Post by Banana Cat on Jun 8, 2011 11:51:04 GMT -5
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Panthers try to bounce back from loss
The Panthers have one regular season game to get back on the winning track after losing on Saturday to Columbus, 58-39. Coach Lucious Davis says they will, while blaming himself for the loss to the Lions.
Jun 7, 2011
Mike Phillips / albanyherald.com
ALBANY — Where do we go from here?
That’s what the Albany Panthers want to know.
“I think we’ll bounce back. I think we’ll be OK,’’ said Albany coach Lucious Davis, whose Panthers suffered their biggest loss of the season last Saturday, falling to host Columbus, 58-39.
It was costly.
Columbus (10-1) won the Southern Division title and home field in the first two rounds of the playoffs, taking both those prizes away from the Panthers (9-2), who had split their first two games with Columbus.
But what now?
How will the Panthers respond? That’s the biggest question surrounding this franchise, and anyone who remembers last year’s late-season collapse knows just how significant that question is.
Last year the Panthers had the best record in the Southern Indoor Football League, but after beating Columbus twice, they lost the season finale in Columbus.
They had an off week before opening the playoffs and were shocked by fourth-seeded Louisiana, which upset the Panthers, 41-35. Columbus ripped Louisiana the next week in the championship game, and everyone involved with this team wondered what happened?
Now, here we go again …
“We will be all right,’’ Panthers quarterback Cecil Lester said. “We’ll come back, and we’ll play them (Columbus) again.’’
Lester, who was the MVP of the league last season, has come off the bench to lead the Panthers again, but he threw four interceptions in the loss to Columbus. He has confidence the Panthers will regroup and make a run in the playoffs and get back to Columbus for the second-round game.
One difference this season is the Panthers have one game left. They meet last-place Alabama at home Saturday night to finish the season, and the hope is they bounce back right away, beat Alabama and head into the playoffs with some momentum.
“I don’t think it’s going to be like last year,’’ Davis said. “After losing the game (Saturday) it did feel a little like last year. Cecil had a bad game last year, and everything just went into the tank after that game.
“I don’t think we will go through that this year,’’ he said. “Cecil is better, and the whole team is better. After that last game last year, we had to take a whole week off before we started the playoffs.”
Davis continued: “Then we had a playoff game. I don’t know if that week off hurt us, but I do know that we came out flat in that playoff game against Louisiana.’’
There is a lot at stake against Alabama. If the Panthers lose, they will lose home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs and hit a long, long road up north.
“If we lose Saturday we will have to go to Erie (Pa.),’’ Davis said. “Nobody wants to do that. We have to win.’’
Maybe that extra motivation will help. The Panthers took Monday off and were back on the turf for practice on Tuesday. But Davis said it wasn’t the physical part of the game that cost Albany last week. He said it was his fault.
“I’m not taking part of it,’’ he said. “I’m taking all of it. All year long I have been able to put us in good situations, situations where we could succeed and win. On Saturday, I didn’t make good decisions, and I didn’t put us in good situations. I’ve been able to put us in the right position this year, but I didn’t do that. It wasn’t the team. It was me.’’
Davis said it wasn’t only his play-calling that cost the Panthers, but his late decisions.
“I don’t think Cecil played bad,’’ Davis said, pointing to Lester’s five touchdown throws. “It was my play-calling that resulted in him having a bad game. It wasn’t him.’’
All four of Lester’s interceptions came in the end zone, and Columbus’ Damian Daniels picked off all of them.
“No, I’ve never had four interceptions in one game before, never,’’ Daniels said.
Davis said the turnovers and Albany’s sporadic offense, which disappeared in the second quarter, were his fault.
“Cecil only has so much time to get the play off. He’s got 25 seconds, and a lot of times I wasn’t getting the play to him until there were about 15 seconds left on the clock,’’ Davis said. “He didn‘t have time to change the play or to get a good look at the secondary. It’s stuff like that, that I have to do better to make us successful.
“In that game there were a lot of things I didn’t do well as a coach. As a coach, I’ve got to be better.’’
Davis said it was his fault that Columbus took over the game in the second quarter and ran off a 29-point run to erase a 19-10 deficit and turn it into a 39-19 halftime lead.
“I should have called a couple of timeouts to calm the team down so we could get back on track,’’ Davis said. “But I was thinking we could play through it. I’ve had a good season, but Saturday I did a poor job.’’
The Panthers would have broken up that 29-point run, but Antwone Savage dropped a TD pass on fourth down as the ball slipped out of his fingers. And Columbus scored an easy 43-yard TD when defensive back Levance Richmond, one of the top cornerbacks in the league, slipped and fell.
So there was some bad luck and bad timing to go along with a Columbus team that was out to make a point in the biggest rivalry in this league.
The Panthers also had a nightmare in their kicking game. Wes Virgilio was coming off a groin injury and missed four extra points, and each miss seemed to sap momentum from the Panthers.
Davis said he was happy that the team used two kickers this season, and he can carry both this time of the year because rosters are expanded from 21 to 27 for the final two weeks of the season and into the playoffs.
Davis said Geoff Boyer will be handling the kicking duties Saturday against Alabama.
“I think this team is (resilient),’’ Davis said. “I think we will come back from this. Everybody knows what happened last year. We don’t want that to happen again.’’
