THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 5, 1997 TAG: 9701030251
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 81 lines
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS later, the disappointment still lingered for Army split end Rod Richardson.
``I'm still absorbing the loss,'' the Cadets sophomore and former Norcom standout said Wednesday, a day after the Cadets' remarkable fourth-quarter rally fell short in a 32-29 defeat to Auburn in the Independence Bowl. ``We felt like we should have won. We expected to win.''
Should we have expected any other response? After all, back in August, when hardly anyone would have mentioned Army while forecasting the nation's top football teams, these guys were planning on going to a bowl game.
``Actually, our pre-season goal was to win a bowl game,'' Richardson said.
They believed they could win 10 games, something no other Army team had done in the 107-year history of the storied program. They believed they could rally from 18 points down to upend archrival Navy.
So Wednesday, despite trailing 32-7 against Auburn with but 15 minutes to play, naturally they believed again.
``We're confident in our abilities,'' Richardson said.
Still, to the uninitiated, Demetrius Perry's 12-yard touchdown run with 12:44 left seemed like something that would only make the score more respectable. Then Bobby Williams added a two-yard scoring run. And with 1:27 remaining, Richardson took a short toss from Ronnie McAda and completed a 30-yard touchdown pass play which, combined with Williams' two-point conversion run, brought the Cadets to within three.
``I ran a smash route, which is basically supposed to be a five-yard in,'' Richardson said of his second touchdown reception of the season. ``The linebacker came up, so I had to make it a 10-yard in. Ronnie got the ball to me and I was able to take it the rest of the way.''
Even the regimented, disciplined Cadets can get wild and crazy on the sidelines in the wake of a big play. But Richardson passed on any post-scoring celebrating.
``I was too tired to do much,'' Richardson said. ``Plus I knew we still had a long way to go.''
Army's road to a comeback got considerably shorter seconds later, though, when the Cadets' Matt Rogers recovered an onside kick and McAda marched the Cadets to the Auburn 10.
But on third down with 29 seconds left, Army coach Bob Sutton passed on one more crack at the end zone and sent J. Parker in to try a 27-yard field goal. Parker had made 17 straight from inside the 40, but missed wide right Tuesday and the Tigers escaped with a three-point victory.
``It was disappointing, but one man wasn't the cause of us losing,'' Richardson said.
The game's ending spoiled an otherwise enjoyable week in Shreveport, La., for the Cadets, who were playing in a bowl for the first time since 1988.
``We went to some parties and a Mardi Gras preview. It was a lot of fun,'' Richardson said. ``Plus a lot of things go down in the Corps. It's good to get away. Being on the football team, you get some time to relax. You need that, especially when you're a freshman.''
Richardson, who turns 20 on Jan. 19, said his own freshman year was marked by the types of frustrating, confusing experiences typical of a first-year student at West Point.
``It was an interesting adjustment,'' he said. ``But once you get that first year out of the way, you get a little more freedom.''
After leading Norcom to a 22-2 record and a state title in his two years as a starting quarterback, Richardson had to make another adjustment when he arrived at West Point - to not playing. But after watching most of the action his first year, Richardson saw considerable time at wideout and as a punt returner as a sophomore and caught eight passes on a team that averages only 10 passing attempts a game.
``We concentrate a lot on blocking,'' Richardson said. ``But it was a pretty productive year. Not a lot of underclassmen get to play a lot.''
With the graduation of starting wideout Ron Thomas this spring, the 5-8, 162-pound Richardson expects to challenge for a starting spot.
Off the field, Richardson is maturing into a leadership role within the academy - like the rest of his classmates he's in charge of one first-year student - and is majoring in systems engineering.
``It's academically rigorous,'' said Richardson, whose holiday break from the Academy ends today. ``But it can be done.''
Of course it can. Judging from the way the Cadets performed on the field, at West Point, anything seems possible. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Rod Richardson
Split end for Army