I said those words to my good buddy Brent (and anyone else around me who would listen) as Tood Reesing took the field, 67 yards from the end zone, down 37-33 with 1:50 to play on Saturday.
"This drive will define his career".
Its taken me a couple days to get around to typing this up ... but job well done Todd. Job friggin well done!
(And yup, I friggin hate how we can't used "mission accomplished!" to actually mean, uuh, mission accomplished anymore ...)
Let's hit the recap. And as always, seeing as how its been 3 days and I'm finishing typing this up at 6am, if I forget anything, its what we have a comments section for ...
* 6:03pm Friday night. I'm leaving the ATM, headed to Kohl's to buy a pair of fleece pants to try to stay warm the next day. I have already bought what I'm making (cheezy hashbrowns, vodka jello shots). I also bought what Dusty was going to make (salsa / pico ingredients). I'm attempting to decide between adidas and Nike, when the happy phone call arrives.
"We need brown sugar".
God I love tailgating.
* 6:00am Saturday morning. My alarm goes off. I get up, check email and other assorted online things, throw the hashbrowns in the oven, and head off to take a shower. If you had "2" at that point in the Steve drinking game, congratulations, you'd have pushed.
* 7:40ish, we're off for the stadium, after loading up the car and getting some ice. Pulled in next to Damien, Clare and some dude whose name I should remember but don't. Matt something. I think it was Colley. I'm just gonna pull a Gregg here and call him "Phil".
* we managed to get my usual Chiefs tailgating spot. Hooray us.
* Brent, Meagan, and Mallory arrived shortly after.
* Borrowing the tent might have been the smartest idea I've had this year. Which granted isn't saying much. But still.
* D had the breakfast tacos rocking early. The mamossa's were solid too. Ditto the jello shots. Seriously, when 2 of the 3 best things there are alcohol fueled, its a solid morning.
* Wait, did I say 2 of the 3? I meant 2 of the 4. Because there were chocolate chip cookies too. With two different flavors, one of them of a happy, distinct persuasion. A huge hooray us!!!
* About 9:30ish, Brent's folks arrived. Good times had by all.
* Around 10, some girls came up selling KU and MU beads for a buck to support some team they're affiliated with. After dropping the obligatory "what, you aren't gonna earn them" jokes, a few of us bought some off of them. Then headed into the tent for a round of jello shots.
And one of the girls selling the beads then asks, dead serious, "can I have a jello shot". Absolutely.
Brent and others argue she was 13. I say she was at least 14. Either way ... chalk it up to another "if Steve ever knocks someone up, dear God get the state involved before the kid is born" moment.
And in my defense, she took that thing like a champ. That was not her first jello shot. Not by a long shot. Mallory needs to take lessons from this girl on how to do a shot of jello.
* And yes, as soon as she left, someone noted "we should have given her a cookie".
* 10:15ish, I'm talking to Brent and his dad, and notice a red Camry pull in a couple rows in front of us and think "hmmm, that guy looks familiar". Sure enough, Uncle Bill! He and my cousin joined us for the rest of the tailgate. No tin cup this time sadly. But he did have the Beam.
* Whoever came up with the idea to move the grill inside the tent to warm the thing up, good decision. Although really, considering it was 30 degrees out and snowing, it really wasn't all that bad.
* Packed up and headed in about 11:10. The line to get in was jammed but it moved.
* Our seats were rock solid. My section for Chiefs games, only under the overhang. Huge, considering it snowed the entire game.
* And that's another thing. You have to love snow games. It makes the cold bearable.
* Solid start by KU, jumping out 10-0. Coach "Two Yards Wide" said in the postgame that Todd Reesing couldn't even lift his throwing arm above his shoulder on Wednesday. Three days later he goes out and drops a 375 yard, 4 TD performance on our most hated rival. I only got one word for that: grapefruits.
* The safety was sweet. 12-7 KU after that. 19-10 at the half after a TD in our end zone.
* KU came out and took a 26-10 lead. All going well in Jayhawk Nation midway through the 3rd quarter. Then, the tide begins to turn ...
* Touchdown Mizzou, I believe this was Washington's run. Pinkle "sits when he tinkles" goes for two. A lot of fans and columnists have ripped this decision. I agreed with it, because I believe down 10 at that point, you don't assume you'll get 2 more goal to go situations, or solid scoring options. You hope to get one. There were less than 20 minutes to go. I'd have gone for two. I won't rip that decision by Pinkle "sits when he tinkles".
* MU then cuts the lead to 26-23 after a Reesing pick. As Brent noted at this point, "Its South Florida again". As I noted at this point ... well, I won't repeat what I noted. But it wasn't happy thoughts.
* The fourth quarter ... if that isn't as good as it gets. That's what football is all about. Two bitter rivals. A rocking stadium filled to the top. Back and forth. Huge plays on both sides. The snow falling, hard enough to create a beautiful awe-inspiring visual, but not hard enough to affect the on-field play.
It was neat.
