Their new stadium dazzled. Tony Romo was darn good. And the Cowboys won, pretty easily.
In the first football game at the nearly $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium, Romo looked right at home, going 18 of 24 for 192 yards and sending Dallas on its way to a 30-10 victory over the Tennessee Titans in a preseason game.
"It was incredible," Romo said, comparing the atmosphere to a regular-season game. "It's really exciting to be a part of something this special. It's only going to continue and get better as the year goes on."
Thousands of fans rushed in when the doors opened two hours before kickoff, many eager to see just how humongous the overhead video boards are and some simply in a hurry to claim the best standing-room spots. By the time players walked through a club packed with fans to get to the field, they were all smiles about finally getting to play in this place they've heard so much about for so long.
"The electricity that we felt just prior to the opening kickoff was really special," said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who spent more than $825 million on the building, the rest of the $1.15 billion tab picked up by city taxpayers. "A great night. A great crowd. And an event we will remember for a long, long time."
The Cowboys (1-1) played up to the mood, for the most part.
After losing a long kickoff return to a penalty then going three-and-out on their first drive, Romo controlled a 15-play, 90-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run from Marion Barber. Although it technically was the first TD here, it won't go down that way since this game doesn't count
- but Barber sure seemed excited to score it anyway.
Tennessee (2-1) answered with a field goal and a 17-yard touchdown pass from Kerry Collins to Justin Gage, giving the Titans a 10-7 lead with 59 seconds left in the half. Then Romo used all but one of those seconds to move the Cowboys 79 yards for the go-ahead score. It came on another 1-yard run, this time by Felix Jones, who got the drive going by turning a short pass into a 42-yard gain. Dallas gained 249 yards in the first half, piling up 17 first downs.
"We didn't tackle the way we're capable of doing the first half with our starting defense," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "There were too many third-and-shorts and fourth-and-shorts."
In the second half, Dallas backup quarterback Jon Kitna threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to undrafted rookie Kevin Ogletree, who tipped it to himself and made a one-handed catch while also being interfered with by the defender. The Cowboys got a safety when Tennessee's third-string quarterback Patrick Ramsey was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone, then third-stringer Stephen McGee threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Rodney Hannah with 1:53 left.
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