An ugly win is still a win
Eric Tabor
Monday May 21, 2007
This is a familiar feeling and a symptom that good teams suffer from. All the pieces are there or at least a lot of them, but it just doesn’t translate into good play on the field. The rhythm and fire needed to dominate the other team just doesn’t seem to be there.
When on the road this season the South Georgia Wildcats team has at times looked like a half-inflated beach ball. Left to sit in the sand or on the bench, it appears fine and full of air. But when it is called upon for a game of catch, a touchdown drive, or a defensive stand, it quickly becomes apparent that something is the matter.
Word around the league is South Georgia cannot win away from Albany. So Head Coach Derek Stingley and Offensive Coordinator Rickey Foggie got a pump to inflate the team.
The Wildcats came out like a team on a mission. The defensive secondary which has been revamped in the last couple of weeks played strong. Defensive Backs Matt Jackson and Daryon Brutley each got an interception. The defensive front five got tremendous pressure on Arkansas Twisters Quarterback Davon Vinson, who on his first start in the af2, finished the game passing 15 of 35 for 191 yards.
It is truly a shame that South Georgia beat Arkansas only by a three point score, because people outside of the locker room don’t realize how much yardage the offense put up.
Wildcat Quarterback D. Bryant passed for 386 yards and five touchdowns. He completed passes to all three starting receivers. What is so eye popping about that? Scott Cloman had eleven catches for 109 yards, James Robinson had nine catches for 132 yards, and Chavis McCollister had eight catches for 145 yards. Three receivers each with over one hundred yards in the same game!
Arkansas forced three turnovers in the first half of the game. It was amazing that South Georgia weathered that storm. If those turnovers did not happen, the Cats would have hung 70 points on the Twisters.
After every road game this season (all of them losses, except for this one), I left feeling as if a superior Wildcat team did not do enough to hang on and beat a significantly weaker opponent, as if they were a car running on a quarter-tank of gas which managed to make it home but without enough left in the tank to be sure about the drive to work in the morning.
With the Wildcats getting ready for another big road trip, heading to Bossier City, Louisiana, I think the Cats will gas up this Saturday.
I have to curb my cynicism about this road weary team, but I think a couple things are clearly true. Bryant is talented and is an incredibly good quarterback. He has quality targets to throw to, and when they’re in sync, they have looked unstoppable. Chavis McCollister is a tough and talented receiver who can gain serious real estate when he gets the ball.
When this team plays on the road it has been ugly. And that’s part of why I think things will get better. A smarter man than myself said necessity is the mother of invention, and the Wildcats really need to invent a solid road team.
It’s strange but it may have taken a win instead of a loss to inspire the South Georgia Wildcats to change. It will come down to Saturday, but I expect to see this team give a performance like the defense did against Arkansas.
Bottom line on Sunday afternoon’s game in Arkansas, Wildcats win 40-37.
