I'll give you a quick summary up front and then go to some details later.

Hart started somewhat badly on the first possession. After a kickoff return to the 50 and a first down pass for 19 yards, Hart ended up back on the 47 on fourth down and punted. Birmingham scored on 5 plays, the big one being a 61-yard run down to the 2. 6-0 B-ham. Hart replied with a 3-play, 69-yard drive, the TD on a 66-yard pass to Surratt. Hart 7-6. Birmingham came right back with 7-play 86-yard drive, the big play being another long run of 37 yards. 14-7 B-ham. Hart came back with a 61-yard 5-play drive with Surratt getting another TD on a 39-yard pass. 14-14. And that was only the first quarter! Norton was 7 of 8 for 206 yards IN THE FIRST QUARTER.

Hart scored a FG and a TD in the second quarter (3 plays, the big play being a 35-yarder to Whitmore). Hart was up 24-14 at half. Norton was 13 of 19 for 306 yards and 2 TDs. He also had two INTs but the last one was a throw away Hail Mary to end the half.

Hart stuffed Birmingham on a 3 and out to begin the second half and then scored on 3 plays - a 30-yard pass to Surratt for the TD. Hart 31-14. Birmingham turned the ball over on downs at the 43 and Hart scored in 8 plays on a 5-yard Norton run. Hart 38-14.

Robbie Moore got an INT on the next series (his second of the season) and Hart scored on a 5-play drive very early in the fourth on a 1-yard run by Howell to go up 45-14.

Moore got another INT on the next series (his third -- Matt Moore, his brother has the Hart record at 10). Hart then went strictly to the second stringers on offense and much the same on defense. Birmingham scored on a long 9-play drive with a little over 5 minutes left and got a two point PAT to end the scoring.

Norton finished at 22 for 29, 402 yards, 3 TDs and 2 INTs.

Details later

Here's the blow by blow (with some corrections on the stats):

Birmingham kicked off and Ciccone returned the ball 35 yards to the 50-yard line. The first play was a 19-yard pass to Whitmore, followed by a 2-yarder to Surratt. The third play was the pitch play from the shotgun and Howell got nailed for 3-yard loss. On third down (again from the shotgun), the snap went by Norton and he chased it down for a 15-yard loss. Hart punted.

Birmingham started at the 29. The first play was a 2-yard run between the tackles. The second play was another run between the tackles for 7 yards. The third play was once again a run between the tackles but for a whopping 61 yards down to the 2-yard line. Two plays later Birmingham scored but the PAT was blocked and it was 6-0 at 7:18.

Hart, after another nice 15 yard return by Ciccone, started at the Hart 31: pass to Ciccone for 6, run by Howell for a 3-yard loss and then a 66-yard pass to Surratt as he pulled away from the defender. The PAT was good and Hart was up 7-6 at 5:47.

Birmingham start at the 14: pass for 16, illegal procedure, pass for 17 (missed tackles on both of these plays – too much arm tackling!), pass for 18 over the middle, run for no gain, QB run for 2 after being flushed, then another huge 37-yard run between the tackles down to the 1. One play later and it was 14-7 Birmingham with 2:58 left in the quarter.

Hart started the next series on the 39 on a somewhat unusual coaching decision. The kicker put it out of bounds and instead of taking it at the 35, Hart declined the penalty and got it out to the 39 on the second try: run by Howell for 9, run by Norton (sneak) for 3, Inc (tipped), pass to Surratt for 10 and pass to Surratt for 39. 14-14 with 1:38 left in the first quarter.

Birmingham started at the 25: pass for 14, run for 5. Then a real drive killer -- offensive pass interference which is a 15-yarder plus loss of down. The QB completed another pass for about 12 yards and on the tackle, the receiver fumbled the ball forward and out of bounds for a 17-yard gain but not enough for a first down. Birmingham punted.

