Fifty-Two to Three in Tuscaloosa
Cleveland State52
Alabama3
- Game
- 2037 Week 3
- Site
- Away
- Result
- Win
- Record
- 3-0
VIKINGS 52, ALABAMA 3. IN TUSCALOOSA.
Folks. Folks. Alabama. In Alabama. Our first time ever playing the Crimson Tide, in their stadium, in front of a hundred thousand people who have seen more championships than I’ve seen Sundays. And our guys held them to a field goal and scored fifty-two.
Forty-nine points of daylight in Tuscaloosa. I don’t have the words. I’ve been looking for them for two days. I asked Big Stan for words. He handed me a pierogi. I asked Chester for words. He pointed at the TV. I asked Sal for words. Sal said, “Mick, even I’m impressed, and I’m from Athens.” That’s the only sentence that came close.
Here’s a little piece of history only a few people in Cleveland will appreciate. Ten years ago, at the end of the 2027 season, Nadia’s RedHawks played Alabama for the national title and lost. Nadia draped a black ribbon over her “WE’LL SEE” trophy at the Lantern Room. On Monday, she called Donna. Donna told me. Nadia said, “Tell Mickey that’s for 2027.” Then she said, “And tell Ken I’m still keeping the ribbon.”
Five pierogi. The doctor allowed two on the plate. For Alabama.
A forty-nine-point road win at Alabama. Three and oh. I’ll be brief, because this result doesn’t need much help from me.
The Vikings went to the home of one of the most decorated programs in the history of the sport and held it to three points. Their defense, under a new coordinator, Jeff Lamar, has allowed forty-four points in three games. Their offense, under a new coordinator, Benjamin Hepburn, has scored one hundred eighty-five. Coach Dolan hired two new coordinators this year and the results look like he hired them from the future.
I tried my father’s advice. I watched. I kept a pencil, but I didn’t use it for the first quarter. I just watched the field. The whole field, the way Sofia says Mickey does. And what I saw, in the first quarter at Alabama, was eleven players moving like one thing. I’ve seen this team play for fourteen years. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it before.
My father, Sunday, a good day. I told him: Alabama. He said, “Alabama?” I said yes. He said, “Kenny, in my day, nobody beat Alabama.” I said, “We did, Dad.” He laughed. He said, “Write it down.” I did. I wrote it twice.
Back and forth
Sal said even he’s impressed.
That’s the most significant quote of the season. From Athens, no less.
You watched without the pencil?
For a quarter. I saw eleven people moving like one thing. I’d been missing that for fourteen years.
Fifty-two to three in Tuscaloosa, a black ribbon from 2027 avenged by proxy, and a doubter who put down his pencil for one quarter and finally saw the whole field.
Split Decision is fiction. Mickey Bridges, Ken Hogmanes and The Lakefront Ledger are invented; the games and scores are not.