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Sun Devils scorch Bruins in 11th hour

By Daily Bruin Staff

Oct. 13, 1996 9:00 p.m.

Monday, October 14, 1996

PLAYERS:

McNown not able to single-handedly salvage frustrating gameBy
Rob Kariakin

Daily Bruin Contributor

How would you feel if you were Cade McNown?

How would you feel if you had just played the game of your life,
against one of the best teams in the country, only to watch victory
slip away from you because of your teammates?

Disappointed? Frustrated? Maybe even a bit angry?

"I’m not angry … I’m not directing my anger at anybody … You
know, I’m not angry at any particular person or part of this game,"
he said after Saturday’s "come-from-ahead" defeat to Arizona State.
"I’m just, you know, … it hurts when you lose a game like this;
where we, you know … If we would have just gotten things done
like we know we can, then we would have pulled the game out. So, it
really hurts."

Don’t believe it for one second.

You see, if you were Cade McNown, no matter how pissed off you
got you would still have to follow the cardinal rule of team
sports: never vent to the press.

And make no mistake, the sophomore quarterback was pissed. You
could see it in the way he made his way off the field (a bee-line,
oblivious to all distractions) and the way he leaned against the
wall during head coach Bob Toledo’s press conference, trying his
best to unclench his jaw. It was so obvious that, while coach
Toledo was speaking, one of the men running the press conference
felt the need to quietly ask McNown if he was all right.

But, after this game, who could blame him for being a little
bitter?

Personally, he enjoyed by far the greatest game of his career.
He threw for 395 yards, eclipsing his old mark of 306 set last year
against a much weaker Fresno State team. What’s more, the only
interception he gave up came on a diving grab by an ASU cornerback
with only 44 seconds left; in other words, after desperation had
set in and the Bruins were forced to go long on every play.

In short, he did his job. So where was everyone else?

The search would have to start with the offensive line. The
group entrusted with protecting McNown did a less than stunning job
of it, giving up a passable four sacks, but allowing the defense to
pressure, hurry and hit the QB on play after play. Another telling
sign of less-than-perfect blocking; ASU defensive linemen batted
down four of McNown’s passes.

But the offensive line’s faux pas were nothing compared to those
of the tailbacks. Two lost fumbles, on two consecutive carries, by
two different running backs, one of whom was supposed to be done
playing for the day. Turnovers are an accidental part of the game,
and, like any other accident, often happen without anyone to
blame.

But two consecutive fumbles?

"It came down to that. And ball security is gonna equal winning
and we weren’t able to secure the ball during crunch-time. And
we’ve just got to do a better job of that," McNown said.

Still think he isn’t angry?

"We did things where we shot ourselves in the foot and kept
ourselves from winning that ball game."

The foot-shooting didn’t end there. Defensive coordinator Rocky
Long sums it up best:

"I thought we (the defense) played very poorly at the end of the
game," he said.

Indeed.

While they can’t really be faulted for the ASU touchdown that
resulted from Skip Hicks’ fumble (ASU got the ball on UCLA’s
17-yard line), the one that came after Durell Price’s is another
matter. On that final drive, ASU gained yardage on 11 of 12 plays,
including runs of 16 and 17 yards. Not exactly clamping down when
it mattered most.

And then there was the coaching staff. After three masterful
quarters in which the Bruins finally integrated all aspects of
their offensive game plan (running, passing, trick plays), things
seemed to fall apart in the fourth. Leading by 13 with more than 10
minutes to go in the game, the offense suddenly appeared to get
conservative. On one telling drive, the Bruins ran on all three
downs, despite facing a third and five. Not surprisingly, they
failed to gain enough yards and were forced to punt from their own
27. The Sun Devils then scored on their next three possessions.

Despite his impressive play early, the coaches took the game out
of McNown’s hands.

Still think he isn’t mad?

"I’m just, you know, upset that we lost," McNown said.

Who knows, maybe he’s telling the truth; maybe he doesn’t feel
angry. Maybe he just feels lonely.

JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin

Senior strong safety Harlan Rashada (#5) breaks up a pass to
sophomore tight end Mike Grieb (#88).

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