Big Breaks, Big Score, Big News
Charliy Nash
Sunday June 24, 2001
It’s 5:18 PM on game night. One player is out on the field warming up. Forty men will eventually come onto the field to stretch, run, and get the feel of the turf. But right now, about two hours and twenty minutes before kickoff, Kats’ FB/LB Dan Curran is the only one. Activated from the practice squad this week, Curran got the opportunity to play when Nashville was overrun by a plague of injury bugs (first Fan Fair, then the injury bugs, not a great week in Nashville).
DS Dell McGee separated a shoulder in the San Jose game. OL/DL William Gaines had his foot stepped on and lost his toenail (today was the first day he’s been able to walk since then). After the game OL/DL Ben Crosland became ill. “He was in the hotel after the game throwing up”, related OL/DL Bruce McClure, “Nobody ever knew he had it until afterwards in the hotel. I remember after the game I heard him say “I think I have a concussion.’” Crosland later told me that this is his third concussion.
WR/DB Jarrick Hillery’s bruised shoulders caused him problems during the San Jose game so the coaches decided to hold him out of the Buffalo game. And DS Robert Davis is still recovering from a sprained hip flexor muscle. This set the stage for Curran and WR/DB Scott Thomas to step up and show what they could do.
Before the game Curran talked to me about his pending debut, “Anybody that’s a competitor obviously wants to contribute to the team and give a positive impact to the team, so we can get some wins and get to the playoffs.” Curran caught one pass for 10 yards, and rushed for eight yards and a touchdown. It doesn’t show up on the stats, but on one kickoff he broke through the line of blockers allowing teammates to stop the return man in the endzone for one of three touchbacks. He also wound up unexpectedly playing defense, “I hadn’t played [defense] since high school. They had me playing a little jill [linebacker] too because Darryl Hammond was hurt. It’s a learning experience. I know I made some mistakes, but hopefully I can learn from it.”
Scott Thomas also made the most of his appearance in the line-up, netting 15 receiving yards, one touchdown, and an interception he returned for 17 yards.
Big Score
I decided to give number 6 a new nickname. He is now Tyronne “All Alone” Jones. The separation he is able to get from defenders must give them nightmares. “We just worked hard in practice and came up with some kind of scheme to get me open more, to help the team out better,” Jones explained. He scored two receiving touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns, including a late dive play that could also earn him the name “Air Tyronne.” Jones also threw a huge block that may have been the hit of the game. “I just love to block. I get tired of guys hitting me, so it’s my turn to hit them back,” said Jones. “I caught him not looking on that one and got a good shot on him. I hope the guy’s alright.”
The surprising thing about the Kats team-record 87 points is the relatively low number of plays that produced them. QB Andy Kelly only threw 17 passes, five of them for touchdowns. The Kats also ran 15 running plays. By contrast, Buffalo quarterbacks Jim Kubiak and Jim Ballard combined for 41 passes. So how did the Kats manage to be so efficient? One key was that there were no wasted drives; Nashville scored every time they got the ball. The second key was the defense, which asserted itself with four interceptions, one fumble recovery, seven pass break-ups, two touchdowns, one sack, two QB hurries, and three tackles for loss. Buffalo’s first possession was a microcosm of the game – Nashville absolutely exploited Buffalo’s line during a goal line stand, forcing them to try and then miss a field goal.
Field position was also a key to this game. The Destroyers relied heavily on the onside kick, and were only able to recover the ball once. One of them yielded this odd statistic: DS Ron Carpenter scored a touchdown on an 11-yard kick return.
After jumping out to a 21-0 lead, the Kats never led by less than 17 points. Kats head coach Pat Sperduto put the game in perspective, “I’m just trying to keep everybody calm. It’s just one game.”
Big News
Ben Crosland told me about it first, but since he was suffering from a concussion I sought out another source. Kats’ CEO Mark Bloom confirmed it. Look for a “very significant article” on page one of the Sports section of Monday’s USA Today regarding the NFL/AFL relationship.
Big Comeback
WR/LB Cory Fleming is definitely back! In his second game of the season, after breaking his ankle in the preseason, Fleming turned in a stellar performance that earned him Ironman of the Game honors. “Maybe in a couple more weeks I might be ready to start playing,” joked Fleming. On being named Ironman he said, “I just think they felt sorry for me.”
Big Ride
One of the more amusing moments occurred on a pass to Buffalo TE Kerwin Hairston. The 290-pound lineman lumbered 13 yards down the field, dragging Nashville DS Cliff Green (185 pounds) with him. Green hung on until DS Adrian Lunsford helped him bring the big man down. “He’s a big guy,” laughed Green, “I was going for the strip actually, because big guys can’t hold on to the ball. He took me for a little ride though.”
Big Losses
Kats WR/LB Darryl Hammond missed the second half of the game with a separated shoulder.
Bob Trimble of Empire Sports told me that Buffalo WR/DB Carlos James said that he “snapped” his groin. Destroyers’ QB Jim Ballard left the game with a possible broken left wrist.
Big Foot
Nashville Kicker Steve McLaughlin had a perfect night. He hit one field goal and a dozen PAT’s. He also had a pretty good night with kickoffs. Three kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. One of them snuck under the net where the only person who could have returned it was Kats’ cheerleader Kimberly (she decided not to try to bring it out of the endzone). Kick coverage has been a problem for most of the season for the Kats. This night the ball took crazy bounces off the net. All but a few balls hit the ground before Buffalo’s returners could get their hands on them. “A lot of kicks were really close to the bar tonight,” explained McLaughlin, “and so they were coming off a little bit different. I think that’s one thing that made a big difference, and I changed it up, some I’d hit high, some I’d hit low on the net, and tried to keep them guessing.”
Charliy Nash has covered both incarnations of the Nashville Kats, and now has make the 2 hour drive to Huntsville for an Arena Football fix. He also covers the Tennessee Titans as a blogger for nfl.com and still hopes this will eventually lead to a paying gig.
