Bad start for football

By Andrew Neumann
Collegian Staff
September 12, 2007

So much for a hot start.

Since the last issue of the Collegian, the La Salle football team has been drubbed twice, to the tune of 82-14. The initial beating came at the hands of the Ursinus Bears, 28-0, before a fairly large crowd at McCarthy Stadium. The most recent defeat came at the hands of Sacred Heart University, by the laughable score of 54-14.

Mike Dao - Joe Procopio stands under center. The Explorers have announced that
he will now redshirt.

In the Ursinus game, contested on a Thursday night and serving as the home opener, the Explorers were flat, jumpy and most of all, careless with the football. They lost two fumbles and threw three interceptions. Two of these turnovers directly led to Ursinus points, as they were returned for touchdowns.

“We’re not a good enough team to be able to do that versus anybody,” head coach Tim Miller said after the game, in regards to the turnovers.

The lone bright spot of the game for La Salle came with a strong 13-minute drive in the third quarter. The drive, which began at La Salle’s own three yard line, led the Explorers all the way to the Ursinus five yard line. The team was impressive on third down in this drive, converting five times when it was third and more than five.

Unfortunately for La Salle, the team was unable to convert on fourth and goal, and came away with no points.

“At that point, the game was still in reach, and anytime you get down there you have got to score points,” Miller said.

In the week between the games, it was revealed that Joe Procopio, part of an anticipated platoon with Chris Hanson, will redshirt this year, leaving the job to Hanson. The timing of this move is curious, as Procopio has gone through all of camp as well as the first game.

This past Saturday, the Explorers traveled to Fairfield, Conn. to take on the NEC’s Sacred Heart Pioneers. A blow-by-blow recap of this game would be trivial. Basically, Sacred Heart imposed its will on the Explorers from the opening gun, as the Pioneers scored easily on their first four possessions. The Pioneers led 47-7 at halftime and spent the rest of the game running the ball into the line.

In other words, the 54-14 final score could have been a lot worse.

At the risk of being overly dramatic, there are serious problems with the Explorer football team. In addition to being 0-2 and having been beaten by 28 and 40 points respectively, the team hasn’t shown any signs of life in the first two games. In the first game, at home against Ursinus, they only put together one drive that showed any promise.

All too often, there were ridiculous penalties, such as when La Salle roughed the kicker on a missed extra point against Ursinus. The Bears then got to re-kick the PAT and converted. Ultimately, it didn’t make a difference as the Explorers lost 28-0 anyway, but one day something like that will come back to haunt La Salle.

Looking in broader terms, La Salle really can’t afford to go 2-8 this year. The beginning of the season was supposed to be the easiest part of the schedule, and yet they’re off to an 0-2 start. The end of the season features very tough road games against Duquesne, Wagner and Marist, as well as a difficult home date with an improving Iona team.

That leaves only a few games left that the Explorers can reasonably expect to win. Even if they win all four of those games, against Geneva, St. Francis, Assumption and TCNJ, it still may not be good enough to save the program. With the need to switch leagues at the end of the year, every down the Explorers play is tied directly to the program’s fate.

Will a team that goes 2-8, 3-7 or possibly even worse really warrant keeping a program around that costs a ton of money? Obviously, these aren’t questions that the players should worry about, but it’s something to keep in mind when the Explorers play their next game against TCNJ Friday, Sept. 21 at McCarthy Stadium.

neumanna1@lasalle.edu