I'm glad I don't have a heart problem, because even without one, I was feeling palpitations in my chest for most of today's Oregon - Texas Tech football game in hot Lubbock.
It was a familiar feeling, given past occasions when Oregon unexpectedly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
I get excited about being able to watch the Ducks play, since we rely on DirecTV for television watching, and DirecTV still doesn't carry the Pac 12 Networks, which is where the Oregon - Portland State blowout game in favor of the Ducks was last week.
(Of course, now that Oregon is headed to the Big Ten, and the Pac 12 is down to the Pac 2 (Oregon State and Washington State), likely the Pac 12 Networks won't exist after this school year.)
So I got our DVR recording the Oregon - Texas Tech game, which was on Fox, thankfully. I'd noted that Oregon was favored to win by several touchdowns. After all, the Ducks are ranked #13 in the country and Texas Tech lost to Wyoming in its first game.
That made the first three quarters tough to watch.
I started all optimistic. Then reality set in. Oregon was playing in an uninspired fashion. Lots of penalties. Lots of dropped passes. Offensive play calling that seemed drearily predictable. Not only weren't there any creative trick plays, the standard plays often weren't having much success.
Still, at halftime Oregon was ahead 18-13. I hoped that Oregon would pull away in the second half, but the opposite happened. In the third quarter Oregon didn't score and trailed Texas Tech 18-27.
Visions of any chance the Ducks had of making the national playoff being flushed down the football toilet danced through my head.
Until the fourth quarter happened. Once again, quarterback Bo Nix came up with clutch plays, as did the Oregon defense. A couple of interceptions sealed the deal. Final score: 38-30.
Whew! My heart felt way better after Oregon put up 20 points in the final quarter while Texas Tech managed only three.
Hopefully this bodes well for the rest of the Ducks' season. They've got the makings of a great team. I do have to admit, though, that the Texas Tech Masked Rider has a flair that the Ducks' mascot lacks.
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