Hart started on the 13 and on the first play ran the little slant you saw on TV last week. This time Ciccone went for 54 yards but was caught from behind. Norton ran for 3 to end the first quarter. He was 7 for 8 and 206 yards and 2 TDs in the first quarter. The next play was a outside "jail break" screen to Ciccone for 23 yards down to the 7. Howell ran for 2 and then Norton had a fumble but recovered for a 2-yard loss. Following an incomplete, Hart kicked a 25-yard field goal to go up 17-14 at around 10:00 in the second.

Things then went a little weird. Birmingham started on the 21 and had 3 yard run. On the next play, there was a holding call which moved the ball back to the 13 (half the distance). On the next play Hart recovered a fumble at the 13.

Finally, Hart gets the big break! But wait. The first play was a Howell run down to the 5. The next play he got to about the 1 and then -- FUMBLE! Birmingham recovered.

Birmingham went 3 and out (plus an illegal procedure). Hart got the ball on the 47 and on the first play Norton hit Whitmore for 35 yards down to the 12. A pass to Surratt took it to the 3 and Howell ran it in on the next play.

Birmingham started on the 10 and after a first down pass for 7 went inc, inc and punted. Starting at the Hart 36, Hart had an inc, a 5-yard Norton run and another inc. Punt.

Now some more weirdness. Birmingham started at the 12 and went run for 12, pass for 13, run for minus 1 and then an INT on a long pass over the middle. Ciccone returned the ball to the Hart 21. The first play was a pass to Howell for 19. The second play was a bullet long down the middle, a tad short and intercepted.

An illegal block on the return put Birmingham on their 45 with 1:16 to go. Following 25-yard pass play for a first down, the Patriots had a 6 yard QB run for 6, an incomplete, a sack for an 8-yard loss and then another incomplete so Hart took over on the 22. Howell had a 3-yard run, pass to Ciccone for 11, pass to Ciccone for 11 and then a Hail Mary to the endzone as time ran out. It was intercepted.

Norton finished the first half at 13 of 19, 304 yards, 2 TDs and 2 INTs. The running was somewhat less impressive: net 19 yards on 13 carries. Of course one was a 15-yard loss on a missed snap in shotgun and Howell started the game with two 3-yard losses. Nevertheless over 300 yards in the half (and thats not counting the big returns) was a VERY solid offensive effort.

The defensive effort --8211; primarily the first quarter -- was less auspicious. In the first quarter, the Birmingham QB was 5 for 5 and 82 yards and the runners had 119 yards on 10 carries (the bulk of that on 2 plays of 61 and 37 yards respectively). Thus Birmingham had 201 yards in the first quarter. The running dropped off a lot in the second quarter: 21 yards net on 8 carries including a fumble and a sack. The passing also fell off: 4 for 9 and one INT. Birmingham had only 80 yards of offense in the second quarter.

The second half started with the Patriot returner getting minus five on the return (hard to beat anybody going laterally). The series was run for 0, run for 1, run for 7 and punt.

Hart started at the Birmingham 47 and went run by Howell for 7, pass to Ciccone for 10 and pass to Surratt for 30 and a TD. The PAT was good and Hart was up 31-14 at 8:37.

Birmingham started at the 20: run for 9, run for 2, pass for 17, run for 2, inc, run for 4, run for 3 and turnover on downs at the Hart 43.

Hart then had a nice but kind of goofy series: pass to Leigh for 6, inc. pass to Wilson for 10 (his first appearance and first catch), a 44-yard TD pass to Ciccone was called back on a procedure. On the next play there was incomplete but a roughing call moved the ball to the Hart 30. Howell ran for 9, pass to Ciccone for 8, pass to Leigh for 3, run by Howell for 5 and then run by Norton for the TD (up the middle out of the shotgun) and it was 38-14 Hart at 1:16 in the third.

Birmingham once again started at the 20 and on the first play, passed for 12, then an incomplete then an INT to FS Robbie Moore.

Hart started at the 40: pass to Surratt for 17 down to the 23, pass to Surratt for 2 (end of the quarter) pass to Howell for 20 (this should have been ruled a TD -- it was marked at the 6 inch line), run by Norton for no gain, run by Howell for the TD and it was 45-14 with 11:10 left.

