Giants Q&A: Two New York college guys tangle

How did two guys from

Hofstra and Cornell change

the outcome of the game?

It seemed as if the Giants were going to close to within six points with more than seven minutes remaining when Eli Manning hit Hakeem Nicks with an apparent 48-yard TD pass, but the play was called back when Kevin Boothe (Cornell) was flagged for holding Stephen Bowen (Hofstra, Half Hollow Hills West). On the next play, Manning fumbled a shotgun snap from Rich Seubert for a turnover.

Should it have been a holding penalty?

Boothe certainly did have an arm hooked around the leg of Bowen. "[The official] said that I reached out and grabbed him down," Boothe said. "If that's what he saw, that's holding. But I didn't think that I held him, I thought I cut him."

When he saw the flag, Boothe said his first thought was that someone else had hit Bowen and they were being called for a high-low block. Still, Boothe said it was his fault. "If he doesn't beat me initially, then we're not even in that situation," he said.

Had there been any signs of a letdown?

Tom Coughlin mentioned that he didn't think Wednesday's practice was as crisp as it could have been, and he attributed it mostly to the fatigue of the long trip to Seattle last weekend.

At least the Giants had one sack on Jon Kitna, right?

Well, it was a cheapie. Kitna tripped over an offensive lineman and then curled up on the ground waiting for a Giants player to touch him. The first one there was Osi Umenyiora, who registered his ninth sack of the season. Although it might not be true statistically, the Giants have gone two straight games without a "legitimate" sack.

It looked as if there were a few more injuries during the game.

Kevin Boss had to have X-rays of his back after he was jackknifed and hit the turf hard while making a leaping fourth-quarter catch. Ramses Barden, who had a career-best three receptions and was to be an important piece in the Giants' hopes of moving on without Steve Smith, injured his left ankle. He said it was just a sprain, but he left the locker room in a walking boot and on crutches. Jonathan Goff and Umenyiora also came out of the game with injuries but were able to return.

How many penalties were the Giants hit with?

Eight of them for 69 yards. They hadn't had that many since the game in Houston in which they had nine for 84 yards, many of those on special teams. These were particularly sloppy penalties - illegal formation, not reporting as an eligible receiver - which made them hard to take.