THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 24, 1994 TAG: 9410240127
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Long : 124 lines
If not for Gus Frerotte, today would mark the 40th anniversary of the greatest debut ever made by a Washington Redskins rookie quarterback. But the 23-year-old kid from Tulsa rewrote Redskins history Sunday.
Frerotte hit 17 of 32 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns in a 41-27 upset of the Indianapolis Colts at the RCA Dome.
Bye-bye Al Dorow and your 154 yards passing against the Giants.
As for changing team history, Frerotte may not be through.
Sunday's start was supposed to be a reprieve, a hiatus for No. 1 pick Heath Shuler. He was to rest his sprained ankle, then return this Sunday at RFK Stadium against Philadelphia.
That was the plan.
The plan has been changed.
``Gus will start,'' Redskins coach Norv Turner said of his seventh-round draft pick, the 197th player selected. ``He was exceptional. We said he was an accurate passer who can see the field. You all saw what we've been talking about.''
Turner labeled Washington's second victory of the season ``a team effort.'' Only Colts coach Ted Marchibroda argued.
``We lost to a kid who played a hell of a game,'' he said. ``I don't feel a rookie quarterback should score that much. ... He stood in the pocket and made throws. This kid is going to be good.''
Yet he did have help. Linebacker Andre Collins suckered Colts quarterback Jim Harbaugh into an interception he returned 21 yards for a touchdown. Other Redskins touchdowns followed interceptions by safety Martin Bayless and linebacker Lamont Hollinquest.
After being torched by rookie flash Marshall Faulk on a 38-yard run and an 85-yard touchdown reception, the Redskins defense knuckled down. Faulk ran, jumped and glided for 76 yards in the first half. He had just 10 after halftime.
And the Redskins' offensive line punched enough holes in the Colts front to gain 100 yards on the ground, 90 by Ricky Ervins. They also shut out the Colts pass rush.
``Credit everybody around me,'' Frerotte said calmly. ``The line did a great job. The receivers were catching the ball. As a quarterback, you can't ask for more.''
It was mutual. Shuler had converted just 5 of 31 third down plays the last 3 weeks.
Frerotte converted 9 of 16, and had at least one conversion wiped out by penalty.
``When you convert third downs,'' Turner said, ``you give yourself a chance to make plays.''
Frerotte victimized a 3-5 team ranked 24th in defense.
But the Colts also came in energized by a road victory last week over Buffalo. They roared out to a 10-0 lead 36 seconds into the second quarter.
At that point, the headiest play Frerotte had made was to recover his own fumbled snap on a third-and-7.
``After that, things settled down,'' he said.
After the Colts grabbed a 10-0 lead on Jim Harbaugh's 24-yard strike to Sean Dawkins, Frerotte had his first pro completion, 13 yards to Henry Ellard.
Next snap, Frerotte rolled right, pump faked, and hit Tydus Winans down the right sidelines for 51 yards, to the Indy 7.
Though they settled for a 21-yard field goal by Chip Lohmiller, Frerotte said he felt it was the start of good things to come.
``We showed we could drive the ball,'' he said.
``I told myself we'd get back down there again and, eventually, we'd cash in.''
It wouldn't happen until Harbaugh burned Redskins linebacker Ken Harvey on an 85-yard pass to Faulk with 10:36 remaining in the half, giving the Colts a 17-3 edge.
Frerotte hit Ellard (6 catches for 108 yards) for 21 and 19 yards, then Brian Mitchell on a 16-yard slant to set up another short field goal by Lohmiller.
It also started the Redskins on a 38-3 scoring avalanche.
Four minutes before the half, Frerotte guided the Redskins on a 14-play, 74-yard drive, with third-down conversion completions of 20 yards to Ellard, 15 yards to Winans and 6 yards to Desmond Howard.
Turner saw Frerotte rush and throw away an end zone pass for tight end Ethan Horton. He called the same play again, telling him to hold the football a fraction longer.
It worked. Frerotte quickly checked off options 1 and 2, then saw tight end James Jenkins coming across the middle of the end zone. The 1-yard scoring bullet with 7 seconds left before the half gave Washington a much-needed shot of momentum.
But in the locker room, Washington defensive coordinator Ron Lynn was furious. Faulk had averaged a shade under 6 yards a rush and was constantly in the Redskins secondary. Harbaugh had completed 6 of 8 passes.
``I told them I wanted to chew their butts but it wouldn't do any good,'' Lynn said. ``They knew what was wrong. I just told them to play their positions and play better. Sometimes, it's that simple.
``We wanted to force Faulk to the sidelines. When we did, it worked fine. When we didn't, we had a tough time knocking him down.''
There were no such problems in the second half. Faulk needed 9 rushes to gain 10 yards; on 5 of them he lost yardage.
Meanwhile, Frerotte led a 58-yard drive than ended with 7:36 left in the third quarter with Ervins' first of two touchdowns.
Washington finally led and Bayless did his part to pad the edge by picking off Harbaugh's pass and returning it 19 yards to the Indy 10. Three plays later, Frerotte again found Jenkins, this time with a 5-yard pass that increased the Redskins' lead to 27-17.
On the Colts' next possession, Collins lured Harbaugh into thinking that fullback Roosevelt Potts was open in the flat. Collins broke as soon as Harbaugh released the ball, nabbed it in stride and could have walked the 21 yards into the end zone.
Ex-Virginia quarterback Don Majkowski replaced Harbaugh. Before he was through, Hollinquest had his first interception as a pro, and a 39-yard return that set up Ervins' scoring burst.
Washington led, 41-20. Frerotte could savor the day.
``I learned that I can play in this league,'' Frerotte said. ``It's exciting. You wonder if you can play with this caliber athlete. Then you go out and make the throws. It's a good feeling. I hope it doesn't go away.'' ILLUSTRATION: Redskins running back Ricky Ervins jumps into the arms of
quarterback Gus Frerotte after scoring a touchdown in Indianapolis.
Ervins carried 27 times for 90 yards and two touchdowns.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gus Frerotte hit 17 of 32 passes for 226 yards, two touchdowns and
another start Sunday at home against the Eagles.
by CNB