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Tigers struggle against option

10/27/2009

By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

The Fort Hays State University football team scored 41 points at perennial national power Pittsburg State University, the most points FHSU has ever scored in Pittsburg, easily besting the 29 points tallied in a 1977 tie.

Still, the Tiger defense, playing without several starters, struggled with the Gorilla option attack all contest. PSU won the game 59-41 and cleared 400 yards rushing for the first time since 2005. The 59 points was the most allowed by FHSU's defense this season.

"It comes down to option football, what they are able to do and what they do is they get you on one-on-one opportunities in space," head coach Kevin Verdugo said in his weekly press conference Monday. "If you miss in that one-on-one opportunity, you run for quite awhile. Our free safety and our strong safety, our alley players, had some one-on-one chances, our backers, and we missed those tackles."

Fort Hays played without senior defensive lineman Charlie Carr, who was hurt early in a Week 7 loss to University of Central Missouri and has not played since. Carr (leg) is a four-year starter. In addition, junior Michael Walker, a team captain who ranks third on the team in tackles (65) and second with two interceptions, didn't play. Junior O'Neal Boatner and senior Gordon Butler each saw limited time and didn't record a tackle.

"It hurt," Verdugo said. "Obviously the guys that are starters have been for the year and then they didn't get to play Saturday. There is a reason why they are starters. They are better players at that position right now and it would have been a great deal of help to have them out there."

The Tigers moved to 5-4 overall, 3-4 in the conference. They will likely need to win their final two games to earn a chance at a postseason contest. The top five MIAA squads will likely play in the postseason and FHSU stands seventh in the conference. Historically, a team needs at least seven wins for the postseason, though Missouri Western State University did qualify for a bowl game last year with a 6-5 mark.

"I think you have to win every game that you can get your hands on and then the chips fall where they fall at the end of the year," Verdugo said. "You can't make any sense of what is or isn't going to happen in the conference and who is going to win every week. You just have to handle your business as best as you can and you better win as many as you can. You better not ever think as a coach or a player, 'you know what, if we lose this one, this one is okay,' because you don't know that,"

Fort Hays' defense, which has struggled with tackling all season, had problems against the option, an offense that is difficult to scout. The Gorillas, who rank first in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association in rushing yards, finished with 406 yards, the most rushing yards allowed by an MIAA defense all year.

"There is no in between," Verdugo said. Either you make it or you miss it and you miss it, it looks ugly. You can't simulate anything you saw Saturday in practice. You don't have the ability from a depth or a scout team standpoint."

"Even if we have our 1s, which we do some during the week, run that kind of stuff, we don't run it well enough even with our starters because it's not something that we do to give them anywhere near the look that they are going to see on a Saturday," he added.

The Tigers, who rank ninth in the conference in scoring defense (33.6 points/game) under first-year defensive coordinator Kyle Nystrom, will see a strong test Saturday on Senior Day against Northwest Missouri State University, ranked No. 3 in the country. Game time is 2 p.m. at Lewis Field Stadium.

The Bearcats (8-1, 7-0) have won 35 straight regular season games and lead the conference in scoring offense at 40.9 points per game. Verdugo likened Northwest to "the Division II version of Kansas State." When Mel Tjeerdsma arrived in 1994, the Bearcats were one of the worst programs in the country. In the first year, they went 0-11. Since then, they have won the national title twice and been runner-up the last four seasons. They beat FHSU 17-10 two years ago at Lewis Field Stadium.

"That is where you get into commitment and people wanting to win," Verdugo said. "Mel is a heckuva a football coach, but Mel didn't do that by Mel's self. That happened because there was a decision and a commitment that the program was going to start winning and it came from above Mel."

Fort Hays, behind a new spread offense, has started wining this season behind a solid year from senior quarterback Mike Garrison and a host of new wideouts. Garrison delivered a fine game against Pittsburg State with 255 passing yards. He became the fifth player in Tiger history to clear 2,000 yards and the first player since Shawn Behr set the school record with 3,497 yards in 1995.

Garrison has thrown for 2,028 yards with 13 touchdowns. His five interceptions are the fewest in the MIAA (minimum 100 attempts). His day, though, was trumped by the defensive problems.

"Other than the one game against Central Missouri, he has done a good job of keeping the football in our hands," Verdugo said. "The touchdowns are all nice and they come with time and making good decisions. He is not turning the football over a great deal this year. Anytime you have a quarterback that can keep the ball in your hands as much as we have thrown it this year, that is good news for us."

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