[revrew]

Izulde: Thanks

Throughout season five, several players stepped up at crucial moments. In game 2, with injuries to our receiving corps, the offense sputtered, but #4 WR Dante Hall ran back both a punt return and a kicoff return for touchdowns, almost single-handedly carrying us to victory.

Unfortunately, a solid and consistent right guard never did step up that season, and we lost both of our games to conference rival Tampa Bay. The Bucs knocked us down to second in the division, but the fifth season Rebels--one of the most talented Rebel teams in franchise history--still powered to an 11-5 finish, grabbing the top wild card spot.

That squad gave us our first playoff victory, a 24-3 trouncing of Chicago in the snow. That squad also powered us past Dallas, who knocked us out the previous year. It was close (27-24), and the difference was our strength all year: getting to the quarterback. We racked up 5 sacks in that game and more than 50 that year.

Thankfully, Tampa Bay was beaten by surprise upstart wildcard Green Bay, giving us the NFC championship game at home. We had lost to Green Bay in Lambeau earlier that year, but at home, the NFC championship was a blowout, as Knowles ran for 174 yards, Turtschin completed 24 of 27 passes for 4 touchdowns, and the Oline put in its best performance of the year. 41-15 was the final score, and we looked very good going into the big game.

Though we had beaten Denver 17-10 earlier in the season, the Bronco squad that met us in the first Rebel SuperBowl was healthier and stronger than it had been earlier. Through 4 quarters, the game raged back and forth. Many still remember that Bowl as one of the best in history. Late in the third quarter, however, we began losing air in the tires. The physical Bronco secondary had knocked out Tyrone Calico, Robert Ferguson, and Corey Bradford with injury. Our top 3 wideouts were in the locker room or on the bench, leaving us with diminutive Dante Hall and a rookie to catch passes. We couldn't even field a 3-WR set. We didn't have any wideouts left.

Unable to get a big play, the battle for field position and possession time began to work against us. Denver tied it up, 17-17, as we struggled desperately to hang on.

The Bronco defense began to key in on our tight ends (we had to run a series of 2TE sets to get more receivers into patterns), taking away even star TE Randy McMichael. The Broncs brought 8 into the box, and we couldn't burn them over the top. Our third downs got longer, and we didn't have the playmakers to convert.

With little time on the clock, we just needed one more first down to take the game into overtime. We couldn't do it. We punted away, and the Broncos marched over our tired defense, and with only seconds on the clock, lined up for a game-winning 52-yard field goal. The ball sailed through the uprights as time expired, stealing away our first shot at the Lombardi. We lost 20-17.

The postseason was bittersweet for the Rebs. LDE Charles Grant's league-leading 18 sacks won him 1st team DE. Pass-catching FB Alan Ricard won 2nd team FB, and SLB Daryl Smith finally got much deserved recognition, his 8 INTS getting him 2nd team OLB. The team lost 50 million dollars (driving up Jeffrey Davis' total losses to $155 million), but more importantly...I had put a lot of eggs into the basket that year. I had wagered the future against a SuperBowl victory. When we lost, we knew we weren't going to return stronger the following year. The cap man had finally come, and it was time for the Rebels to pay up.