The Panthers have one regular season game to get back on the winning track after losing on Saturday to Columbus, 58-39. Coach Lucious Davis says they will, while blaming himself for the loss to the Lions.
Jun 7, 2011
Mike Phillips / albanyherald.com
ALBANY — Where do we go from here?
That’s what the Albany Panthers want to know.
“I think we’ll bounce back. I think we’ll be OK,’’ said Albany coach Lucious Davis, whose Panthers suffered their biggest loss of the season last Saturday, falling to host Columbus, 58-39.
It was costly.
Columbus (10-1) won the Southern Division title and home field in the first two rounds of the playoffs, taking both those prizes away from the Panthers (9-2), who had split their first two games with Columbus.
But what now?
How will the Panthers respond? That’s the biggest question surrounding this franchise, and anyone who remembers last year’s late-season collapse knows just how significant that question is.
Last year the Panthers had the best record in the Southern Indoor Football League, but after beating Columbus twice, they lost the season finale in Columbus.
They had an off week before opening the playoffs and were shocked by fourth-seeded Louisiana, which upset the Panthers, 41-35. Columbus ripped Louisiana the next week in the championship game, and everyone involved with this team wondered what happened?
Now, here we go again …
“We will be all right,’’ Panthers quarterback Cecil Lester said. “We’ll come back, and we’ll play them (Columbus) again.’’
Lester, who was the MVP of the league last season, has come off the bench to lead the Panthers again, but he threw four interceptions in the loss to Columbus. He has confidence the Panthers will regroup and make a run in the playoffs and get back to Columbus for the second-round game.
One difference this season is the Panthers have one game left. They meet last-place Alabama at home Saturday night to finish the season, and the hope is they bounce back right away, beat Alabama and head into the playoffs with some momentum.
“I don’t think it’s going to be like last year,’’ Davis said. “After losing the game (Saturday) it did feel a little like last year. Cecil had a bad game last year, and everything just went into the tank after that game.
“I don’t think we will go through that this year,’’ he said. “Cecil is better, and the whole team is better. After that last game last year, we had to take a whole week off before we started the playoffs.”
Davis continued: “Then we had a playoff game. I don’t know if that week off hurt us, but I do know that we came out flat in that playoff game against Louisiana.’’
There is a lot at stake against Alabama. If the Panthers lose, they will lose home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs and hit a long, long road up north.
“If we lose Saturday we will have to go to Erie (Pa.),’’ Davis said. “Nobody wants to do that. We have to win.’’
Maybe that extra motivation will help. The Panthers took Monday off and were back on the turf for practice on Tuesday. But Davis said it wasn’t the physical part of the game that cost Albany last week. He said it was his fault.
“I’m not taking part of it,’’ he said. “I’m taking all of it. All year long I have been able to put us in good situations, situations where we could succeed and win. On Saturday, I didn’t make good decisions, and I didn’t put us in good situations. I’ve been able to put us in the right position this year, but I didn’t do that. It wasn’t the team. It was me.’’
Davis said it wasn’t only his play-calling that cost the Panthers, but his late decisions.
“I don’t think Cecil played bad,’’ Davis said, pointing to Lester’s five touchdown throws. “It was my play-calling that resulted in him having a bad game. It wasn’t him.’’
All four of Lester’s interceptions came in the end zone, and Columbus’ Damian Daniels picked off all of them.
“No, I’ve never had four interceptions in one game before, never,’’ Daniels said.
Davis said the turnovers and Albany’s sporadic offense, which disappeared in the second quarter, were his fault.
“Cecil only has so much time to get the play off. He’s got 25 seconds, and a lot of times I wasn’t getting the play to him until there were about 15 seconds left on the clock,’’ Davis said. “He didn‘t have time to change the play or to get a good look at the secondary. It’s stuff like that, that I have to do better to make us successful.
“In that game there were a lot of things I didn’t do well as a coach. As a coach, I’ve got to be better.’’
Davis said it was his fault that Columbus took over the game in the second quarter and ran off a 29-point run to erase a 19-10 deficit and turn it into a 39-19 halftime lead.
“I should have called a couple of timeouts to calm the team down so we could get back on track,’’ Davis said. “But I was thinking we could play through it. I’ve had a good season, but Saturday I did a poor job.’’
The Panthers would have broken up that 29-point run, but Antwone Savage dropped a TD pass on fourth down as the ball slipped out of his fingers. And Columbus scored an easy 43-yard TD when defensive back Levance Richmond, one of the top cornerbacks in the league, slipped and fell.
So there was some bad luck and bad timing to go along with a Columbus team that was out to make a point in the biggest rivalry in this league.
The Panthers also had a nightmare in their kicking game. Wes Virgilio was coming off a groin injury and missed four extra points, and each miss seemed to sap momentum from the Panthers.
Davis said he was happy that the team used two kickers this season, and he can carry both this time of the year because rosters are expanded from 21 to 27 for the final two weeks of the season and into the playoffs.
Davis said Geoff Boyer will be handling the kicking duties Saturday against Alabama.
“I think this team is (resilient),’’ Davis said. “I think we will come back from this. Everybody knows what happened last year. We don’t want that to happen again.’’