Bleary eyes, getting JIP'd, and the power of one name

I'm still recovering a bit from my first Thursday-Sunday combination of the college soccer season, but I was fortunate to have some great moments to call.

To start things off, some early morning wake-up calls to get to and from Tallahassee left me a little sluggish, but I managed to squeeze in a short nap (a rarity for me) and get primed for our Thursday night Top-25 matchup between No. 6 Florida State, the defending national champs, and No. 24 Colorado.

Our network for this game, ACC Network, however, was primed for a different reason: the release of the men's college basketball schedule! The ACC is a basketball conference, as you may know, and the schedule reveal is a big deal, set to follow our 7pm game on a 9pm broadcast of All ACC. A college basketball fan and announcer, I was looking forward to it also, and I was quite happy to promote the show during our broadcast.

Then came the JIP.

JIP stands for joined in progress, and "getting JIP'd," in television parlance, means not coming on the air until the previous event concludes.

This was a major JIP. Soccer games typically last two hours. But college soccer games have overtime in the regular season, and this particular college soccer game had an injury, a sequence that led to an assistant coach being ejected, three penalty kicks, two video reviews (for no reason we could comprehend), and a team getting lost between the locker room and the field (seriously, it happened).

So even our regulation 90-minute game took us past 9pm, something partner Angela Hucles and I didn't realize up in the booth (see how happy we are!?). But we knew the score was 2-2 and we were headed to overtime, which meant some basketball fans were going to be screaming bloody murder.

Then I looked at the time during the commercial break before overtime and realized it was already 9:10 or 9:15, and we hadn't even started OT. We now had a sizable viewing audience that did not care know much about the first part of the game and, in many cases, was not enthusiastic about familiar with college soccer.

So I approached overtime with as much big-picture information as I could, reminding people that Florida State is the defending national champion, Colorado was unbeaten, FSU had dominated the game but only scored via penalty kick, Deyna Castellanos is an international star of sorts, and highlighted the key players on each team. It seemed to work:

Snark aside, FSU and Colorado are two Top 25 teams and @jtyardley is doing a very nice job on the play-by-play.

— Mike Waters (@MikeWatersSYR) September 13, 2019

But the big reason we left feeling good about ourselves is that we got an overtime game-winner! Everybody likes a walk-off, and Florida State delivered late in the first overtime to give us a dramatic ending and allow the majority of our audience by that point to get their hoops fix. Pretty cool moment to call:

Jenna Nighswonger called GAME.@FSUSoccer gets the W in OT! pic.twitter.com/xagYeaFvuH

— ACC Network (@accnetwork) September 13, 2019

To complete a sports trifecta, I scooped up an ACC baseball in the parking lot, presumably from a practice home run blast, so hopefully this means a return to Tallahassee for college baseball in the spring!

My Sunday game, with NC State hosting Furman, was nowhere near as dramatic, but we did get some impressive moments from Wolfpack star Tziarra King, who has the perfect Twitter handle for a one-name soccer star (@Tziarra) and is one of the country's most exciting players. Always happy to call a hat trick, always happy to call a run like this:

.@packwsoccer was down 1-0 early to Furman, but @tziarra and Co. were not having it!

Here's her equalizer in the 17th minute.

📺 ACC Network (https://t.co/b0ACtNFKPH)#GoPack // #NCState pic.twitter.com/gnXAlJbZaM

— NC State Athletics (@PackAthletics) September 15, 2019

Let's root for more heroics, more dramatics, and no more JIPs as the season continues!

Calling top-5 matchup between Virginia, Florida State on ESPNU Sunday

Our midfield view at the Seminole Soccer Complex.

My fall slate of soccer games hits its most high-profile contest on Sunday, with No. 3 Virginia (ranked No. 2 by Soccer America) taking on No. 5 Florida State at 4 p.m. ET on ESPNU. If you like watching soccer at all, this game is worth checking out. Here's why:

1. The best player in college soccer. Morgan Brian is 21, a senior at Virginia, and part of the US women's national team. You may have heard of them. She won the Hermann Trophy as the country's top player last year (this highlight reel gives you some idea), and she's already got three goals and five assists in seven of Virginia's 10 games this year, missing three while playing for the US. An O-mid in college and D-mid for the US, she is an exceptionally technical player, equally comfortable playing one-touch passes and using intricate dribbling moves. I've been very impressed watching her on video, and I'm looking forward to seeing her play in person. On the Virginia side, I'm also looking forward to seeing US U-20 forward Makenzy Doniak (I called her games this summer in the U-20 Womens' World Cup) and versatile midfielder Danielle Colaprico, a New Jersey product who has played all four midfield spots this year and excelled in each.

2. International flavor. Two of Florida State's top offensive threats hail from Iceland, 5-foot-11 Dagný Brynjarsdóttir (herself a candidate for this year's Hermann Trophy) and 5-foot-9 Berglind Thorvaldsdóttir. Yes, that means their fathers' names are Brynjar and Thorvald. The Seminoles also have players from Ireland, Finland, Japan, Germany, and Canada.(and New Jersey!)

3. It's going to be close. 17 of the last 20 games between these ACC rivals have been decided by one goal or finished tied, and their last four regular-season games have gone to overtime. It will also likely be played with pace and skill rarely seen in the college ranks.

4. Virginia's ridiculous offense. The Cavaliers led the country in scoring last year with 3 goals per game and are averaging 3.6 in 2014. They have scored at least two goals in every game this season and have scored in 44 consecutive games, the longest active streak in Division I. They've also won 31 consecutive regular-season games. Their last regular-season loss? In overtime at Florida State on Oct. 14, 2012.

5. These teams need to be tested. Both went to the College Cup last year and were eliminated in heartbreaking fashion by national champion UCLA. But this year, they have not faced a lot of sturdy opposition. Florida State has played two ranked teams, beating Portland and losing (at home) to rival Florida, while Virginia has yet to play a ranked opponent.

After flying in on Saturday afternoon, I watched Virginia's walk-through on a bumpy football practice field (in the shadow of Doak Campbell Stadium) and checked out Florida State's facilities, including the softball field (which shares a concourse with the soccer stadium) and baseball stadium. Not surprisingly, humidity and bugs were everywhere, but I have a feeling that won't slow these teams down this afternoon.

I'm excited to work with ACC, NCAA, and Olympic champion Cat (Reddick) Whitehill for the second straight week, with coverage starting on ESPNU at 4 p.m. ET or after the conclusion of the Florida-Mizzou game that starts at 2 ET (also worth watching). Should that game go into overtime, our show will start on WatchESPN. But whenever and however you have the chance, it'll be worth watching!