On the next play (starting at the 29) Robbie Moore intercepted another pass, his second of the night and third in two games (his brother Matt was on the sidelines and mightly disturbed -- his INT record of 10 could be eclipsed by his little brother at this rate -- Kyle Boller was on the sidelines as well because Baltimore is off this week -- Jim Bonds was there too).

Hart put in the second stringers at this point: run by Toledo for minus one, ditto, inc and punt.

Birmingham kept their starters on the field (for the most part) and Hart played mostly the second teamers on the ensuing series. Birmingham started at the 17: Inc, run for 8, run for 7, inc, run for 7, run for 19 plus a facemask penalty, run for 3, run for 19 and run for 5 and the TD with about 5 minutes to go. 45-22.

Hart started at the 37: run by Moore for 0, run by Toledo for 6, pass to Hunt (his first varsity appearance and catch), run by Wheeler for minus 1 and then an INT.

Birmingham went 2, 3, 22 and 7 on 4 runs and then threw an INT in the endzone on the last play.

In the second half, Norton was 9 out of 10 for 102 yards, 1 TD and no INTs. He only played 3 plays in the fourth quarter and had only one pass. He finished the night with 406 yards on 22 of 29 -- 3 Tds and 2 INTs. Robbie Moore was 1 for 3 and an INT.

Birmingham&'s second half was a reflection (I hope) of the Hart defense finally getting it all together. The QB was 2 for 8, 29 yards and 2 INTs. Birmingham had 19 rushes for 134 yards. However, against the first team they had only 28 yards on 8 carries with nothing over 10 yards.

Comments:

The Hart offense put together a terrific passing performance. This was probably Norton's best game and was against a really quality opponent. His percentage and yards per catch were spectacular. The first INT was a pass you could see that he wanted back the instant he threw it. The second was a throwaway as time ran out in the first half. He threw 3 TDs that counted, another long one that was called back and another to Howell that was a TD but marked just outside the endzone (was it the same ref who called the two-point PAT last week?).

Evan Surratt looked like the receiver I thought he could/would be. He had 160 yards on 7 catches. Ciccone was not far behind with 122 on 7 catches (and a 44 yarder called back). Norton completed passes to 6 different receivers (Ciccone, Surratt, Whitmore, Leigh, Wilson and Howell). The "droppsies" were a non-factor on the whole.

The offensive line was terrific. Norton had a ton of time.

I saw only one negative in the passing game: the slots, more than once, faded away from a reception/incomplete rather than going to the ball. Thats a piddly complaint under the circumstances.

My only beef with the running offense is that I think Howell should be getting a few more touches. The more he is a threat, the more Ciccone and the rest of the receivers get some room. Once again, the shotgun was not a particularly effective running formation. Howell got nailed for losses on his first two carries. I'd still like to see more under center stuff. I think both Howell and Norton would benefit for reasons I've noted before.

Defensively, the running defense looked REAL shaky in the first quarter but was increasingly effective thereafter. Particularly in the first half we started to see one or two of the big offensive linemen out there on the D-line. Unfortunately, the Patriot offense went to the other side and got a couple of really big runs. We also saw Elledge a lot at outside linebacker which got him into coverage more and Ardnt at the MLB (I think).

Hart gave up 362 yards from scrimmage. That sounds like a lot. However, after the second touchdown in the first quarter, the Hart starters really shut down the run, giving up only 55 yards on 17 carries and forcing a fumble and collecting a sack.

Hart still has some work to do to shore up the middle of the defensive line -- that's where all the big running plays were. The pass defense is better but is still giving up a fair amount of yards in the middle of the field. One of the biggest problems is the inability to really pressure the QB consistently. But there is no doubt the Indians are getting better at it. I saw Harry Welch at the game and I suspect the Valencia coach was there as well. I think Valencia in particular has to be concerned because this was a common opponent.

A war next week: Loyola.

Return to Main Page