It's the morning after, and some people will still have trouble believing it. Like quarterback Greg McElroy. The University of Alabama signal-caller had a positively eye-popping track record of success going into yesterday's game against the 19th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks-the teams for which he started under center had not lost since he was in eighth grade. The top-ranked Crimson Tide? They had not lost a regular season game in 29 tries, undefeated all of last season, and excluding 2008's SEC Championship Game loss to Florida.
Well, it was #1 vs. #19 yesterday, in an old-fashioned SEC matchup, and Cocks' coach Steve Spurrier bested Nick Saban, and his defense smothered the best running game in the country (Defending Heisman Trophy candidate Mark Ingram had just 41 yards on 11 carries, and Trent Richardson, the nation's best backup, had 23 yards on 6 carries; neither had a touchdown). McElroy had one of the best games of his career, going 27 for 34 passing for 315 yards and two touchdowns, but pinching off Bama's usually explosive running game proved to be key.
The Tide was coming off a clobbering of Florida, which followed a sturring comeback over upset-minded Arkansas the week before. South Carolina, meanwhile, was coming off an ugly 35-27 loss at Auburn, in which their starting quarterback, Stephen Garcia, was benched for losing two fumbles.
South Carolina started hot, with Garcia throwing three touchdown passes in the first two quarters, building a 21-3 advantage over the Tide. Bama then scored with just 38 seconds left in the half, got a safety and a field goal to start the second half, and it was a one-possession game, 21-14. The Gamecocks scored again, Bama answered (on a 51-yard touchdown pass from McElroy to Darius Hanks), and South Carolina responded again, scoring again with just over seven minutes left to put the game away.
Alabama had more total yards (351 to 311) and showed shades of their usual dominant selves, but McElroy was sacked eight times, and that running game never caught fire like it usually does. Bama will likely fall to #5 in the country with this loss, slipping behind undefeated teams Ohio State (#2), Oregon (#3), Boise State (#4), and TCU (#5), all of which won on Saturday.
"It's not a good feeling," a tense McElroy said in a post-game interview, tasting loss for the first time in years. "I promise I will do everything in my power to get these guys ready to go and put this loss in the rearview mirror. We're not gonna have this feeling again."
A certain popular SEC quarterback (he played for Florida) gave a similarly-ambitious declaration after a shocking loss a few seasons ago, and that quarterback (lately of the Denver Broncos), won a National Championship that same year.
Other Scores in College Football:
#17 Michigan State beat #18 Michigan, 34-17; #8 Auburn beat Kentucky, 37-34
#12 LSU beat #14 Florida in The Swamp, 33-29; #16 Stanford beat USC, 37-35
#11 Arkansas beat Texas A&M, 24-17
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For the second-straight year, the New York Yankees swept the Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series, winning two in Minnesota, then winning last night's Game 3 in New York, 6-1. Starting pitcher Phil Hughes held the Twins to just four hits and no runs in seven innings. The Yankees are, of course, the defending world champions.
Whom they will face in the ALCS, however, has not yet been decided. Down 0-2 in the series, down 2-1 in the game, on their opponent's home ground, the Tampa Bay Rays rallied for five runs late, including home runs by Crawford and Carlos Pena, and key RBI singles by Pena and catcher John Jaso. The Rangers had them five outs from a sweep after winning two games in Tampa, but the Rays showed they, unlike the Twins, aren't going out without a fight.
In the National League, both series were dormant. The Cincinnati Reds, down 0-2 to the two-time defending league champion Philadelphia Phillies, are trying to clear their heads after the hideous comedy of errors (four errors, three hit batters, two bases-loaded walks) that robbed them of a 4-0 lead, and 1-1 series tie, on Friday in Philadelphia. Now in Cincinnati-the city's first playoff game since 1995, the Reds look to make something happen.
The other National League series gets going again tonight, in Atlanta, after an 11th inning home run by outfielder Rick Ankiel gave the Braves a huge win in San Francisco to tie that series at one game apiece. The Braves were losing 4-0 after two innings, but never gave up, topping Matt Cain, Brian Wilson, and the rest of the SF bullpen for a huge win.
Said Ankiel, a pitcher-turned-outfielder, of his home run: "It was one of those things where I didn't even wanna go around the bases. I just wanted to go straight to dugout to celebrate with the guys. It's the biggest home run of my career."
I was really excited about Alabama getting beat, I watched the game and it is always great to see a SEC team lose especially one that beat my Longhorns. The Braves looked like a last place team last night as they(I should say Conrad) gave it away after leading 2-1. I was happy for Ankiel when he hit the homer because he does a great job in center compared to the others, just needs to sharpen his bat skills. Hopefully they can get it together tonight to tie the series. Keep up the good work on the Blog I really enjoy it.
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