It’s safe to say Profs quarterback Mike Husni was not happy with his play in the 35-14 loss to 12th ranked Linfield College on Saturday.
“I personally lost us this game. Nobody’s winning three turnovers,” Husni said.
Husni was 17-30 and threw for 151 yards but had three interceptions.
There were plenty of times the Profs had a short field and didn’t capitalize, while Linfield had short fields but was able to punch the ball into the end zone.
That was the difference in the game. Linfield took advantage of turnovers and put points on the board. Profs defense had two turnovers in the first half, but offense failed to convert them into any points.
It was 14-7 Profs entering the second half when running back Messiah Divine broke out a 30 yard touchdown run.
Right after the score, however, the game got away from the Profs.
A personal foul on the following kickoff put Linfield on the 50 and they would score three plays later.
The Profs never bounced back.
This was the second straight game the defense struggled in the second half. Coach Jay Accorsi commented on the play of his defense and his team after the 35-14 loss.
“Both sides of the ball affect each other,” Accorsi said. “You really gotta look at the first half where we left points on the board. Anytime you don’t score points, you don’t sustain drives and on the back end your defense is the one who has to carry the load a little bit.”
When the quarterback throws three interceptions, it’s hard to win. It’s even harder to win when the team leaves points on the board when they’re in the red zone.
“Really we could’ve been up and ahead at the half instead of behind the eight ball,” Accorsi said. “Then we got into the second half, we try to make things happen and then turnovers occur and it starts to snowball. The group that gets left out there is the defense. Now you’re taking more chances, doing more things and that’s just the nature of the sport.”
That’s just about how everything went down Saturday afternoon. It was a game of missed opportunities in the red zone, and a bunch of turnovers which killed the momentum late in the game for the Brown and Gold.
“We need to not turn the ball over,” Husni said. “We got a great team next week in Hobart so it’s going to be a long trip up there and we have to steal that one before NJAC [New Jersey Athletic Conference] play.”
This Saturday the Profs head to Geneva, New York to take on the Hobart College team who are averaging 35 points per game.
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