In what my PlayStation described as "the greatest college football game of all time," the Illinois State Redbirds rallied to beat the nationally-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide 34-27 in the wee hours of Saturday morning video game action.
NCAA Football 09 by EA Sports features current rosters of every college football team that will be kicking off their season in about a week. The game ranks the players according to their real life skill level, and in total assigns a letter grade to the caliber of the team. Despite a grade of "D-", Illinois State alum Joe McDonald was undaunted at scheduling a game against B+ rated Bama, alma mater of someone that Dona knows, or at least she sure acts like it.
"We can beat anyone on our home turf," said McDonald, mindful of the Hancock Stadium faithful, famous for noise levels that rival the top Mennonite churches in the nation.
In the early going the Redbirds made good on McDonald's claim -- except that they had apparently chosen to beat themselves.
Employing a playbook that required the quarterback to drop back five steps after the snap, the Birds' first two possessions resulted in negative yardage. Following the second, a warbling punt by the weak-footed kicker was gleefully carried back to the end zone by Mike McCoy. The Normal crowd seemed dismayed that no tackler had even touched McCoy, but by the end of the game, had gotten rather used to it.
The saving grace for Illinois State was their defense, blitzing on every play and confounding senior quarterback John Parker Wilson in the swirling, snowy conditions. For the rest of the first half, the offense managed only two field goals from Leigh Tiffin.
Meanwhile the Redbird offense finally found a formula for success with the ball. The offense moved to a shotgun formation, with sophomore quarterback Joe DeVries lining up seven yards behind the snap to give extra time against Alabama's crushing defensive pass rush. And when DeVries found senior wideout Jake Rourke on a deep pass pattern down the right sideline, the fans erupted like a nestful of small, flightless baby birds.
Having found a chink in Alabama's armor, McDonald used the DeVries-to-Rourke weapon relentlessly the rest of the game. "Got to use what the good Lord gives you," he said. Rourke's 6'3" frame gave him a clear height advantage over any defender the Tide had at their disposal. By the end of the game, Rourke had amassed an NCAA record 530 receiving yards and DeVries had tallied 620 passing yards, including a touchdown strike that left the halftime score 13-7 Alabama.
When DeVries hit Eureka product Dean Eastman on a 29-yard score at the 4:20 mark of the third quarter, scoreboard watchers across America were in for the stunning reality that mighty Alabama was losing to a team picked to finish seventh in a football conference more famous for its logo (the St. Louis arch) than its talent.
At least, they would have been stunned, if Bama senior Nikita Stover hadn't returned the kickoff for a touchdown eight seconds later, before the score could even be posted.
DeVries-to-Rourke immediately drove ISU to the end zone and back in front, inspiring near-audible cheers that died when Stover returned the kickoff for yet another eight-second touchdown. The Birds' combined sixteen seconds of lead appeared to be the end of the dream, as the unproven DeVries led two drives deep into Alabama territory before being picked off in the end zone. Fortunately the ISU defense was playing the game of its life. Led by senior safety Tom Nelson's five tackles and crucial interception, Wilson was harried into an abysmal 32% passing completion percentage with no touchdowns, four sacks and just 136 yards in the air.
With two minutes left in the game, ISU faced a crucial fourth-and-ten situation at its own 40 yard line, and McDonald gambled by refusing to punt.
"So, you thought I should kick the ball to the guy who we can't tackle?" asked an incredulous McDonald.
Despite the overly mean comments to a perfectly harmless question, the plan struck gold when Rourke snagged the desperation toss to keep the drive alive, igniting the crowd to rise softly to its feet. With just 1:24 in the game, DeVries capped the dramatic stretch with a pass to Rourke in heavy coverage that tied the score. The deflated Tide surrendered the ball quickly, giving Illinois State a shot at immortality.
"There was no way we were not scoring," DeVries said, brimming with newfound confidence and butchery of the English language. "How could we let down all those chirping crickets?"
Rourke, seeming now like a titan guarded by a horde of flailing gnomes, leaped in the end zone and snared the ball for the sixteenth and final time with twenty-six seconds left on the clock. A noble gasp of a drive from Wilson fizzled at the twenty-five yard line. The Redbirds had pulled off the greatest feat since Moses.
Of course, Moses had people watching.
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