To win in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, or any level of football, you have to be able to have the threat of a competent running game – and if not, you’d better have a Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers under center.
And being able to balance both running and passing, to have multiple dimensions, is key.
The Fort Lewis College football team isn’t quite there yet – as its 1-2 record might attest – but last Saturday against New Mexico Highlands showed the Skyhawks may be inching closer to being a more complete offensive package entering Saturday’s game against Western New Mexico.
The running game has taken a decided uptick this season with fresh faces on the line and in the backfield. The Skyhawks are averaging just more than 185 yards per game on the ground this year and have rushed for four touchdowns in three games, just two shy of the rushing touchdown total for all of last season.
Dewaun Wesley has emerged as a key offensive threat, while Amery Duncan has shown the ability to be a factor as well, with both running behind a retooled offensive line.
“We’ve got to run to win. When it comes late in the game, the great teams, they run to win,” wide receiver Doyle Bode said. “At the end of the game, if you can’t run to win, you won’t win.”
Head coach John L. Smith still wants to see a bit more, though, in the same way that very few coaches ever are completely satisfied this early in the season. A bit longer in holding blocks, particularly in the second level, would be a good place to start.
“We’ve kept it simple, No. 1. So I think our offensive front is starting to understand how to block it,” he said. “And then how to continue to push people. We still don’t finish every play like I would like us to do. We’ve just got to go a little bit harder at the end to finish every play.”
The passing game started to gain traction late in the loss to the Cowboys last week after a subpar showing against Oklahoma Baptist in which FLC completed just six passes. Jordan Doyle, completing 20-of-38 attemps, threw for 241 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both to Bode, including a 55-yard strike, a dramatic improvement over his showing the week before.
“Second half, we just kind of caught a rythym,” Bode said. “First half, we started off a little bit rocky. ... Once we started to get momentum going in our direction, it all kind of came together.”
Still, FLC may be looking for more from the quarterback position. Fellow quarterback Max Baiz took the bulk of the first-team snaps at Friday’s walkthrough, indicating that a switch at quarterback could be possible.
Whoever’s under center, the Skyhawks will be trying to continue improving on a passing attack that ranks ninth in the RMAC in yards per game at 161.0, ahead of only Colorado Mesa, and has two passing touchdowns against four interceptions.
“He’s done a good job,” Smith said of Baiz. “He’s kept his mouth shut. He’s tried to learn, tried to be a good backup player. It’s like with any backup, you try to tell those guys you’re one play away from a start, and that’s how you have to prepare yourself.”
Then there’s the issue of cleaning up the big plays. Three of Highlands’ four touchdowns last week were of 50-plus yards, including a 72-yard punt return for the game’s first score. Keeping big plays off the board could be the difference against a Mustangs squad that boasts a capable quarterback in Mitch Glasman, a big receiving threat in Ronnell Pompey and has lost only to FCS San Diego and No. 5 CSU-Pueblo this season.
“All we have to do is keep the ball in front of us defensively. Make him have to throw it, make him have to complete it, and they’re not good enough to beat us. ... There’s three plays there that cost us a football game,” Smith said. “And so we tried to point to the fact that, doggone it, guys, we’re good enough to beat anybody on our schedule. But we have to go, and we have to execute the plan.”
rowens@durangoherald.com
