If you read last week’s Bourbon Blitz, you know I had some thoughts on Coach Prime — and sure enough, Coach Prime and the Buffaloes saw their first real test… and failed miserably. They were dominated by the Oregon Ducks 42-6. One loss is not going to cause the hype to fall off, but it will definitely put the rest of their season in perspective.
There were some big games on Saturday. It started with Florida State at Clemson, which saw Florida State emerge victorious in overtime. In fact, the first time Florida State lead the entire game was on their first overtimes series. This breaks a streak of Tiger victories over FSU that started in 2014.
There was top-20 matchup in the “Conference of Champions” with the Oregon State Beavers taking on the Washington State Cougars. The Cougars came out on top; however, it will be interesting to see what happens next year considering these are the only two schools remaining in the Pac-12 after the recent re-alignment activity.
The big game this week took place in South Bend, Indiana, where Ohio State visited Notre Dame. This game was a low scoring affair, entering halftime with the Buckeyes up 3-0. The second half saw the first touchdown scored by Ohio State, which was responded to with two more touchdowns scored by the Fighting Irish, who were then leading 14-10.
With 1:26 left in the game, though, the Buckeyes offense had the ball on their own 35 yard line. McCord and the Buckeyes engineered a 15 play drive that included a 4th down conversion and a 3rd and 19 pass completion. It was topped off by a 1-yard rush with only 0:01 remaining on the clock. The Butcher’s Tap, a Chicago Buckeyes bar, exploded with excitement as the final score showed 17-14.
Speaking of The Butcher’s Tap, that is where the drink highlighted in this week’s article comes in. I started the day with a negroni, in honor of National Negroni Week. This bitter cocktail used Tanqueray London Dry Gin (shown in the photo above) as the spirit and, as we noted in our review, it makes a great negroni. The juniper shows through the Campari and isn’t lost in the overall bitterness of the bright red cocktail (which was a nice match with the Buckeyes red color).
It’s not unusual to see 70 points scored in a college game, but it hadn’t happened in the NFL since 1966… until this Sunday when the Dolphins beat the Broncos 70-20. We also saw the Cardinals, who many talking heads expect to try and tank for the first draft pick next year, upset the Cowboys.
My Cleveland Browns also took care of business, beating the Tennessee Titans 27-3. It was great to see them bounce back after their tough outing last Monday night.
And of course… I think we’re culturally obliged to mention the news that turned the Chiefs victory press conference over the Bears into a live issue of People magazine. The interest was in Taylor Swift’s blank space and apparently the next name she will write there: star tight end Travis Kelce. Personally, I think they are playing the anti-heroes as it seemed to be too produced and planned, and I am firmly in the camp that this is trouble since she walked in. I expected that more people would be asking questions about Mahomes’ lingering ankle issues, but apparently his teammates say that he doesn’t have bad blood and think he will just shake it off.
(You guys better hope they break up soon so you’re not obliged to read any more of my Taylor Swift puns.)
Next week is going to be a little quieter. There are not many marquee games on the college slate, and the Buckeyes are bye. The NFL always has excitement and the hated Ravens come to visit Cleveland. As we wrap up, remember to tune in every week to the Bourbon Blitz for your fix of football, food, and drinks. Cheers and see you soon.