This week we pay a visit to a team we've only faced twice before: the San Antonio Stingers. We've split those two games, the last of which was a 24-17 Tucson win in Week 3 of 2007. We're not very familiar with them, of course, but they've got good talent all along their roster. QB Ernest Lorenzo is talented but hasn't had much success (52-67-1 career record), and he's paired with recently-acquired RB Toothpick Lang, another talented but well-travelled player (5 teams in the last 5 years). They also have an elite TE in Ricky Horowitz, and good talent along their O-line. But arguably their best player is 3rd-year DE J.J. Houston, who had a breakout game last week with 2.5 sacks, 1 blocked pass and 3 hurries, 6 total tackles, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovered for a TD. We will clearly have to keep him tied up on the O-line to have any hope of moving the ball today.
We're starting QB Kent Goodwin again today - the kid earned it after his respectable performance last week. Hopefully he can repeat that effort today, as another win would help to cushion us against a tough schedule over the next month (at Seattle, at Honolulu, and vs. Denver).
Code:
Box Score: Tucson at San Antonio
San Antonio, TX.
Week 2, 2011
Attendance: 59,000 (73,200).
Weather: 94 degrees, stormy.
1Q: 12:10 TUC - Hugo Eckard 46 field goal.
1Q: 05:57 SAO - Percy Alvarado 45 field goal.
1Q: 04:07 TUC - Brent Garcia 52 pass from Kent Goodwin.
1Q: 04:07 TUC - Hugo Eckard extra point.
2Q: 12:51 TUC - Hugo Eckard 45 field goal.
2Q: 05:40 SAO - Alec Johnson 21 pass from Ernest Lorenzo.
2Q: 05:40 SAO - Percy Alvarado extra point.
4Q: 09:55 TUC - Demetrius Higginbotham 30 pass from Kent Goodwin.
4Q: 09:55 TUC - Hugo Eckard extra point.
Game MVP: TUC 19 Kent Goodwin
Tucson 10 3 0 7 - 20
San Antonio 3 7 0 0 - 10
Team Statistics TUC SAO
First Downs 15 22
Total Rushes 26 29
Rushing Yards 101 95
Yards Per Carry 3.8 3.2
Pass Attempts 23 40
Completions 11 21
Passing Yards 213 273
Yards Per Attempt 9.2 6.8
Sacked 0 4
Yards Lost 0 26
Interceptions 0 0
Fumbles/Lost 1/0 2/0
Total Plays 49 73
Total Yards 314 342
Yards Per Play 6.4 4.6
3rd Down Plays 1/8 8/18
Avg. YTG on 3rd 9.5 8.9
4th Down Plays 0/0 1/1
Penalties 8 11
Penalty Yards 64 80
Avg. Drive Start OWN 27 OWN 23
Time Of Possession 25:06 34:55
Tucson Individual Statistics
Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
42 Holliday 21 95 4.5 17 0
26 Jeffries 5 6 1.2 6 0
Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
19 Goodwin 23 11 213 9.2 52 2 0 0
Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
80 Higginbotham 7 129 18.4 11 33 1
89 Armitage 2 24 12.0 1 15 0
26 Jeffries 1 8 8.0 0 8 0
85 Garcia 1 52 52.0 11 52 1
Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
85 Garcia 2 9 4.5 0
Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
35 Giles 2 72 36.0 0
Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
15 Winters 4 168 42.0 54 0
Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
12 Eckard 2 3 46 2 2
Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
55 Trujillo 14 1 0.0 0 0 0
31 Enoch 7 3 0.0 0 0 0
52 Wash 6 2 0.0 0 0 0
75 Grier 4 1 1.5 0 0 0
58 Watford 4 1 1.0 0 0 0
40 Biggs 4 3 0.0 0 0 0
25 Minahan 4 2 0.0 0 0 0
70 Neubauer 4 0 0.0 0 0 0
45 Stine 3 1 0.0 0 0 0
95 Stoltzfus 2 1 0.5 0 0 0
97 Horn 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
94 Van Brocklin 1 0 1.0 0 0 0
72 Bernard 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
26 Jeffries 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
Not a dominating win, but a win nonetheless. I think San Antonio generally outplayed us, but after scoring 10 pts in the first 18 minutes they weren't able to put together any more scoring drives. At all. Look at this beautiful drive chart:
Code:
2 2:27 1:18 OWN 23 3 0 Punt
3 15:00 2:45 OWN 29 6 17 Punt
3 10:24 1:52 OWN 28 3 5 Punt
3 7:09 3:26 OWN 12 6 21 Punt
3 2:33 2:33 OWN 37 4 16 Punt
4 9:55 4:31 OWN 14 10 38 Punt
4 2:10 2:10 OWN 32 11 54 Game
Our defense bent and gave up yardage, but never broke. They did well today.
The offense was adequate, but our lousy 3rd-down performance is becoming worrisome. We were 1 out of 8 today after converting just 3 out of 12 last week. Clearly Goodwin still needs some work, but he was efficient enough to put 20 points on the board. But will that be enough to convince the coach to give him the full-time starting job? Or will he be forced to return to veteran Hogan against a tough Seattle squad next week?
Drew Holliday keeps on chugging along, though I'm a bit puzzled as to why he has yet to break through for a TD. Just two games, I suppose, but he's definitely behind his usual pace.
Another beautiful bonus from this game: no injuries. How long can that kind of luck continue?
Next week: at Seattle.