Do or Die: A Scandurro Story

BY TIM SCANDURRO

“Micah’s pick was a big one.  It was 10-10 at that time down in the red zone there.  That was a huge one.”—Jon Sumrall

“When you have the ball in your hands you have the program in your hands, and our program’s in good shape when 21 has the ball in his hands.”—Jon Sumrall

“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?’ Then I said ‘Here I am!  Send me.’ “-- Isaiah 6:8 

Nine years ago my wife and I visited Normandy and hired a guide to show us around for a couple of days.  Both Normandy and the guide were my idea, acquired in a one-sided trade for a week in Paris and future cash consideration.

 As we stood on Omaha Beach and looked up at the ridge that dominated it, our guide told us that some years before he had stood in the same spot with  an elderly German tourist who disclosed that he had been in a bunker on that very ridge, and had fired 13,000 rounds from his MG-42 machine gun starting around 6:30 AM on the morning of June 6, 1944 before surrendering when he ran out of ammunition.  If you’ve seen “Saving Private Ryan,” you can imagine the scene.

At the base of the ridge where it met the beach was a small seawall berm that served as a shelter for masses of men who somehow made it across the beach in one piece.  Terrified and shaken, they weren’t moving any farther and didn’t intend to.

 A 51-year old brigadier named Norman Cota, who had fought in the First World War and in several other Second World War engagements, landed around 7:30 AM, walked across the beach and got the men moving.  The Distinguished Service Cross he later received reads: “With complete disregard for his own personal safety, General Cota moved up and down the fire-swept beach reorganizing units and coordinating their action.  Under his leadership a vigorous attack was launched that successfully overran the enemy’s positions and cleared the beaches.”  A sergeant on the beach that day said “I guess all of us figured that if he could go wandering around like that, we could too.”  Over at Utah Beach, we learned from our guide, a very similar scenario was unfolding under the steadying leadership of 56-year old General Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

Football is not combat, but they are both forms of human competition in which one group of determined men are urgently striving to achieve a goal that another group of determined  men are urgently striving to prevent.  They also share two common, universal truths:  Fear and anxiety are contagious.  And paradoxically, so are confidence and courage.  Which side of that emotional line the rank and file ends up landing on, whether a football team or an army, has a lot to do with how well they've been prepared for crisis and who is with them in difficult moments.  On those days when everything just seems to hit the fan and nothing goes right, when time seems to be slipping away and the walls are closing in, you want to be around well-prepared men who refuse to quit, men of courage and conviction who say "follow me." 

As the third quarter ended against Rice Saturday, we were locked in a 10-10 tie and the Owls had the ball on our 25 yard line.  To that point Rice had been the more physical, more disciplined and more focused team.   An air of nervous tension had taken up residence in the collective hearts of the Yulman Stadium faithful.  Hadn't we already made critical mistakes that cost us two close games in the fourth quarter earlier this year?  Our 2024 campaign felt like it was balanced on a knife’s edge, the same way a different campaign was at 7:30 AM on that beach 80 years ago.  It was either do or die.  That's when two Green Wave players decided to stand up and lead the way.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Tulane cornerback Micah Robinson, like General Cota a veteran of many prior battles with over 45 college games under his belt, lined up at outside corner facing a trips formation to his side.  I'll let him tell it:  "Honestly the whole week, the coaches showed us when they got in that formation, we are expecting two to three verticals out of that formation.  I mid-pointed both receivers and went up and got it."  The tape shows exactly that, with Robinson in position to cover either of the two outside receivers and his eyes on the quarterback.  When the ball went to the inside receiver so did Robinson, intercepting the ball inside the five.

 Two series later Rice was in our red zone again, the game still very much in doubt.  On fourth and seven, they lined up two receivers to Robinson's side and ran a pick play designed to free up the outside receiver running a cross underneath it.  Again recognizing the formation and the play call, Robinson ducked around the pick, drove on the ball, and knocked it loose from the receiver.  It wouldn't have been a first down even had he caught it.   

Former NFL coach Dick Vermeil liked to say that he "gained confidence from being prepared."  Robinson's preparation and experience gave him the confidence to rise to the opportunity and the entire defense rose up and followed him, battering and pummeling Rice quarterback E.J. Warner and forcing three turnovers in the fourth quarter alone.  You could feel the confidence swing and then snowball from one sideline to the other as the quarter wore on.

In between those sparkling defensive possessions, a different fourth quarter warrior put the offense on his back.  Starting from our own 30 with about 11 minutes to go, Makhi Hughes ran off left tackle for 17 yards.  On the next play he ran off right tackle for 13 more.  On the next play he started up the middle and bounced outside for another 19 yards, 13 of which came after a facemask penalty so egregious that it spun him completely in a circle and drew no less than four flags.  For those of you counting that's three plays and 64 yards.  Three running plays. Good morning, good afternoon, and good night.  A few plays later Hughes scored from the one to cap a touchdown drive in which we ran the ball on every snap.  The offensive line and tight ends, rising to the example of their humble running back, blew Rice off the ball for the first time all day.  Considering how inept our offense had been to that point, with shaky performances from just about every other position group, it was a remarkable series.  Stated more succinctly, a friend texted after the third Hughes carry that "this drive is some grown ass man sh*t."  That it was, indeed.

As in June 1944, Saturday didn't go as expected or planned and  the road to ultimate victory is still long and arduous.  We will have to play better to get to the end of it.   But we had to find a way and we did.  Thanks to some fourth quarter heroes who chose “do” and not “die,” we earned the right to play another high stakes game next week.  We made it off the beach. 

Mission accomplished.

By Tim Scandurro