Was that really a new field today? Astonishing, if true. I attended the Canes game against Syracuse.
I was out of town and didn't seen the Saints game or Titans game so I have no idea what the field looked like against the Titans. I made it back to Miami 90 minutes before the Canes/Georgia Tech game last Saturday. That field was a disaster and turned into a mega disaster in the second half with the steady downpour. Chunks of sod all over the place and divots galore. I'm talking divots like my golfing prime when I was a digger. That means steep angle of attack.
They had one of those cameras on a wire at the Georgia Tech game. At one point when they used a straight down view it was startling that the field was actually in worse shape than we realized. Many of us were talking about it after than angle was shown briefly on the replay screen. Our view from the stands allows a general idea of where the divots are but with that sideways angle it partially softens and conceals the scope and depth.
Today against Syracuse I literally had no idea that was new turf from last week. I'm reluctant to concede it. There was a multi car accident on the Palmetto at NW 74th St so I arrived in my seat only 2 minutes before kickoff. Maybe the pre game warm up was already enough to destroy the field. Only the end zones looked pristine. In fact, I visited this site tonight to report that the end zone turf had been replaced since last week but nothing else. You could see the north/south seams on that end zone turf.
Fortunately I found this thread. Otherwise I would have posted in the game thread that only the end zones had been changed to competent new turf. I would have played the fool.
Now that I'm thinking about it, maybe the teams don't use the end zones during warm up, and than explains it.
The field didn't look good from the outset but the worst area was the west side between the hash marks from the goal line to 10 yard line, specifically at about the 5 yard line in absolute center of the field. That was chewed up before one play was run. I assumed it was left overs. Then both teams got stuck down there during the game, running a full set of downs in goal to go situation before settling for short field goals. So that mangled the turf even further.
As the game progressed, the college hash marks took a beating. That's where the worst spots will be tomorrow. A very high percentage of college ball spots and therefore snaps are on the hash marks. Those hash marks obviously are wider than NFL hash marks. So look for the areas several yards outside the NFL hash marks to be problematic.
Early in the game the hash marks on the northwest side of the field looked the most worn, specifically between the 20 and 40 yard lines. I was happy when Syracuse attempted a relatively long field goal with the ball spotted precisely on the right hash mark going in that direction during the third quarter. Sure enough the kicker slipped, but he banged the ball through the uprights anyway. Then he drilled two more long field goals in the other direction in the fourth quarter.
During that fourth quarter there was lots of action on the east side of the field and especially between the 10 and 40 yard lines. Syracuse drove several times but got bogged down and settled for those field goals. The Canes were receiving kickoffs and starting deep in their own territory. Consequently that side of the field really got torn up during that final quarter. It went from the better looking side to easily the more troubled side.
Fortunately it never rained. Not much anyway. Brief shower early and some sprinkles late. There were ominous dark clouds all over the place throughout the game but the cells repeatedly missed the stadium slightly to the north.
I'm still astounded I was looking at new turf out there. BTW, the sod crew at halftime today was exactly 11 people and focused exclusively on the middle of the field between the 20s. I didn't understand that at all because last year with similar field conditions there were often at least 3-4 times as many workers out there, running around with buckets and covering end zone to end zone. Maybe they rationalized they didn't need as many workers today, given newly placed sod.