American winner takes all

Chapter 232 Ratings explode (23)

"What's even more incredible than the elevator pass is that in this game, two quarterbacks actually used this very special passing skill at the same time!" John Madden's picture full of comedy atmosphere The big face showed an expression of astonishment, and the mouth was wide enough to fit two eggs.

Just now, he asserted with his partner that this kind of ball is unique in the entire rugby circle, and only Ethan O'Connor can use it on the field.

Unexpectedly, just a few minutes later, a slap in the face would appear.

"Obviously, Scott has practiced so much off the field that he has developed muscle memory. He has shown that to every quarterback in middle school, high school, college and the NFL. A message that Ethan O'Connor is not inimitable!" John Madden shook his head.

"Yeah, football is like that, full of endless possibilities." Pat Summerall continued.

"Using this technique in front of Ethan O'Connor, is this a tribute to his teacher?" John Madden then asked.

"I think it's more of a challenge than a tribute. In an interview before the game, Scott once said in the face of some doubts that he would use his performance to prove that this year's Heisman Award should belong to him. "

"We saw that the Cornhuskers chose a two-point conversion. Sure enough, this was not a blind imitation, but a preparation to surpass Ethan O'Connor!" John Madden in the stands noticed the referee's gesture and said immediately.

In the ensuing two-point conversion, the Cornhuskers once again used a dazzling ball-running tactic. Moments before the line of scrimmage rushed to the line of scrimmage, Lawrence found that the road ahead was blocked and decisively returned the ball. , quarterback Scott made a second pass and finally found the wide receiver standing in the end zone.Got two points.

The score came to 7-8.

Then it was Alabama's turn.

After seeing the lineup of Alabama's offensive team, John Madden couldn't help laughing: "The game has become interesting. Nebraska is imitating Alabama, and Alabama is actually imitating Nebraska." add."

You can clearly see that the Alabama offense laid out the I formation.

"Alabama has used running ball tactics extensively this season, and of course the I-line is used very skillfully." Pat responded.

On the first offense, when Ethan turned around and handed the ball to running back Sean Alexander, the full back had already rushed out. At the same time, the offensive tackle and offensive end were moving in opposite directions, pushing against the opposing defense. The players directly opened a path for the whole guard.

The fullback rushed out first and collided directly with the sideline.

"Clog the gap!" Nebraska's middle linebacker yelled at this time.

As a middle linebacker, he, like Alabama's Dwayne, plays a vital role in every run defense.

He clearly knew the purpose of this tactic. He did not move, but directed his teammates closer to block the gap. At the same time, he also began to move towards the gap, preparing to wait for the running back to rush out as soon as possible. Capture and kill him.

But things didn't turn out the way he had imagined.Because a special figure appeared in the gap.

"Your opponent is me!"

The middle linebacker heard a familiar voice that sounded like a death knell to him.

The tall Ethan directly blocked the middle linebacker, and at that time running back Sean had just burst through the gap.

However, the middle linebacker who was supposed to form a fatal obstacle to Sean was blocked by Ethan. This allowed Sean to choose his route more easily and get rid of it through excellent speed, and finally succeeded in driving straight from the middle...

"This scene, I seem to have seen this scene somewhere before!" John Madden said particularly excitedly.

The continuous ball-running cover tactic in the middle is not exactly what Nebraska has used before.

"Facing the imitator and challenger University of Nebraska, Alabama's offense also used Nebraska's tactics. Looking at it this way, the effect is not bad."

"This is the funniest football game I've ever seen," John Maddon said.

Despite some of the hype, this game is indeed different from other football games, and even other bowl games.

In addition to special tactical arrangements, both sides were unable to defend the other side's offense, which turned the game into an offensive battle.

On the Alabama side, Ethan stands out as an individual and has repeatedly performed wonderful performances. Sometimes he uses his strong body to rush left and right, sometimes he relies on agility and flexibility to play with opponents behind the line of scrimmage, and from time to time he sends a ghost-like pass.

On the Nebraska side, there are more blossoms. Offensive tackle Zach Weigert plays a stable role like a cornerstone. With him, Nebraska's pocket can always remain intact, except in In addition to his role in defense, he also plays a miraculous role in offense. Like a mountain, he attracts firepower and provides blocking for his teammates.

Scott also performed well here. In addition to the elevator pass that shocked everyone at the beginning and imitated Ethan, he also made excellent passes many times, even when the quarterback did not bear too many offensive tasks. In running ball tactics, he is also very active in running and often plays a covering role at critical moments.

