Advertisement
Dane Cordes knew what likely was in store for the UW-La Crosse football team at this week’s videotape-viewing session. Cordes, UW-L’s senior middle linebacker, said there would be a lot of yelling. It might be a toss-up between the Eagles’ players and coaching staff as to who will strain their vocal chords first.
Drive by UW-L’s practice field with your car windows rolled down this week — Indian summer is back, so you can do that — and chances are you won’t mistake it for a quiet zone. I’ve heard UW-L defensive coordinator Mike Durnin’s voice from the UW-L tennis courts, which are a good 20 yards away. So there’s no reason to believe it couldn’t carry into La Crosse Street.
Let the record show the Eagles pulled out a 27-20 overtime victory Saturday over Azusa Pacific University in their home opener. Let the record also show UW-L is 2-0 and likely to at the very least retain its No. 6 ranking in this week’s D3football.com poll.
But let it also be noted that this wasn’t even close to being the Eagles’ best effort. I know it. A Veterans Memorial Field crowd of 3,226 knows it. Most important, UW-L’s players and coaching staff know it, too.
The realization of what lies ahead — a Sept. 29 home date with UW-Whitewater, the country’s No. 2-ranked NCAA Division III team and UW-L’s No. 1 nemesis — had hit UW-L co-captains Cordes and senior fullback Mike Schmidt by game’s end. So too had the fact UW-L squandered a 17-point second-half lead and needed Dan Hall’s 9-yard touchdown run in overtime to beat Azusa Pacific, an NAIA team that returned to California with a 1-3 record.
It’s one thing to treat guests hospitably. But if the Eagles wanted to be nice, couldn’t they have just sent a few bags of cheese curds home with the Cougars?
“When we were up 20-3, we felt good. When it was 20-6, we were still confident,” Cordes said. “But when it was 20-20, that’s when we needed to talk to everybody and tell them to pick it up another notch.
“We could have let an easy one get away from us. Or I should say, a game we thought would be easy.”
This is the message Cordes and Schmidt, both of whom are as blunt as they come, need to convey to their teammates. If Durnin needs to get the same point across with a raised voice, that’s OK. It’s even all right for UW-L coach Larry Terry, generally not a person prone to getting mad, to tell the Eagles what’s what.
UW-L’s very season, a WIAC title and Division III postseason berth, very likely hinge on what happens against Whitewater. UW-L has lost its last three meetings with the Warhawks, including a 24-21 defeat in the second round of the 2006 Division III playoffs. It was a game where one play, wide receiver Neil Mrkvicka 53-touchdown catch in the fourth quarter, made the difference for Whitewater.
I can just imagine what the Warhawks might have done to UW-L had they been given the opportunities Azusa Pacific had.
It was tough for UW-L quarterback Griffin Moe (15-for-28, 100 yards, 2 interceptions) to be productive because the Eagles’ offensive line didn’t give him sufficient time. All in all, UW-L’s defense did a commendable job by forcing three turnovers, two of which led to touchdowns. But then again, a pair of big fourth-quarter plays — Alex Peltier’s 14-yard touchdown run off the option and Jon Davis’ 41-yard game-tying touchdown catch with 38 seconds left — swung the momentum in the Cougars’ favor.
“A win is a win. But absolutely, there are a lot of things we need to shore up on both sides of the ball,” Schmidt said. “We’re a veteran team, and we need to quit making stupid mistakes.”
Schmidt admitted the Eagles had had a “flat week of practice,” and that will happen from time to time. In the end, maybe Saturday’s too-close call will be the catalyst for the kind of season Schmidt believes UW-L can have.
If anything, it should serve as a blaring reminder of how not to play against Whitewater.
“We know we have to put everything together over the next two weeks,” Schmidt said. “It (UW-L’s game with Whitewater) is almost here. It’s finally time to start talking about it.”
Kirk Bey can be reached at (608) 791-8414, or at kbey@lacrossetribune.com
