A few thoughts heading into the fourth quarter:

• After surrendering 17 unanswered, Utah has responded with 14 points of their own. Quarterback Brian Johnson is 9/9 in the second half with a touchdown and is really playing like he wants that jacket.
• Hopefully Reggie Campbell is better at navigating open waters than he is at catching passes.
• I didn’t know Utah fans were actually in attendance but now that the Utes have charged back to take the lead, the crowd is sounding more and more pro-Utah
• I still can’t pronounce Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada.
• In addition to the cheerleaders, Utah has a small contingent of what appear to be band groupies all dressed up in red jump suits. I don’t think they’ve stopped jumping around, let alone sat down all game.
• I have confirmed that Utah’s quarterback, Brian Johnson, isn’t the same guy as former Giants catcher and alleged ‘roid user Brian Johnson.

8:52. Navy punter Gret Veteto shows that he is actually human by unleashing a punt that only traveled 36 yards. His previous two were of the super human 51 and 57 brand.

8:54. Brian Johnson connected again with one of his receivers on another underneath route for a first down. Great strategy by Utah; wear them out underneath and then hit them deep. There’s another guy who’s not too bad at quarterback who does the same thing.

8:56. Alleged running quarterback Corbin Louks runs to the right, then turns and actually throws the ball to Darrell Mack for a small gain. This clears up any doubts about him not actually being capable of throwing a football.

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The excitement is building at Qualcomm Stadium during the first bowl game of the season. With a close 10-7 ball game I wonder what Lou Holtz is thinking in the ESPN booth around the corner in the press box. Kevin and Rich pondered what type of cake he selected for his halftime treat. His choices were carrot cake or German chocolate. Navy took the opening kick off to start the game so now it was Utah’s turn to begin with the ball. Their first possession lead to a punt.

On Navy’s ensuing drive the Midshipmen began to swing it out more than ever. The misdirection was too much for Utah to handle though. When Utah thought Navy was going left on an option junior fullback Eric Kettani exploded up the middle for a 43 yard touchdown which simply erupted the cadets in the Navy section. The touchdown by Kettani was the longest touchdown run in Poinsettia Bowl history. The Navy drive lasted 48 seconds on 4 plays for 69 yards.

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A few quick things I have been thinking about as the first half progressed:

• It’s relatively unexpected to see such an attractive cheer team for Navy, no offense to them but you just don’t expect women who look that good to attend service academies.
• Despite their good looks, this cheer team is not very good.
• Still trying to figure out why the Navy mascot is a ram.
• There’s a kid in the press box who is no more than 12 years old. The press pass explicitly states you have to be 18 to have such a pass. He’s here with his dad, but how the hell is he allowed up here?
• Why is the guy in front of me looking at pictures of girls in bras?
• How many hours did the public address guy put into practicing pronouncing the name of Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada? He’s said it three or four times this game and each time its flawless. Needless to say, I’m very impressed.
• Why is the Utes mascot a red tailed hawk? Are they not allowed to have a fake Indian tribe member out there anymore? They had to settle for an hawk? Thank you NCAA. Regardless, his attempts to “fight” the Navy mascot were dismal.
• The way Utah lines up to punt really bothers me. Line up like a normal football team, none of this BS spread out three people in front of the punter garbage.
• Someones flatulence smelled like death. I think we have managed to identify the perp, but cannot confirm that.
• Jason Kidd is unreal, and I am thankful to have him on my fantasy basketball team.

7:39 P.M. The first half comes to a close, some of the lights in the stadium go out. Fireworks perhaps? Or just more of the pep bands? Only time will tell

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Taking over the duties from Kevin and Rich I will now do my best to make you feel like you’re inside Qualcomm Stadium for the first game of this bowl season.

Navy opened up the second quarter by continuing their drive that began in the previous quarter. Within the first minute of the quarter Navy drove into Utah territory which eventually lead to a field goal attempt. Senior place kicker Joey Bullen lined up for the 50 yard try that sailed wide left.

Both Utah and Navy have easily moved the ball into the opposition’s part of the field, but it was the Utes who finally made something out of it with 8:42 left to go in the half. Darrell Mack had only 20 yards rushing in the first quarter, but he finished the first Ute drive of the second quarter with 64 yards and a 5 yard touchdown run. The drive took 5:33 off the clock on 11 plays for 67 yards.

7-0 Utah.

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With a mostly pro-Navy crowd on hand, the Midshipmen came out onto the field to a roaring ovation. As for the Utah Utes, well, they took a bit longer to come out than was expected, probably due to an inspirational speech being given to them by Rick Majerus or Alex Smith. The Utes eventually made it out onto the field, just in time for opening kick off. The Midshipmen won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kick off as the two teams set to go head to head for the first time ever.

Midshipmen returner Reggie Campbell electrified the crowd with an outstanding 49 yard return and the Midshipmen settled into their wishbone offense at midfield. Campbell continued his good start by picking up a key third down on the opening drive. Navy proceeded to stall the drive as quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada’s pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage. Due to the impossibility of spelling his name out every single time, I’m going to cut my first corner of the night and call him Kaipo Kaheaku.

On the fourth down play, Navy fumbled the punt snap and turned it over to Utah at the Midshipmen 44. Butterfingers!

On the following Utah drive, quarterback Alex Smith Brian Johnson threw an interception to Navy linebacker Ross Pospisil. It was Pospisil’s first career interception that wasn’t enemy communication.

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5:04 P.M. We were just informed by the announcer in the press box that kickoff will be precisely at 6:12 PM. That means we have just over an hour left before kickoff and there are probably no more than 2,000 people in the stadium. Good start.

5:07 P.M. The TV’s in the press box change from the Duke-Pittsburgh basketball game to the NFL Network and a game that no one in this press box wants to watch. The good news? Qualcomm Stadium gets NFL Network and my apartment still does not.

5:08 P.M. The guy about 15 seats over is hosting a radio show from the press box. He is quite audible from halfway across the press box, making him a media favorite. Right now he appears to be trying to give away some sort of prize based off a trivia questions. The callers are o-for.

5:12 P.M. We are officially one hour away from kickoff and still there are not many fans here. Apparently one person in the press box does care about tonights Steelers-Rams game, Sonny has Steven Jackson in one of his fantasy leagues and has a vested interest in the game.

5:14 P.M. Here come the Navy Midshipmen, making the blue and gold uniforms look much better than Notre Dame did, probably because their team isn’t a disgrace to their school. Read the rest of this entry »