Conventional football logic suggests that to be successful, both in a game and in a season, you must be able to run the football effectively, avoid committing too many penalties, and win the turnover battle.
With two games left in the regular season, head coach Paul Tortorella’s IUP Crimson Hawks are last in the 15-team Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in rushing offense, averaging just 59.4 yards per game; 11th in penalties, with 65; and 12th in turnover margin, at minus-7.
Yet, the Crimson Hawks are 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the PSAC West, and if they beat Clarion on Saturday, they will secure the division title and advance to the conference championship game on November 11.
So conventional logic doesn’t seem to apply to IUP.
“You can’t apologize for winning,” Tortorella said after his team beat last-place Gannon, 26-6 on Saturday. “Like I told the team, maybe this is the better way to do it.”
On Tuesday, Tortorella said statistics rarely tell even half of the story.
As far as the rushing yardage goes, the numbers don’t take into account the 40 catches for 370 yards that running backs Leon Parson and Tavian Banks have combined for on swing passes, which, in essence, are outside run plays.
Stats also don’t show that some penalties are inconsequential because of where and when they happen, and outside of the Slippery Rock debacle (three personal fouls on the final possession), penalties have not hurt the Crimson Hawks that badly all season.
And as far as turnovers go, it’s true that IUP has lost six fumbles and thrown 11 interceptions, but its opponents have turned those 17 turnovers into a total of 29 points: three touchdowns and three field goals. In IUP’s two losses, only one turnover was converted to points (an interception in SRU territory resulted in a touchdown on the next play).
Against Gannon, IUP’s three turnovers hardly mattered.
“Gannon got the ball on their own four twice, and the other one was on their own 25, and it was third and 18,” Tortorella said. “So, the one obviously prevented us from scoring points, but it didn’t put the defense in a tough position. So, it’s about the situation and the field position.”
INJURY UPDATE: Starting defensive end Logan Goodwin (ankle) is listed as probable for Saturday’s game at Clarion. Goodwin, who leads the team with six sacks, left the Gannon game in the first quarter with what appeared to be a severe injury, but at halftime, he got taped up and went back in during the second half, although he did not play much.
Tortorella said Goodwin probably won’t practice this week, and the staff will decide closer to Saturday if he will play.
Tight end Marcus Day is probably done for the year with a shoulder injury. Day, a senior from Altoona, was injured against Slippery Rock on October 11 and has not played since.
Because he is a senior, Day’s career is likely over, and Tortorella said the sad part is that if Day had been injured the week before, he could have applied for a medical redshirt to play next season (the NCAA minimum for a medical redshirt is four games played. Slippery Rock was the fifth game of the season).
LOOKING AHEAD: The Crimson Hawks’ season is on the line when they visit Clarion on Saturday. A win likely sends them to the PSAC title game and likely into the playoffs, regardless of the outcome of that game.
A loss to Clarion means IUP will face whoever the winner of the Slippery Rock-Edinboro game was scheduled to play –– either Bloomsburg (Slippery Rock) or Millersville (Edinboro).
Clarion is 6-3 overall and 2-3 in the West. The six wins guarantee the Golden Eagles a winning season, their first one in a decade. However, it is worth noting that the six teams Clarion has beaten have an overall winning percentage of 0.304, and the three losses came against teams with an overall winning percentage of 0.654. The Golden Eagles are third in total offense (428.9) and 11th in total defense (379.6). They average 34.0 points per game and allow 26.6.
Statistically, at least, these are not the same old Golden Eagles that IUP has beaten 13 times in a row.
“It’s not even close,” Tortorella said. “They’re very good.”
