Scots Prepare for Blueboy Battle

Release Date: September 26, 2000

The big picture for Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. Family Weekend game at Monmouth College’s Bobby Woll Memorial Athletic Field is that the Fighting Scots are 0-3 on the year and their opponents, the Illinois College Blue Boys, are a perfect 3-0.

The little picture is the second half of the teams’ games last weekend. The Blue Boys trailed 24-7 at halftime and by as much as 34-15 in the third quarter before a 29-point blitz put them over the top, 44-34, against Knox College. Monmouth, on the other hand, was the team that got blitzed, surrendering a 3-0 halftime lead and then some when host Beloit College returned an interception 73 yards for a touchdown and then rolled to a 22-3 victory.

"Mentally, we didn’t respond after that interception," said MC coach Steve Bell. "There was still a whole lot of ballgame to be played (over 25 minutes) and the score was just 7-3. We didn’t step up to the challenge. It was a key turnaround, but it shouldn’t have been."

How big a turnaround was it? Monmouth, which had moved the ball fairly well all day thanks to Randy Terrell’s 117-yard rushing effort, proceeded to gain just two total yards on its next three possessions, which lasted a combined 11 plays. Meanwhile, the Bucs’ reeled off drives of 14, 11 and 11 plays, gaining 173 yards and scoring a field goal and two TDs.

"We let one play out of 120 effect the outcome of the game," said Bell. "What good teams do is that they don’t let things like that effect them. You need to stay on an even keel as much as possible, and not let your highs get too high or your lows get too low."

While Bell knows in his heart that the Beloit game was one the Scots should have put in the win column, he also knows that it takes time to teach a football team how to win.

"It’s a process," he said. "It’s not going to happen overnight. The psyche of this team needs to be on more of an even keel. When we get to that point, we’ll win a lot of ballgames."

A team whose keel must be in pretty good condition is Illinois College. On the road and down by 19 points, the Blue Boys stormed back, thanks mainly to the arm of junior quarterback Derek Leonard, who completed 28-of-49 passes for 273 yards and four TDs and earned the Midwest Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week honor. The Blue Boys’ other two scores came from senior cornerback Mike Watson, whose two interception returns made him a no-brainer for the league’s defensive honor.

"Knox gave them big plays, but Illinois College was strong enough mentally to come back from that deficit," said Bell. "That’s a positive for them, to come back against a good team. Knox is not a bad team."

The Scots are familiar with Leonard, who had a huge day when the teams met last year. Leonard threw for 359 yards in a 42-28 loss to the Fighting Scots in Jacksonville.

As well as the southpaw signalcaller played, he was outdone by the Scots’ quarterback, Jon Baikie, who threw for scores of 61 and 73 yards and added a 49-yard TD run. Baikie figures to be a factor this year as well, but as a receiver/returner. The senior is averaging 25.0 yards per kickoff return and 91.3 yards per game in all-purpose yardage.

This year’s Monmouth quarterback is Brad Hulke, and the fact that the Scots were able to run the ball consistently took the pressure off the junior, who had thrown the majority of the Scots’ staggering 87 pass attempts through two games. Against Beloit, Hulke was 14-of-26 for 147 yards, with Ryan Wood again leading the way with four receptions. The other wideouts, Baikie and Randy Williams, both had three catches.

Terrell had 29 of Monmouth’s 33 carries, but he’ll see a reduction in that workload Saturday as Oscar Scott rejoins him in the backfield. The sophomore transfer missed the Beloit game due to a death in the family.

"Oscar gives us some speed on the edge," said Bell of the sophomore, who ran for 35 yards on 14 carries in his only other game this year.

Scott and Terrell figure to get a workout Saturday, as the Blue Boys showed some susceptibility to the run against Knox, yielding 259 yards on the ground.

"We did a better job of blocking up front, but we’ve got to get a lot better," said Bell of Monmouth’s running game vs. Beloit. "We had some four- or five-yard gains that should have been 12-yard gains, and we’ve got to be able to convert on short yardage."

Bell was referring specifically to two plays. The Scots had to settle for a field goal after failing on third-and-1 from the Beloit 2, and they later failed to convert on a fourth-and-1 from the Beloit 10.

Meanwhile, Bell was very pleased with the way the defense played in the trenches, at least in the first half.

"We were very disciplined as far as assignments, which was different than the Lake Forest game," he said. "Quite a few players had outstanding games."

One of those was Jason Robinson, who played his middle linebacker role to perfection, assisting on 16 tackles to go with three solo stops. The sophomore is now averaging 13.7 tackles per game. Linebackers Lindsey May and Nick Flowers were also in on at least a dozen stops, as was defensive lineman Matt Lerner. Adam West had seven assists in a starting role for the injured Correlle Campbell, and Bell said West will go again Saturday if the stress fracture in Campbell’s foot is not healed.

The main challenge for the Monmouth defense will be how it handles the adjustment from seeing two straight weeks of wing-T offense to an attack that Bell calls "a more pro-style offense."

That offense includes more than just Leonard and his stable of receivers. Patrick Bowman, one of the best prep ballcarriers in Illinois history, is now one of the best MWC backs, and he’s a legitimate threat to not only gain over 100 yards, but to top 200 as well. The University of Illinois transfer is joined by another former Fighting Illini, Kenny Rogers, although Rogers has yet to have a breakout game. The Scots are hoping that stays true for another week.

"Bowman runs hard and is not unlike the kid we saw in the first game, (Eureka’s Greg) McBroom," said Bell. "Derek Leonard does a nice job at quarterback. We’re facing a team that’s pretty balanced between the pass and the run."

The rest of the MWC action Saturday includes Carroll at Grinnell, Knox at Lawrence, Beloit at Lake Forest and Ripon at St. Norbert. The latter game pits two of the four unbeaten league teams and could go a long way toward determining the MWC champion.

The most surprising result last week was the fact that two teams teams had to go overtime to achieve victories. Grinnell edged Lake Forest 10-7 on a John Godish field goal, while Ripon nipped Carroll 31-28. The narrow defeats could mean that Lake Forest and Carroll are ready to step up from the middle of the pack and emerge as title contenders.