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 »

Rich, Kevin, and Sonny will be in attendance at the Poinsettia Bowl this evening and will be posting a live blog on the game’s events throughout the night. Stay posted!

NIU finally gets on the board, no thanks to its atrocious offense. Another blocked punt results in a touchdown by John Tranchitella. If there is one good thing for Northern Illinois it is their special teams play. That is the third blocked kick by the Huskies tonight with one finally resulting in points.

Of course they couldn’t score without screwing up somehow. When the cheerleaders brought out the flags spelling out “Huskies” the “I” and the “E” were struggling to hold up their flags and they were both draping on the ground. Let’s work on that for next year NIU.

Northern Illinois forgot to cover the tight end Brent Hecht, and as expected, that ends up badly, a touchdown was the result of that error.

Garrett Wolfe has passed San Diego Chargers running back Michael Turner, and NIU alum, for the Mid-American Conference single season rushing record. Unfortunately Wolfe has done it in a relatively unimpressive fashion.

They just announced a crowd of 29,709, and it appears as if most of them have wizened up and left the stadium by now. It may not look like it, but by San Diego standards it is pretty cold, and I am sure most fans have retreated to warmer places.

It’s too bad we don’t get to see NIU go for it on 4th and 24, but on the bright side we get to see the best player on NIU tonight, the punter Andy Dittbenner, who has averaged 41.6 yards per punt.

Either the fourth quarter has been a running clock, or I have just completely lost track of time. The quarter is flying by, and I can’t say I’m upset.

TCU just ran a pooch punt to perfection, downing the ball at the six yard line. NIU is even more screwed now that they’re in the shadow of their own end zone. Not that it really matters, as there are only four minutes left and they are just going to run out the clock.

We’re opting out of going down onto the sidelines mostly because it’s way too cold for us, but also because we don’t really have a whole lot to ask the players or coaches in the post game interview. This will change at the Holiday Bowl, which we will be attending, and we will definitely be going onto the field and into the press conferences .

This game wraps up with NIU posting an ugly 60 yards of offense and 6 first downs. TCU managed 455 yards of offense and 23 first downs. TCU takes a 37-7 victory and the Poinsettia Bowl Trophy home with them. In a credit to NIU, at least they had zero penalties, but as I predicted, TCU came away with the victory.

If I was Jewish or celebrated Kwanzaa, I might be offended at that halftime show I just witnessed. Between Santa Claus, a huge Christmas tree made of tinsel, and loud screaming kids, this show had it all for fans of Christmas. It had a nice finish in fireworks going around the entire ring of Qualcomm Stadium as well as traditional fireworks. Unfortunately, neither of those things were visible in the Qualcomm Stadium press box. Just a minor flaw here at the Q.

A couple of my personal highlights is the weirdness of journalists here in the press box. One guy openly complained to everybody around him that “This is a joke.” Was he referring to the bloodbath on the field? No, he was mad about the lack of sugar and cups at the drink booth. Fast forward a few minutes. Cookies are on sale for $1. Apparently, one guy doesn’t want to pay for them. I personally watch him stick two in his jacket and walk out.

TCU’s first drive was a firm statement to the Huskies: we’re simply better than you. I really like Jeff Ballard’s combination of mobility and pocket awareness. It will be interesting to see where he projects in the NFL Draft. A Lonta Hobbs run was ruled down at the one yard line but nobody told the TCU Fog Horn operator or Charger Cannon operator, both of which went off in celebration of a touchdown that didn’t take place. Ballard didn’t seem to mind, he scored easily on a QB keeper. PAT good and we have a rout on our hands. 23-0 Horned Frogs. A 7 play, 80 yard drive. Read the rest of this entry »

The second quarter kicked off with some random kid on the scoreboard missing half of his front teeth. His parents are obviously grooming him to be a hockey player.

The Northern Illinois defense looked more like the Indianapolis Colts defense during the touchdown run by Jeff Ballard on the second play of the quarter. Four missed tackles on the ten yard run isn’t normally a good thing. Thankfully, TCU was able to convert this extra point attempt, saving their special teams’ face.

The NIU offense took over on their first possession of the quarter looking to actually gain yards. They managed to do that, but the three yards they gained on that drive won’t offset the offensive woes of the first quarter. And by woes I mean -8 yards in the first quarter. But at least their punter looks good. He hit a career long punt earlier and is averaging over 40 yards per kick. It’s a shame that is the lone bright spot. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ll admit, this is pretty damn cool. Free food, free parking, and an envelope full of souvenirs. I was extremely surprised by the coin toss. Instead of local stars LaDainian Tomlinson (TCU alum) or Michael Turner (Northern Illinois alum), the ceremonial coin toss was performed by a small Make a Wish kid. Either way, TCU is kicking off to the Huskies…and owning returner Britt Davis before they get to the 10 yard line.

With TCU kicking off, both teams took the time to wave their random giveaways. Northern Illinois fans are rocking some silver thundersticks. At kickoff, it’s safe to say It’s safe to say TCU came out a bit angry that they’re even playing in this bowl game. This is a team that felt it had a chance to run the Mountain West Conference and crash the BCS, ala Urban Meyer’s Utah team a couple years back.

A quick NIU 3-and-out was highlighted by the stuffing of star running back Garrett Wolfe, one of the only players in this game I’m familiar with. Early readers of Sportable will remember my blatant sackriding of Wolfe and my Heisman endorsement for him. A good punt return by Brian Bonner put the TCU offense in great field position. Three plays later, Lonta Hobbs was in the endzone for a Horned Frogs touchdown. I remember Hobbs as damn near unstoppable on NCAA Football 2007. Northern Illinois likely feels the same way after Hobbs’ first two runs. In a hilarious ending to the drive, Chris Manfredini’s PAT was blocked. As I stated “That’s two points”, Manfredini showed his wheels and ran down Northern Illinois at around midfield. Read the rest of this entry »