Joel Auerbach/Getty Images
Stacy Coley of Miami eludes a tackle.
MIAMI 77, SAVANNAH STATE 7
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Savannah State believes better days are coming. And if the Tigers ever turn that corner, games like this one will be part of the reason why they got there.
Overmatched from the opening kickoff, the Tigers lost to No. 16 Miami 77-7 on Saturday night, the third lopsided loss Savannah State has dealt with already this season.
It was never a contest, either: The first time Savannah State’s defense was on the field and didn’t give up a touchdown was about two hours after kickoff, when halftime stopped a Miami drive short of the end zone.
“I know that I can change a program like this,” first-year Savannah State coach Earnest Wilson said. “We aspire to be big-time. A game like this helps us judge where we are. The only difference is depth. I know I have to go out and recruit and get some guys like they have.”
Savannah State got $ 375,000 for taking the trip to Miami, plus another chance to line up against a ranked program.
Last season, the Tigers lost to Oklahoma State 84-0, then lost a lightning-shortened game to Florida State 55-0.
This one was shortened as well; Wilson and Miami’s Al Golden talked at halftime and agreed to trim 3 minutes off the final quarter, when the Hurricanes wound up running the play clock almost to expiration before every snap and ran simple dive plays over and over again.
“I’ve been there,” Golden said. “I’ve been on the other side of those at Temple. He was trying to teach his team how to keep fighting. I’ve been in his shoes.”
DeQuan Daniels had a 75-yard touchdown run for Savannah State (1-3).
The Tigers’ lone win this season was over a Division II team, and their three losses have come by a combined 220-19.
Dallas Crawford and Gus Edwards both scored three touchdowns and Miami got into the end zone on its first seven possessions.
Miami set a school record for points, doing so even after losing quarterback Stephen Morris in the first quarter with what a team official said was a sprained ankle.
Lynne Sladky/AP
A group of Savannah State players wonder what they were ever doing on the same field as No. 16 Miami.
“The X-rays are negative,” Golden said of Morris. “We’ll be cautious with him. We’ll get him off his feet or whatever for the next 48 hours, but it looks like he’ll be fine.”
Morris got hurt with 8:51 left in the opening quarter, on a play where he was under pressure from Savannah State’s Alex Wierzbicki. Morris threw an incomplete pass and ended up on the ground for the next few moments.
http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info/?p=14287
via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info
No comments:
Post a Comment