Not to mention Lawrence, as a team that is good at using running tactics, Lawrence is the sharpest knife in the entire tactical system. With the support of his teammates, he has played a fatal blow several times.Help the Nebraska Cornhuskers continue to conquer the city.

In addition, it includes Sean Alexander, Michael Vaughn, Dwayne on the defensive end, cornerback Bryant, plus players such as Aaron Taylor, Aman Green, and Jason Peter from the Nebraska team. He is not the key player in every attack, but he also undertakes many tasks.It was this group of players who supported this game together.

One of the two teams is this year's new star, and the other is the former king. The two teams are competing for time and seconds, which is reflected in the score. The scores of the two teams are rising alternately, and the gap is not widened until the end of the half.

"At present, Alabama is still slightly behind its opponent by one point. The viewers in front of the TV please don't go away. After the commercial, we will immediately enter the second half of this exciting battle!" John Madden said the closing words of the midfield.

"The signal has been cut out!" The director's voice came from the headset.

Madden immediately felt like a deflated rubber ball, and his whole person became relaxed.

"Get up and move around. The second half of the game looks to be quite exciting. The commentary of this game is really enjoyable." Partner Pat stood up from his position at this time and subconsciously loosened his tie. The commentary booth was not completely open to the air. Part of it was open. It was winter and the outdoor temperature was not too high.But even so, Pat was sweating all over.

"Smoke is coming out of my throat," John Madden echoed.

"Try this." Pat took out the lozenges from his coat pocket and handed them to his colleague.

"In addition to throat lozenges, I also need another prop to ensure that I really won't have an accident." John Madden rummaged through the bag handed to him by the staff behind him.

"This is it." He took out a white plastic bottle, poured out a few pills, and swallowed them.

"Lao Mai, I didn't know you had high blood pressure." Pat was surprised. As Madden's colleague for nearly a year, he didn't know that Madden still had this problem.

"Just in case, really speaking, it's not because the game is too exciting." Madden shook his head with a smile.

As he gets older, he will always have some minor health problems, but his high blood pressure is not serious.

"Having said that, the gold content of this game is so high, and it is also a fierce battle. The ratings of this game are definitely not low." Madden said subconsciously.

"Boy, the boss called." At this time, the staff came forward and handed John Madden a phone.

"I'm here...really? It's incredible, I know, I will, okay, that's it sir." After Madden answered the phone, he had a brief exchange with David Hill on the other end of the phone .

"I thought the boss was still on vacation in Switzerland." Pat couldn't help but said.

The boss he talks about is not Murdoch. In fact, given their level, they really don’t see Murdoch a few times throughout the year, let alone talk to Murdoch in person.

The boss Pat talks about is David Hill, the chairman of FOX Sports.

"That was the original plan, but it changed midway because of the Independence Bowl game. Now he's in his office in New York, watching the ratings in real time."

"What's the ratings?"

"It is estimated through technical means that the ratings exceed 14, and as the second half of the game begins, more people will watch the game on TV." John Madden revealed a number.

"Oh my God, is this an exaggeration?" Pat looked a little unbelievable.

As a commentator, I am not particularly sensitive to things like ratings, but I will pay attention to them.

What is the concept of a rating of 14? As an analogy, the average rating of last year's NFL playoffs was 17, and the average rating of the latest T&T debate was 36. The rating of the 96 Super Bowl between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers was 46.

The United States has a population of 2.69 million. By rough calculation, nearly 4000 million people have witnessed Ethan O'Connor's performance on the court.

As a country that loves football very much, during the start of NFL games, 35 of the 34 most-watched TV programs in the country were related to football.

Apart from the NFL, the sports game with the highest revenue rate is neither the NBA, nor MLB, which has an older audience, nor the NHL.

It's NCAA college football.

However, as the "playoff" of college football, the average ratings of bowl games are still worse than those of the NFL playoffs.

For example, the Rose Bowl, known as the king of bowl games among the six major bowl games that just concluded, had an average viewership rating of 14.8 for the entire game.
The Peach Bowl, the lowest among the six major bowls, had an average ratings of only 5.8 for the entire game.

What level is the independent bowl?
This is just midfield, leaving behind all bowl games except the Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl, directly reaching the level of the Rose Bowl!
If the intensity of the game in the second half can be even higher, then it is not impossible to exceed the average ratings of the Rose Bowl!

"No wonder David Hill called and gave special instructions to be more energetic in the commentary work in the second half." John Madden couldn't help but laugh.

Considering both sides, he did imagine that the ratings of the Independence Bowl would be high, but he did not expect it to be such an explosion!
(End of this chapter)