NCAA Football – Notre Dame at Stanford
Stanford’s Toby Gerhart is the real deal. So is Notre Dame’s Golden Tate. Last night Gerhart and his Cardinal defeated the Fighting Irish 45-38 at Stanford Stadium in what was a photographer’s (and fan’s) treat. There were amazing touchdown catches, bone crushing rushes (mostly from Gerhart who seemed to often carry the entire ND defense on his back while moving the ball forward), several lead changes, a gutsy 4th and 4 call to even the score late in the fourth quarter, and a game winning touchdown drive. Stanford’s fans rushed the field afterwards which made covering the ensuing melee a bit interesting. Now I see why most coaches have a bubble of police surrounding them after the game — not true for this game. Charlie Weis, who may have coached his last game at Notre Dame, had his own personal bubble of assistants helping to clear the way as he searched for Jim Harbaugh. A great game to end the regular college football season.
Photo gallery from the game
20091128 – Notre Dame at Stanford (NCAA Football) – Images by Jason O. Watson
Coach Al Groh
Today, my alma mater, the University of Virginia, dismissed Al Groh as the football coach after a 3-9 season. As a sports photographer, I’ve covered Coach Groh over the last five years — compiling a wide range of images. There are many who have been calling for this change, particularly after loses to Duke, William and Mary, and Southern Mississippi. It seems, for me, that for all the bad losses, there was an equal number of great games — the Thursday night victory over then #3 Florida State in 2005, the 2007 season where the Cavaliers won 5 games by 2 points or less, and victories over PItt and West Virginia in the Tire Bowl and Minnesota in the Music City Bowl. I was particularly impressed with how Coach Groh handled his final postgame press conference — an appropriately reflective tribute for how the Cavaliers were coached over the last nine years.
Al Groh – Images by Jason O. Watson>Photographs of Al Groh
