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AU Finds No Field of
Dreams at SVSU |
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Ashland University head football coach Gary Keller doesn’t dabble in real estate, but on Saturday (Sept. 27) at Saginaw Valley, he learned again what every realtor knows – location is everything. Sure, the field at Wickes Stadium is just 100 yards long, just like any other field. But where a team spends its time on the 100 yards can mean the difference between winning and losing. The Eagles allowed Saginaw Valley to own their side of the field for much of the afternoon and that played a large role in the 38-0 win the nationally-ranked Cardinals enjoyed. SVSU is 4-3, 3-0 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. Ashland is 1-4 and 1-3. The Cards led 7-0 after one quarter and broke the game open with 24 second-quarter points. Of the six SVSU scoring drives, only one covered more than 39 yards. That was the first scoring march, a 70-yard, 9-play trip that ended with quarterback Mark Radlinski hitting wideout Stan Spencer with an 18-yard TD pass. That first score came with 6:27 left in the first quarter. That was the hardest the Cards worked to score all afternoon. The next scoring drive was four plays, 39 yards, the third was 21 yards in five plays and the fourth 33 yards in four plays. The final score in the first half came after the home team moved nine yards in three plays. “You can’t give them a short field to work with,” admitted Keller. “I thought we did some things better in the second half. We adjusted better in the second half.” Radlinski ended up throwing four touchdown passes. He completed 18 of 30 passes for 199 yards. His TD passes covered 18, 27, 22 and 7 yards. He was never sacked, although AU did pick off two of his throws. Wide receiver Ruvell Martin was Radlinski’s receiver of choice, he caught eight passes for 99 yards. AU gave the Cards prime land through a combination of mistakes and turnovers. AU’s freshman quarterback tandem of Nick Strance and Kyle Johann was intercepted three times and AU lost a pair of fumbles. The Eagles gave the ball away twice on special teams, fumbling away a punt and then allowing a pooch kickoff to fall to the ground where the Cards recovered. Both of those special teams miscues resulted in SVSU scores. “I’m very disappointed in our special teams,” Keller said. “We have to get that taken care of, as coaches we have to get that cleaned up. I think it was a communication problem. You just can’t have that.” The Eagles just can’t keep falling behind either. AU is averaging just 13.0 ppg., so getting far behind against any opponent is a major problem. Nevertheless, the Eagles did do some things better in the second half. Ashland ran for 175 yards. Much of that came from junior tailback Jason Schwalm, who had a career-high 108 yards on 16 carries. Ten different players caught passes from the rookie quarterbacks. The most productive player in the air game was junior wide receiver Mike Hull, who had five catches for 46 yards. Strance, making his first career start, was 19 of 38 for 108 yards and two interceptions. Johann, a lefty playing in his first game, was 1-3 for seven yards with an interception. This game marked the first time AU has been shut out since the fifth game of the 1996 season when Hillsdale won at Community Stadium, 21-0. “Offensively, I though we did a better job running the football,” said Keller. “But we still have to show better balance.” Playing two first-year quarterbacks against a team as talented as Saginaw Valley State is a balancing act in itself. But with the starter, junior John Szabo, on the sidelines via injury, this is the mode of operation the Eagles will be using for the next few games. “In this conference, it’s tough asking freshmen to come in and play,” said Keller. “I just think we have to give Nick and Kyle a little bit of time.” The Eagles will be back in action this coming Saturday (Oct. 4), hosting Wayne State at 1:25 p.m. |