Onward and Upward -- Football Preview 2001

Release Date: August 21, 2001

At the Division III level, coaching staffs can pretty much forget about landing that mobile, 6-foot-5, 325-pound offensive lineman or that 6-foot-3 wide receiver who catches everything in sight and runs a 4.35 40-yard dash.

There are still some standout athletes available after the larger, more elite programs have snapped up their recruits, though, and what often distinguishes those remaining players from a sea of DIII hopefuls is an intangible element to their game.

Monmouth College coach Steve Bell, who’s entering his second season with the Fighting Scots, has a handful of players with such an intangible – a strong desire to play the physical style of college football – and more are on their way, as he’s added over 50 freshmen and transfers to the 19 returning starters from last year’s 3-7 squad.

"We would like to put ourselves in a situation where we’re in a position to win every game in the fourth quarter," said Bell. "We can win with the kids we have on our roster right now. We took our lumps early last year, but at the end of the season, we showed what we can do. That’s the last time I’m going to mention last year. It’s what we do from here on that matters."

While Bell is committed to looking ahead, readers might need a small review. After posting a 1-3 record in September, the Scots struggled to start October, losing 43-7 to Carroll, 45-0 to St. Norbert and 62-27 to Ripon. But the Scots rallied to take two of their final three games, in the process posting the most wins for an MC team since ’94.

Some heroes emerged, including tailback Randy Terrell, linebacker Jason Robinson and a defensive line led by ends Brian Valentini and Matt Lerner. All four made the All-MWC team, as did center Brett Gerue. Who’ll be the heroes of 2001?

Two years from now, the lead story for the 2003 Fighting Scots could be all the records that quarterback Rob Purlee has broken or could break during his senior season. For now, though, the story is that the sophomore Purlee is looking to build on a freshman season that saw him start the last five games and pass for 1,034 yards and 11 TDs.

"At the end of the season, Rob showed that he wasn’t a freshman anymore," said Bell, referring to Purlee’s breakout five-touchdown game against Lawrence and a solid performance in the 31-17 Bronze Turkey victory over Knox. "He really matured under fire and showed some flashes of what he can do."

Bell said that his sophomore signal-caller has an intangible that can’t be taught.

"Moxie," said Bell. "Rob’s got moxie. Guys kind of flock to him because he’s a little confident, a little cocky, but in a positive way.

"He could really have a nice career," Bell continued, "but on the other hand, knowing the job might be his for the next three years could make him complacent. As a staff, we’ll bring in kids to compete against him."

The first recruiting class that will get the chance to battle Purlee includes Matt Clair, T.J. Gordon and Aaron McKay. A fourth recruit, talented Brian Krier, will miss the 2001 season following shoulder surgery, but Bell is high on him and is hoping for good things for Krier in 2002 and beyond. It’s not out of the question that one of the recruits will be behind center at some point during the year. After all, that’s how Purlee cracked the lineup, coming on when Brad Hulke suffered a season-ending broken foot against Carroll.

In general, Purlee will either drop back to pass or handoff to the tailback, and the Scots have a good one in Terrell. As a junior, he rushed for 773 yards, closing the year with three straight 100-yard efforts. In the season finale, he reeled off a school-record 40 carries on his way to 157 yards and two TDs.

"At the end of the season, Randy showed what he can do when he’s healthy and in shape," said Bell. "And that’s the key – he’s got to come into two-a-days physically ready to handle the load."

Even if Terrell is 100 percent, there should be some carries to go around for another tailback, and the leading contenders are Nic Jelcic and freshman Todd Sabean. Another back, Ed McCracken, was set to figure into Bell’s plans until an injury forced him to join Krier on the sidelines.

McCracken had some fullback potential, too. Although that position doesn’t accumulate too many carries in Bell’s offense (just 3.3 per game last year), the fullback is a prime receiving target. Bell said the position should finish somewhere between first and third on the team in receptions, and 32 passes were caught at that slot last year, including 20 for 183 yards and four TDs by Nick Martin.

"He’s a hard worker," said Bell. "He busts his hump every day in practice and has a ‘never give up’ attitude."

Although All-MWC receiver Ryan Wood will not return this year, Bell is high on the athletic tandem of Randy Williams (11 catches, 228 yards) and Nathan Gaskill (3 catches, 69 yards). He also foresees that "gritty" Tyler Snyder and speedy Michael Jiggetts could also work their way into the rotation.

