UH’s early 17-0 lead is history. The clock is ticking down in the second quarter and UH is on the move, having just blocked a PAT to keep the score tied at 20. Quarterback Clayton Tune is playing well and, after a substitution penalty on SMU, had just missed a throw that would have gotten the Cougars inside the five-yard line. The throw was on-target but the receiver could not come up with it.
Now, it’s second and five at SMU’s 36-yard line with 29 seconds left. Tune takes the snap and, almost immediately, feels pressure from his right. The SMU linebacker #55 jukes Dennis Bardwell and goes wide, which flushes Tune out of the pocket. Receiver Jeremy Singleton ran a stop route to get to the chains but now realizes Tune is scrambling.
Singleton starts to drag across the field, trying to make a potential throw from Tune easier on the QB.
Tune is still moving left and throws across his body and connects and Singleton sprints downfield for 10 crucial yards after the catch. It’s another first down for the Cougars and it stops the clock momentarily.
Here’s what fans saw at home:
But as a cameraman, I’m stationed in the end zone and see a completely different play. I see Tune start to scramble to his left, not his preferred way to move. I see Jeremy Singleton recognize it and start to move to make it easier for Tune to throw it. Good receivers keep moving when the QB is scrambling and it’s already paid off for Jeremy – he caught a touchdown in the corner in New Orleans on a great throw and catch when Tune was flushed out of the pocket.
As each player keeps veering to his left, I see Tune throw it as their bodies cross one another. I shot the entire sequence and it looked like this:
On TV, it’s a good throw to get the first down but from the end zone I saw it develop differently. The decision making and throw were even better than what fans saw at home. Here is how it looked in my mind as I shot the play:
UH would get to the line and spike it before Tune hit Herslow for 11 more yards down to the 13. After a couple of incompletions, Dalton Witherspoon would come on to make his second field goal of the quarter to give the Coogs a halftime lead.
Dalton Witherspoon has been money in the 1st half. Really happy for him.
Cougars lead 23-20. At 6:05 p.m., everyone would have taken that. At 17-0, probably not.
Still, a halftime lead. #GoCoogs
— GoCoogs.com (@gocoogs1) October 31, 2021
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