GOOD EVENING
I never played college football, but trust me ... I've been to a lot of games.
And I always enjoyed early afternoon games more. Don't know how the athletes felt about it. I always assumed they liked evening games better because they didn't get so hot.
But I think an evening game gives the athletes too much time to think about it. That's why I liked the OU game starting at 11 a.m. Wake up and get it over with. On the flip side of that coin, though, the teams just might be better rested and alert for the night games.
Saturday will be the fifth game this season the Longhorns have played that started after 6 p.m. I can tell that is OK with the Horns' offense because they've averaged 50.5 points in those four games. And the defense is only giving up about two TDs a game.
Texas Tech has also played four games at 6 p.m. or later - averaging 45 points a game and giving up a little over two TDs.
So, I don't think the time is going to be a factor ... on the field.
HOWEVER, speaking with a limited amount of experience in such matters from my college days up there on the caprock, a 7 p.m. start also gives a certain segment of the crowd more time to get loaded up with analgesic libations, so to speak. In other words, they'll be feeling no pain, and could add - albeit negatively - to the home-field advantage.
On the field, the adrenaline will be pumping heavily by the prime time kickoff, and off the field I just hope I don't overdose on it before the final gun.
Seriously, it's going to be a very hard-hitting game, and I just hope no one is injured. Tech still has OSU, Oklahoma and Baylor to beat, while UT has those same Bears, Kansas and the Aggies to dispatch. No matter what the outcome I predict Colt McCoy and Graham Harrell will both have outstanding days ... just like last year's game.
I hope your favorite team wins, and although I have to be true to my school, sometimes I feel like the parent in the stands who is wearing one of those "Wreck 'Em / Hook 'Em" half-and-half jerseys because he has a son on each squad.
"Go .... Team!"