Alex Kirshner

The Steelers have won, I believe, it's 23 home games in a row on Monday nights.

A stretch that goes back to the early 1990s.

1991, before I was alive.

So something has to give here.

So this was, by a pretty wide margin, the messiest championship game that I've ever laid eyes upon.

I believe the final count wound up being nine false starts for the winners, Montana State.

And so to say that there were nine plays that they couldn't even get off right would actually be an undersell because they also lost an opportunity to win the game at the end of regulation on a miscommunication on the snap count or something.

The shotgun snap went directly past the quarterback, Justin Lampson.

How many times did they have a number of snap problems?

Let's put the number conservatively at like 12 plays that between false starts and snaps, they couldn't get off right.

At the end of this game, especially, like in the second half, Montana State's defenders all just seem to forget how to tackle.

There's this wide receiver for Illinois State, Dylan Lord, who wears number four, who was sick in this game in the open field, was untackleable, just an incredible force.

The quarterback for Illinois State, Tommy Rittenhouse, who's sort of a

good-bad quarterback usually, which is my favorite kind in college football.

Some would just call that fun.

Was incredible in this game.

Threw four touchdowns, no picks.

Much different than the North Dakota State upset where he threw five picks, but they won anyway.

And so you're wondering, how does Illinois State not win this game, given the 10-plus failed snaps, failed getting plays off that Montana State had, and given all those stats and numbers from the Illinois State players?

And it's because Illinois State's game and management, Richard, left a thing or three to be desired.