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Printer-Friendly ModeIndy wins stats battle, but Cards win game
October 30, 2006 —
Most times, the numbers don't lie. But they did on Saturday.
Despite running only 35 plays and controlling the ball for just one-third of the game, the Cardinals beat Indianapolis 23-16 at home to move to 5-3 on the season.
The Cardinals allowed the Greyhounds to run 86 plays and have possession of the ball for 39:51. Indy gained 416 yards on offense, while SVSU had just 233 yards.
And yet, the Cardinals came out with the win.
"Time of possession, yardage, those things don't matter," coach Randy Awrey said. "At the end of the day you just have to score more than the other team to get the win."
Of SVSU's 233 yards, 132 came on two long touchdown passes. With 3:31 to go in the second quarter, senior quarterback Vinnie Miroth threw a jailbreak screen to junior Ric Cottengim, who took the pass 70 yards for a score. Late in the game, clinging to a one-point lead, Miroth found a wide-open Bob Awrey for a 62-yard score.
Taking those two plays out of the equation, the Cardinals gained just 101 yards on 33 plays, a meager average of three yards per play.
The difference came in turnovers and special teams. The Cardinals forced three turnovers at the most opportune times and had several long punt and kickoff returns to gain field position.
As the Greyhounds were driving in the second quarter, redshirt freshman Mike LaVand and junior Josh Miller combined to sack Indy quarterback Casey Gillin, who fumbled. LaVand recovered, giving the Cardinals the ball around midfield.
After the Cottengim touchdown made the score 14-3, Indy again had a costly turnover. The Greyhounds were able to drive all the way to the SVSU one-yard line, but on third-and-goal with less than 30 seconds remaining, junior linebacker Derek Volmering stripped fullback Eric Wright of the ball. As the ball bounced towards the goal line, Gillin tried jumping on the ball, but it squirted out of bounds for an SVSU touchback.
Indy came right out in the first possession of the second half and scored a touchdown, making the fumble that much more important.
As the SVSU offense continued to sputter, the Greyhounds kept driving, scoring on two Kyle Mossbrucker field goals in the last three minutes of the third quarter.
It was on the Greyhounds' next possession that the momentum changed, as sophomore cornerback Matt Black intercepted Gillin at the SVSU 45-yard line and returned the ball to the Indy 15. The Greyhounds were flagged for a late hit, giving the Cardinals the ball at the eight.
SVSU almost scored on another screen to Cottengim, but were forced to settle for a 20-yard field goal by senior Bobby Belmonte, giving the Cardinals a 17-16 lead with less than nine minutes remaining.
Indy got the ball back and drove down to the Cardinals 38-yard line, but were stopped on fourth-and-four with 2:24 left.
The Cardinals seemed content with running the ball three times and punting, as redshirt freshman Brad Crandall rushed for both a one-yard gain and a one-yard loss on first and second downs, respectively. But on third down, SVSU spread out the defense and faked another screen to Cottengim, which gave Awrey, who lined up on the same side of the ball as Cottengim, an opportunity to get behind the defense.
"We put that play in this week," said Bob Awrey, who explained that he normally blocks the cornerback on the screen. "This time I faked the block and the corner and the safety both bit. It was the perfect call at the perfect time."
He said he was so open that the ball seemed to be in the air forever.
"The first thing on my mind was just to catch it, so we could run the clock out," he added.
Belmonte's extra point was blocked, though, meaning the Cardinals had a seven-point lead.
The Greyhounds completed three straight passes on the ensuing drive, getting out of bounds on each to stop the clock. On the next play, safety Joe DiGiorgio was flagged for pass interference, giving Indy the ball at the SVSU 41-yard line.
The senior made up for the penalty on the next play, as Gillin threw a screen to the fullback Wright, who was rocked by DiGiorgio in the backfield for a three-yard loss.
Indy converted one more first down to the Cardinals' 25 before throwing four consecutive incomplete passes to turn the ball over on downs one last time.
SVSU had almost as many return yards as offensive yards, finishing with 142 kickoff return yards on five returns and 39 more on a Cottengim punt return.
Even more astonishing when considering who won was that the Indy converted 27 first downs, compared to the Cardinals' six.
Of those first downs, though, 19 came through the air and four on the ground, a stark contrast from the Greyhounds' 39-14 win against Wayne State a week earlier. In that game, Indy finished with 325 rushing yards and 10 rushing first downs.
Indy finished with just 102 yards on 37 rushes on Saturday, a 2.8-yard per rush average.
"This was our best game up front all year," he said, adding that while Gillin had success through the air, finishing with 314 yards, "we kept putting hits on him."
Just as important to the defensive line's success was the play of the SVSU offensive line. Of the O-line's starters on Saturday, two - Jordan DeRosia (senior Damion's brother) and Jerry Wichman - were freshmen and one, A.J. Eilers, was a sophomore.
"We haven't had anything close to continuity on the line," Awrey said. "We've had a lot of different guys playing different positions all year."
As a testament to the youth of the line, Miroth dropped back to pass just eight times in the first half and was sacked on three.
"You can teach run blocking quicker than pass blocking," Awrey explained. "We thought it was better for us to control the game by running more. With that youth, you can't just start throwing the ball every down."
Awrey added that with junior Chris Dougherty still not fully recovered from injury, Miroth's health was of the utmost importance.
The senior was an efficient 10-of-14 for 196 yards and two touchdowns. Cottengim and Awrey caught three balls apiece for 93 and 78 yards, respectively. Crandall finished with 14 carries for 43 yards, 24 of which came on the first score of the game in the first quarter.
Although the Cardinals returned several players from injury, they will need even more back when they travel this weekend to No. 1 Grand Valley State, which won at Ferris State 28-6 on Saturday.
"Every week's a big week," Awrey said, downplaying the game as he exited the postgame press conference.