I'm in the car all day on the way to Tampa, so I won't be around to react to your comments. Carry on without me, though, because one of the new features of RTT 2.0 is the ability to set posts to go live sometime in the future. We have four more first round matchups today. This one should have gone live at 8:00 EST. The others should follow at 10:00, 12:00, and 2:00, all EST. Assuming I did everything right, of course. So boo from the other dimension.
Next up in the Best Plays of 2007 Brackety-ish Thingy is No. 1 seed Big Dan Got Mad Ups versus No. 4 seed The Incontinence of a Nation.
The contestants:
Big Dan Got Mad Ups
At stake: A trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game against LSU.
In-game context: Let's recap. First half: Vols. Second half: 'Cats. First OT: tie. Second OT: disaster for the Vols, as the Vols get the ball first and Erik Ainge throws an interception, usually a death knell in college OT. No problemo, says Big Dan Williams:
Impact: Eric Berry begs to differ, sir Williams, as he was nearly decapitated without consequence due to some bizarre quirk in the OT rules. In any event, that play preserved the tie and the scoreless second OT and set the stage for the Vols to finally win in the 4th OT.
The Incontinence of a Nation
At stake: You know the story. Tennessee was not looking much like Tennessee, with the exception of the Georgia game, and was coming off a horrid loss to Alabama the week before. Would we go in the tank or would we, like so many times in seasons prior, put together a run?
In-game context: There's something I didn't mention in yesterday's Yeehaw for Penalties post, namely that Daniel Lincoln almost didn't have the second chance at a field goal, and it wasn't just the penalty on the prior play, and it wasn't just Ainge's sack and near fumble two plays prior to that. No, two plays prior to that, Arian Foster made 108,000+ lose control of their bladders. Fortunately, offensive lineman Jacques McClendon was their to . . . um . . . mop up:
Impact: Well, that's one way to gain a first down. Tennessee flirted with disaster that entire series, what with Ainge's sack/near fumble and the false start penalty negating Lincoln's miss. But, Lincoln hit the longer one and sent us to OT and the victory.
So which of these two will advance? That's up to you. Vote below.