Incumbent tight end Michael Pfeiffer will not be returning, but Bell did receive some good news when he learned in late July that Nate Tipton has recovered from a knee injury and will return. Other tight end candidates are Lucas Baker, who is switching from basketball to football this year, and freshman Aaron Hubbard.

Skill players are nice, but the key to any offense is line play. The outlook in the trenches is positive for the Scots, as Bell will likely start five seniors, including two – Gerue and left tackle Nathan Polich – who have earned All-MWC honors.

Rounding out the starters are right tackle Ryan Pearson, right guard Justin Yang and left guard Derek Rakoci. Mike Arnoldi and Nick Detman have also started in the past for Monmouth, and Bell says junior Matt Copple and sophomores John Newcomb and Brett Black will push for playing time.

"Our offensive line is a strength," said Bell. "Experience is a big key, and we certainly have that. We also think we’ve got a good freshman class coming in, but time will tell. It’s hard to take high school film and translate that into college performance."

It’s another thing, though, to look at college videotapes, and when Bell delves into the 2000 archives, he sees a defensive line that he was high on from day one of his MC career.

"All four of those guys are back, plus they now have a year of experience in our system," said Bell, referring to Valentini, Lerner and defensive tackles Tobias Dickerson and Correlle Campbell. "We’re very big at tackle, but we’re also athletic there. Across the board, that’s the key to the whole line. We’re not huge, but we’re big enough and we’re very athletic."

Lerner and Valentini combined to make 127 tackles last fall, including 22 for loss and 5.5 sacks. Lerner also showed a knockdown knack, batting away nine passes.

Adam West will return to action after being sidelined by injury in 2000, and JV tackle Ryan Evans hopes to increase his playing time. The concern up front, said Bell, is that only freshman are listed on the defensive end depth chart behind Lerner and Valentini.

Although the linebacking crew had some success last fall, Bell believes some tinkering will make things even better. Robinson, who broke the school record with 111 tackles, will be moved from the middle to the outside, swapping places with Clint Terwilliger. Nick Flowers won’t return for his final season, so special teams ace Rob Rogers – "a real son of a gun" – will man the other outside position.

"We think Jason’s athleticism will be better utilized in our system at the outside spot," said Bell.

Depth will be provided by juco transfer Jim Riley and a good freshman crop.

Like the offensive line, Bell likes the fact that the secondary returns en masse, but that doesn’t mean every job is secure.

"The experience is a big factor, but there are still some concerns there," he said. "It’s not that we’re not athletic enough. We’ve just got to get better mentally and make better decisions. In the front seven, if you make a mistake, it’s six yards. In the secondary, a mistake means six points."

Matt Beverly and Scott Stanton started at the corner positions last year and Luke Jackson and Justin Oertle were the safeties. Oertle would appear to have the most job security, as Bell called him "pound-for-pound, the best hitter on the team." Oertle also picked off a team-high four passes last year and was third on the team with 78 tackles.

Two rookies who could work their way into the lineup are Ross Brocies and Dontel Thomas. Brocies is coming off a Class 4A state championship season.

When you think of Monmouth’s special teams, it’s hard to not think of Jon Baikie, Monmouth’s do-everything All-MWC performer who punted and returned kicks and punts. He wound up his career as the Scots’ all-time leader in return yardage.

Bell will plug in a variety of faces into Baikie’s many roles, including Phil Pullen as the punter, Williams as the main kickoff returner and Gaskill and Thomas O’Brien on punts. Gaskill and Jiggetts can also return kickoffs.

The man putting the points on the board will likely be kicker Andy Full.

"Our players want to win here," summarized Bell. "We’ve done what we need to do to expect to win some ballgames. We’ve set some goals as a team that we believe are achievable, and from day one of camp, we have to focus on those goals."

After losing by 45 and 35 points, respectively, to St. Norbert and Ripon, Bell calls the Green Knights and the Red Hawks the "obvious" favorites for the league title. "From there, it’s a crapshoot," he said. "Once you get past those two teams, it’s all jumbled. Hopefully, we can move our position in the conference to a new level."

Since the league expanded to a 10-team, round robin format in 1998, Monmouth’s best finish was last season, when it tied for sixth at 3-6. The Scots’ second-year coach is hoping his experienced squad can show enough "moxie" and enough "grit" to at least reverse that win-loss figure.

If some of the freshmen and transfers can make sequels to their high school highlight reels, the 2001 season could be one to remember for Bell and the rest of the Fighting Scots.