* MU takes the lead with 7 minutes left 30-26 on a beautiful Daniel pass to Coffman. Incredible read and react on that play. That set off the south and east sides of the stadium. It also apparently opened the heavens, because the snow really started falling from that point on.
* Up to this point, if this is how the game had ended, I'd have been fine with it. Great hard fought game in the snow, passionate fans rocking the joint ... only we weren't even close to finished.
* Briscoe took the kickoff and returned it to midfield. You give Reesing the ball at midfield, good things are going to happen.
* 4:30 to go, Reesing! Meier! Touchdown! Now the north and east side of the stadium erupts! Hugs, high fives, all around celebration! The huge play on this drive was the down before, when Reesing converted a 3rd and 17 by hitting Briscoe to the 8.
* Again, if this is how the game ended, wonderful. Incredible, great game, honored to witness it live. We weren't even close to finished yet.
* MU gets the ball back, and Chase Daniel does what he does: calmly, methodically, controlledly (if that's a word) drives his team down the field. The huge play, I thought, was Daniel's 20 yard scramble on a busted 3rd and 2 play.
* MU takes the lead with 1:50 to go on a Washington draw play. 37-33 Mizzou. The entire stadium was just eating this up at this point. Just a sense of "holy f*cking sh*t, we're seeing this live!" Haven't had that feeling in that stadium in a long, long time.
* It is at this point, 1:50 to go, kickoff upcoming, that I mention "this drive will define Reesing's career". Either he'll go down as good enough to almost beat Mizzou, or he'll lead one of the greatest final drives in program history. Either way, I was fired up to see how it played out.
* and again, if this was where the game ended ... are you kidding me? 3 touchdowns in the last 7 minutes? One team punches, the other strikes back with a body blow, then a shot to the head, then ... the kill shot? Just an awesome, awesome game to be in attendance at.
* Reesing takes over at his own 33, 1:40 to go. Hits Jake Sharp on a great cross body throw for a 12, 13 yard gain. It should probably be noted, Jake Sharp was playing with bruised ribs. Not rib. Ribs. He stood in there all day and took shot after shot picking up the blitz. Awe-inspiring.
* Reesing to Meier, first down at the MU 44. 1:20 to go.
* Reesing to Meier, gets 7 to the MU 37. 1:10 to go.
* Reesing, on 3rd and 3, scrambles, steps up, steps back, scrambles ... and hits Meier for what appears to be a huge 3rd down conversion to the MU 29. Replay confirms, catch Kansas!
* I guess at this point I should compliment the KU offensive line. They had many, many issues this year. And yes, Reesing had to improvise a little bit. But by in large, they manned up. Reesing wasn't touched in that fourth quarter.
* 1st and 10 Kansas, at the Mizzou 29, :53 to go. Reesing to Meier, appears to get out at about the MU 22. Only ...
* I thought Pinkle "sits when he tinkles" challenge of Meier's catch was solid. If you're going to take the timeout anyways, why not challenge? Replay showed Meier touched down in bounds. So 2nd and 7 at the MU 26, :46 to go. With the clock set to go on the set, rather than the snap.
* 2nd down, Reesing to Briscoe! Horrible decision. MU had it well covered. Incomplete at the goalline. :38 to go.
* 3rd and 7, incomplete for Briscoe. The game, the drive, a legitimate bowl, on the line.
* To say I was nervous at this point, is the understatement of the century. I'm not sure the flask ever left my lips on this final drive.
* 4th and 7, :33 to go, at the MU 26. The entire stadium going nuts. The snap. Reesing buys time, steps up ... and he's open! He's open! Kerry Meier! Breaks off his route, beats his defender! Touchdown Kansas! Touchdown Kansas! KU takes the lead 40-37! Holy crap!
* and there's still :27 to go!
* Seriously, that play ... just awesome.
* Why we kicked deep to Maclin, I have no idea. MU ball, at their 45, :19 to go. Daniel over the middle to the 37, :11 to go. Why they didn't call timeout, I don't know. It didn't hurt them, the spike only cost them a second. But when you've got two timeouts, use one there to get a play called.
* After an incompletion, its field goal attempt time. From 54 ... blocked! Blocked! Kansas wins! Kansas wins!
* After a few minutes of jubilant celebration, watching Reesing do a leap into the fans in the west end zone, time to head out. And speaking of things that haven't been heard in that stadium in a long, long time -- singing. Chanting. Jubilant celebration the whole way up the spiral ramp. "Go Fight Win Jayhawks!" The Rock Chalk Chant.
* After a few moments at the car, it was off for home. What a day. What a game. If that wasn't the greatest college football game I've ever been to, I'd be stunned. That fourth quarter was just unreal. Just unreal.
KU 40. MU 37.
I remember Whitlock's column after the Browns / Chiefs game, the Dwayne Rudd game, where he opened something like "let 'em play again. let 'em play 50 more times". The game was that compelling, that riveting, that you just didn't want it to end. That's how Saturday was.
Let 'em play again. Let 'em play 50 more times. Because that game is as good as it gets.
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