Hitting, not accolades, win football games

Football games are won at the line of scrimmage — and in the fourth quarter.

Actually, one leads to the other.

If you dominate at the line and essentially pound the other guys into submission, you have them mentally and physically beaten when it comes to crunch time.

And as legendary coach Vince Lombardi used to say: “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”

So what’s the point of this little speech about the line of scrimmage?

What are we stressing in class here?

Well, unfortunately, it’s the sad and sorry tale of Washington State, UDub and Idaho last weekend.

All three got handled and knocked around (it didn’t seem that way with the Vandals, but we’ll get to that in a sec), and suddenly, we saw some previously prolific offenses that just couldn’t score.

WAZZU WALKED into a trap at Berkeley, facing a pretty salty Cal team that had lost three in a row and was spoiling for a fight.

I suspect Coach Mike Leach tried to tell his guys what was coming, but if you’re not ready for an alley brawl at kickoff ...

Sorry, but by then it’s too late.

The Cougs had spent a couple weeks with everyone on campus telling them how great they were, and forgot that they also give scholarships everywhere else in the Pac-12.

Cal just shoved that 6-0 record down their throats, and the 37-3 beating was no fluke.

If you don’t believe it’s about attitude, consider that Wazzu physically whipped USC in that milestone win just two weeks earlier.

So the Cougs are no lightweights, but it’s human nature to believe all the hype — and forget that you have to be ready to hit somebody.

Meanwhile, Washington had no excuse.

The Huskies had lost six straight to Arizona State in Tempe, so it’s not like they shouldn’t have been fearing an upset.

This was a situation where you want to be growling when you get off the bus.

Surely, the coaches were praying for some chip-on-the-shoulder football, but ...

Nope.

One measly touchdown and a 13-7 loss later, UDub had learned the classic lesson: If you let somebody get after you physically, it’ll be a long, tough and unpleasant 60 minutes.

JUST AS an aside, those losses by Washington and Washington State most likely took the Pac-12 out of a shot at the national championship playoffs.

Stanford is probably playing better than anyone in the conference, but a two-loss team from the West Coast?

Nah.

Not going to happen.

Oh, we promised a peek at Idaho, and how the physicality of this sport turns a victory into heartbreak.

They won’t want to hear this in Moscow, but Appalachian State has better football players than Idaho — and more of them.

All that knocking at the line of scrimmage (along with crucial depth you find at good programs) usually shows up in the fourth quarter.

And so the Vandals, despite jumping to a 20-0 lead, couldn’t hold on.

Coach Paul Petrino made it clear that he wanted that game badly, and the emphasis was appropriate.

These were a pair of former Division I-AA powerhouses, with Appy headed now upward to a possible Sun Belt title and Idaho soon tumbling back to the lower division.

That’s why all Petrino’s scheming didn’t help in the end.

Appalachian State, with an expanded, gorgeous stadium and serious ambitions while recruiting in the South, belongs in the top class.

You saw it in the fourth quarter, when the Vandals ran out of gas and couldn’t make plays.

Coach and broadcaster John Madden once said: “You can plan and draw up trick plays and anything else.

“But when the ball is snapped in the fourth quarter, if my Xs knock your Os on their butts, it’s not going to matter.”

That’s our lesson for the week.

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Steve Cameron is a special assignment reporter for The Press. You can reach Steve at: [email protected].