We have had some good times going to every Baylor game this year. We may never get to every game in a season again but we will certainly get to every one we can. Lots of starters will be returning next year, the new stadium will be opening, and a Big 12 title is not out do the question. Now to start counting the days until kickoff against SMU. Sic 'em!
By the way, we saw some cool desert scenery while we were in Arizona. 

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Great job with this blog, Paul. Thanks for chronicling your adventures for the rest of us. I know your kids will enjoying reading your posts years from now.

It was a really fun season, but you are totally right about the ending--total frustration. As good as UCF is, Baylor should not have looked as bad as they did. We came too far to end it like that.

Hope 2014 is a great year for you and I'll hope to run into you at the new stadium in the fall.