Fake Spike Friday

Dec 28, 2011. A very important day. BYU bowl game!!!!! vs Tulsa. Some of the family was still in GA, but the Neerings, Broadheads & Litster's joined as at M&D's so the kids could play together, the adults could watch the game and we could all. eat. good food. Dave & Sabrina had a veggie tray, Melanie had a 7 layer dip (and you can never go wrong with that!!!) I blue BYU football shaped tortilla chips and I got some Inca Cola soda from M&D's stash in the garage..... Oh, yeah and I also made a batch of salsa chicken in the crockpot. And there were those who had some/a lot of 7 layer dip with their chips but everyone got plenty to eat! Oh, yeah. I was also a big fan of the "cheese puffs" that Derbs brought.

As a sidenote, Carter decided he wants to be a Ute fan now, not so much because he is passionate about college football, but like as he said to him Mom, "I just think the family needs a UT fan." There was some initial ribbing from his cousins but it all got sorted out with help from Mom's and Dad's......

To sum up the game, BYU beat Tulsa, 24-21. Cody Hoffman scored all 3 touchdowns for the Cougars. There was also a field goal scored. There were memorable plays-like Matt Reynolds making a helmet-less block and leveling a Tulsa defender giving Nelson the time to complete a touchdown pass to Hoffman. Also, when it was 4th & 9 at the end of the game, Nelson kept the ball and made an awesome 14 yard run to keep the Cougar's victory hopes alive.

The game was won in the final 20 seconds with some awesome plays from Riley Nelson QB and Hoffman. BYU lined up like and Tulsa believed that BYU would spike the ball in the final seconds to run time off the clock, get a better play off, etc. A spike was the call from the coaches. But Nelson recalled a Dan Marino play he saw as a kid where Marino did a fake spike and won the game. So Nelson acted like he was going to spike the ball, then brought it up and then a pass to Hoffman in the endzone who had a defender behind him but wasn't heavily guarded because of the supposed spike/end of play. Then all merriment, yelling & cheering exploded. Yep. Awesome.

About a week after the game, when M&D were home from GA and I was visiting them, we were watching a dvr recording of the game highlights. Mom and I both had the same thought,"Ww know what a fake spike is in theory, but how is that a great play to win the game???" So we paused the dvr and moved it forward in slow motion. Dad was kind enough to walk us through step by step. Nelson looking to spike the ball, Hoffman casually jogging into the endzone, Nelson bringing the ball back up, etc. Thanks, Dad! It was memorable :)