Carroll Faces a Different Scots Team

Release Date: October 3, 2001

When Rob Purlee first took the field as the quarterback of the Fighting Scots, the result wasn’t pretty. The freshman third-stringer completed 3-of-12 passes for 57 yards and threw an interception in a 43-7 loss to Carroll College last October.

The Pioneers will see a different Purlee when they come to play 3-0 Monmouth this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Bobby Woll Memorial Field, and the emergence of the sophomore signal-caller is just one reason why Carroll will be in be for a whole different ballgame than a year ago. Here’s a look at what Purlee has done now that he has the equivalent of a full season under his belt.

Through nine games - which until recently was the length of a typical Monmouth season - Purlee is 110-of-227 for 1,756 yards, with 20 TDs and just 10 interceptions. His 318 yards in Monmouth’s 48-13 victory over Illinois College last Saturday bumped Rob’s father, M Club Hall of Famer Dave Purlee, from second on the all-time single-game honor roll. Tim Burk still leads the way with a 353-yard effort during the Scots’ unbeaten season in 1972.

Purlee’s yardage and TD totals would set single-season Fighting Scot records if they came all in one season. Only three seasons have seen a Scot quarterback complete more than 110 passes, and two of those were posted by Dave Purlee. Perhaps the most important stat is that Monmouth is 5-1 in the last six games that Purlee has started. The last Monmouth quarterback to start five or more victories in a six-game span was southpaw option-runner Craig Anderson in 1989 (the elder Purlee’s record as a starter, by the way, was 10-7 and included a share of the MWC title in 1976).

Although Purlee has certainly had a lot of help in the scoring department - Matt Beverly, for example, has scored TDs on special teams and defense this season, including an 82-yard interception return against the Blueboys (photos of Beverly’s TD jaunt and other moments from the game are available online at www.monm.edu/sportsinfo/images/ic92901/index.htm) - the Scots are scoring at a record pace with the sophomore at the controls. MC has posted 45 points or more on two occasions this season, becoming only the 10th squad in the program’s 110-year history to hit the 45-point plateau twice in one year. Five of the those seasons came in coach Bill Reichow’s glory years from 1968-73, and the most recent season was 1986.

“After nine games, I think Rob has progressed exactly how we expected him to,” said second-year had coach Steve Bell. “He’s more efficient within the system, and he’s showed the capability to make plays when things break down.”
And when Bell says “efficient,” he means it. Purlee leads the MWC with an efficiency rating of 197.4 and the next closest competitor is Ripon’s Brock Bauer, who checks in at 138.5.

“By no means, though, has Rob capped off what he can do,” said Bell. “He’s where he should be, but there’s a long road ahead. Every game, we’re seeing something new from him.”

And at the end of that long road, don’t be surprised if Purlee holds all the major career passing records in team history. Those marks are held by Robb Long (367 completions, 851 attempts, 4,354 yards), Tom Lombardo (54.4 completion percentage) and Mark Reed (39 TDs).

Purlee will certainly be called upon to do his share of passing Saturday, and his counterpart, Carroll’s Brad Dement, may throw the ball even more. In last week’s 54-27 loss to Grinnell, Dement threw the ball 47 times for 337 yards and three TDs. He currently leads the MWC in passing yards per game. Dement’s favorite target is Brandy Spoerl, who caught 13 passes for 192 yards last week, moving him up to second in the MWC in receptions.

On the flip side, Bell is hopeful that Randy Terrell (71 carries, 307 yards, 3 TDs) can get into a flow, taking some pressure off Purlee.

“On offense, we want to run the ball effectively to set up our play-action passes,” he said. Trying to stop that plan will be a Carroll defense led by tackle Dan Moak and safety Jim Vento, two of the top 10 tacklers in the MWC.

“Carroll’s played two of the better teams in the conference (Ripon and Grinnell),” said Bell. “Their 0-3 record doesn’t say where they’re at. They’ve had a tough go of it. But Saturday’s game will be their fourth game in their new system, and I’m sure they’ll be more efficient. We want to put them in a lot of third-and-long situations.”

Bell was asked what a 3-0 record says of the Scots.

“It says consistency, more than anything,” he replied. “In two of our three games, we’ve played well both offensively and defensively. Continuing that is the key.”

The Scots are tied atop the MWC at 2-0 along with St. Norbert and Grinnell and are the only 3-0 team overall except for St. Norbert, the 26th-rated team in Division III. Despite the fact that Carroll is winless, Bell said there’s no way the Scots are looking past the Pioneers to their Oct. 13 road date against St. Norbert.

“We don’t even talk about St. Norbert,” he said.

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