Scots Prepare for Ripon

Release Date: October 18, 2000

Rome was not built in a day, and it’s become very apparent that the Monmouth College Fighting Scots football program will not be rebuilt that quickly, either.

The Scots got a firsthand look at the kind of team they’d like to be when they hosted 24th-rated St. Norbert College last Saturday, and the Green Knights’ 45-0 victory showed Monmouth it still has a long way to go.

"St. Norbert believes they’re a very good football team," said MC head coach Steve Bell, "and they are a good team. There’s that attitude that they know they’re going to go out there and win. It’s just a belief that a team has, and developing that belief is a process."

Bell went on to discuss a few other elements that need to be present before a team like Monmouth can pick itself up off the floor and beat the better teams in its league.

"First of all, it takes learning how to practice," he said. "We’re trying to instill that the players need to practice as close to game speed as possible, but it’s still a process. We’re also teaching the players how to prepare. On Thursdays, you’ve got to start to get mentally ready for the game. It doesn’t just happen on Saturday.

"Recruiting is obviously something that has to occur," Bell continued. "We need to be much more athletic. One way to do that is to recruit kids that fall into that category, and another way is through the players’ hard work in the offseason on their own and with (strength and conditioning coach) Chad (Braun)."

Bell said some team members are further along in the process than others, and he singled out one as being a particularly quick learner – Matt Lerner, to be exact.

"If we can get all 22 players competing with the same intensity and desire as Matt then we will be successful," praised Bell. "Matt played a very good game against St. Norbert. His motor always runs, and he never gives up."

Lerner, a sophomore defensive lineman, had six tackles, including a sack, and batted down two passes at the line of scrimmage. Unfortunately, he sometimes had to watch St. Norbert’s Matt O’Grady blow by the line of scrimmage on a long run. The Green Knight senior broke a 43-year-old school record with his 282 rushing yards on 27 carries. His big day, which earned him the Midwest Conference Offensive Player of the Week honor, represented the largest chunk of St. Norbert’s 582-160 edge in total yards. Monmouth has now been outgained 1,110-290 in its last two contests and been outscored 88-7.

"They were big and physical up front, and we did not play off our blocks well," said Bell. "Obviously, you’re going to get blocked. The key is not to stay blocked. It wasn’t a schematic problem – we just didn’t get off our blocks and make plays."

Meanwhile, St. Norbert did get off its blocks and make plays, limiting Monmouth’s main running backs to 55 yards on 19 carries. Freshman reserve B.J. Gordon did break off two nice runs on the last two plays of the game to finish with 24 yards.

In the passing department, freshman quarterback Rob Purlee, making his first collegiate start nearly 25 years to the day when his father, Dave, was 24-of-40 for 300 yards and four TDs in a 55-40 loss to St. Norbert, looked good at times, but wound up just 11-of-32 passing for 93 yards. He threw three intereptions, including one was that was returned 27 yards for a touchdown by Eddie Obermueller, the MWC’s Defensive Player of the Week honoree.

"I thought he did fine," said Bell of Purlee. "He rushed some things a bit. A couple of the passes he threw were a little bit off, including the interception that went for a TD. That pass was just six inches off where it should have been. But those things happen. That’s part of football. For one week of practice, I thought he did well."

Purlee will likely get the ball behind center again this Saturday when the Scots travel to Ripon College to face the Red Hawks. Although former starter Brad Hulke is listed as day-to-day with an ankle sprain, his return to good health could be later rather than sooner.

One player who is out for sure is long snapper Nate Tipton, whose dislocated patella will keep him on the sidelines for the rest of the year. His place on special teams will be taken by starting right guard Justin Yang. Also, linebacker Clint Terwilliger has stepped into the starting lineup, and he looked strong at times in his first start, posting nine tackles.

Terwilliger and the rest of the Scots’ defense will have to combat a Ripon squad that basically plays smashmouth football.

"They’re not fancy," said Bell. "They’re going to line up and run what they run. Their running back (Troy DeVoe) is very good. He’s a hard-nosed kid. He’s not going to beat you speed-wise, but he’ll get the tough yards."

In conference action, DeVoe has gained 579 yards and scored six TDs. The MWC’s third-leading rusher is a nice complement to Ripon’s passing game, which is directed by quarterback Brock Bauer, who is second in the league with 203.6 yards through the air per game. He’s thrown 11 TD passes, with all but one of them going to the receiving duo of Jason Beck (26 catches, 479 yards) and Dan Henken (25 catches, 445 yards).

The Red Hawks, who bring a record of 5-1, 4-1 into the contest, are ranked second in the MWC in offense (389.0 yards per game) and fourth in defense (312.0). No Ripon player is in the top 20 in the league in tackles, but Purlee will have to know where defensive back Nate Kok is. Kok’s five interceptions lead the league and have helped Ripon compile a league-best turnover margin of +9.

Bell’s M.O. is to run the ball, but he likened his team’s struggles in that department last week to the Miami Dolphins of the 1990s.

"It’s kind of like what happened to the Dolphins when Jimmy Johnson was there," said Bell. "We couldn’t run the ball, and we weren’t sustaining blocks. You just can’t keep putting yourself in third-and-long situations series after series."

Monmouth faced a third down 14 times against St. Norbert, and the average amount of yards the Scots had to cover was 9.6. Their third-down conversion rate was just 4-of-14, and since they couldn’t move the chains, they didn’t get into St. Norbert territory very often. In fact, the Scots ran just one play from the other side of the 50-yard line, and that didn’t come until six minutes remained in the contest.

The shutout loss was Monmouth’s first goose egg since 1995, a span covering 46 games. It was their worst shutout defeat since a 47-0 loss to Ripon in 1966. But even in those ugly numbers, Bell can take some consolation. That 1966 team was coached by first-year man Bill Reichow, and before Reichow was done at MC, he had compiled a 78-31 record. Some glory days in Monmouth football history began the very next year, as the Scots posted a 5-3 record after going 2-6 in Reichow’s rookie season. With that 1967 season included, Monmouth had eight consecutive winning campaigns.

No, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it probably wasn’t built on something called a "five-year plan," either. But give Steve Bell a little time to instill his practice values, improve the strength and athleticism of his players and turn their belief system around, and a dynasty could be in the making. It’s a process, and the process has begun.