Bombs Astray: A Scandurro Story

BOMBS ASTRAY

By Tim Scandurro

It is simply not true that a man always gets wiser as he gets older.  Case in point:  When I was younger, my time-honored routine when attending a Tulane road game with the family was to put all of the sightseeing and other non-game adventures on the front end of the trip, so the game itself wouldn’t define my mood afterwards.  When I went to BYU 25 years ago I had five days with the family on the front end in the mountains of Utah, so the 70 points they hung on us the day we left (in three quarters, mind you) didn’t affect those five days.  When I brought the family to Disney World ahead of a UCF game in 2009, we visited  the parks in the days BEFORE the Knights outgained Bob Toledo’s  team 504-50 in a 49-0 pasting.  

The last four years of winning regularly on the road made me less vigilant.  The plan for the trip to West Point this past weekend was to have a full day of post-game activities in the Big Apple on Sunday when the temperature was expected to be a crisp 68 degrees and sunny. But to add to the full experience of losing on the last play of the game Saturday, Hurricane Isais’s remnants swept through the City from before dawn until after nightfall on Sunday. 

Tropical squalls are one thing in the Gulf South, but when you get soaking wet AND the temperature is in the 50s, Central Park is out.  Instead we spent a couple hours inside at a serial killer exhibit on Sixth Avenue.  It felt like an appropriate activity after Army had dismembered our sparkling recent record in one score games and buried us in the conference cellar.

For a second straight game, our offense struggled with early drops, inefficiency in the run game and spotty quarterback play.  There were winning plays there to be had late in the game on our last possession, with two wide open guys who ran right by Army’s secondary as many receivers have this year.  Layups, Coach Hall called them.  We just didn’t execute the throws.

The defense, which for three quarters had played Army better than any of its prior opponents, collapsed in the fourth quarter.  Army entered that final stanza with 144 rushing yards. They got 185 in the fourth quarter alone. That’s 56% of their total, in one quarter.  They didn’t throw a single fourth quarter pass on three scoring drives.  Losing Kam Hamilton early in the quarter, along with being on the field too long, were factors.  In addition to Hamilton, we played without Ed Smith.  Not having your two best interior defenders at the end was not ideal against this opponent.

But this game, as  all our other games, was mostly about the struggles of our offense.  It’s not all on the quarterback, who experienced the early drops and operated behind a reshuffled offensive line playing without three of its projected top six players when the season began.  But with a more dynamic player at the position like we’ve had the prior four years, you can overcome a lot of obstacles. Last year against this team we were in an even worse position, down 17-10 late in the fourth quarter.  Jake Retzlaff won the game for us at the end with two fourth quarter touchdown passes sandwiched around a key stop by the defense.  When we needed similar heroics at the end Saturday, they weren’t to be found.

Kadin Semonza had a look of grim disappointment in the postgame press conference, borne of both the failures at the end and the realization that the faith the staff had placed in him was not unlimited.  It was hard on him because he knows he can and has delivered at the end of games.  It was hard on his coaches because they know how hard he works, how important this is to him and how good a leader he is.

And it was hard on us watching it unfold for a second straight game.  We have had guys like that at the position, guys who were limited but easy to pull for, guys like Anthony Scelfo and Jordy Joseph.   But at our level of football, if you are a guy with limited tools, your intangibles and your consistency have to be off the charts.  Decision-making, accuracy, and situational reliability have to be stellar.  Being clutch, when clutch is required, is nonnegotiable.  The quarterback who fit that description Saturday was wearing a black jersey, not a white one.

When coaches are frustrated with the quarterback, or when a promising but inexperienced newcomer is the future at the position, the bye week is normally an ideal time to make a move especially against a manageable opponent.  Army’s defense, ranked at or near the very bottom of college football in multiple defensive categories, certainly seemed to fit the bill.  But the coaches didn’t feel, based on practice performance, that it was time.  We no longer have the luxury of extended practice time and a weak opposing defense.  Our next game is on a short week against a strong, fast and athletic opponent.  If the move is made, there will be no easing into it.   This is a sink or swim situation for both the quarterback and the team as a whole, and make no mistake about it, this is a deep end of the pool game.

Last year we rescued our season at Memphis, and it could not have been sweeter.  Here was last year’s game story, for you newcomers:  A Night to Remember: A Scandurro Story.  Our players and their players don’t like each other, and our fans and their fans don’t like each other.  This is mostly due to Memphis’s insufferable arrogance and grandiosity, in my objective and fair-minded opinion.

But it’s a fact that, every year, this game means a whole lot to the seasons of both teams.  They derailed our playoff hopes two years ago; we returned the favor last season.  For different reasons, this is again a monster game for both programs.  If we can find a way forward, our season will be saved for at least one more week. 

I wrote last year in this space that the most important decision a football coach can make in terms of his future happiness or misery is who he marries.  A close second is who he names as his starting quarterback.  Coach Hall did very well on the first decision, but has struggled with the second.  If another move is made in that regard, let’s all hope the third time’s the charm.

Roll Wave.