Leopard report: Don't give up on the offense

Lafayette's C.J. Amill (2) looks for the end zone. Photo courtesy of Lafayette College.

Given the ongoing struggles of the Lafayette offense’s running game, it shouldn’t be a surprise that sooner or later, Coach John Garrett was going to have to address the situation for the media.

Actually, he talks about it a lot in bits and pieces, but at Tuesday’s luncheon, it got more than usual attention when someone asked the first-year head coach whether the complications of the new offense might require more time and patience to install than the defense. The questioner said he saw offensive progress, but not to the degree of the defense.

“Well, there are a lot of ways to answer that question,” Garrett began. I knew then and there that the answer was goingnto be a complicated one. Here it is.

“We are looking at each game and figuring out the best ways to advance the ball, and we have had a lot of players who we were expecting to play on offense NOT play. So, we had younger players playing earlier than you would expect and these kids have done a remarkable job competing against veteran teams.”

When talking about expected players who are not playing, Garrett was undoubtedly referring to a group that includes at least four offensive linemen – Tanner Kern, Nick Zataveski, Cam Smith and freshman John Burk O-line coach Gordon Sammis has had his hands full getting the pieces to fit together successfully.

“It’s funny, I had to ask (sports information director) Phil (LaBella) before the press conference last week when I looked at Fordham’s depth chart and I said, ‘What is GR next to their name?’ He said, ‘That means he’s a fifth-year graduate player’ and I said ‘Oh, okay, we don’t have any of those guys who played a lot of football.’

“Offense has more volume than defense. Offense has more plays, that type of thing. Younger players are having to learn not only how to play, but how to execute in the game, so I’m just concerned about us improving each week – and we’re improving each week in every aspect of it. We don’t look at it like this side’s ahead or that side’s ahead. I’m sounding like a reporter right now, but, after the first couple games, you’d say, Oh gosh (the score) might have been reversed (if some key players were in the lineup). So, we really don’t concern ourselves with that. We just concern ourselves with the next play and trying to execute it to the best of our ability.

“When you put a plan together it’s not just about the plays, it’s about the players. There is a great story in old NFL lore that George Young, former New York Giants player personnel guy a long time and before that, the line coach. They were getting ready to play the Dallas Cowboys, I believe it was 1970. As the story goes, he started the meeting and he put the X’s on the board for the offense and the O’s for the offense. The “3” technique for the Cowboys, he made a BIG X. Much bigger than all the other X’s. And he said, ‘Do you know who that guy is? That’s Bob Lilly. We got to make sure he doesn’t wreck the game.’ So, it’s about who we’re playing as well.

“Lots of times against some of the defenses we’re playing and the talented teams we’re playing, there are some really big X’s over there. So some plays are harder than others to execute. You try to battle and compensate for that with scheme as much as you can; but sometimes, as they say, those “Jimmies and Joes matter.”

That makes sense, for sure. Lafayette had its last winning season in 2009, which also is the last year the Leopards defeated Saturday’s opponent, Harvard. The starting offensive line that year consisted of four seniors and a sophomore – Ryan Hart-Predmore, Brian Wycinowski, Michael Wojcik, Scott Biel (the sophomore) and Joe Moore. They averaged 407 yards of offense and scored 28 passing and 14 rushing touchdowns. And, boy, those big guys up front really did matter, and everybody knew their names.

Two freshmen, two sophomores and a senior are expected to start against Harvard. If they do, it will be the third straight week these five have lined up in the same positions. Four different groups have started during the season.

A winning play – The offense was also in the spotlight Tuesday when junior running back-receiver-kick returner C.J. Amill was one of the luncheon guests. He played a key role in the decisive play – without ever touching the ball.

Here’s Coach Garrett’s description of the 63-yard Sean O’Malley-to-Rocco Palumbo pass play that gave the Leopards their 14-10 win over Fordham.

“It was third down and (the Rams) had brought that same blitz before, the corner blitz. A lot of the (play) calls are just unemotional. The game is already called, so I just go to the next play. We happened to have a play that had protection with the back in to that side, so C.J. did a remarkable job seeing the corner come off the edge, getting to his spot where he needed to and then his eyes went out to the first guy and he was able to get him down with a cut block … it was good to see Sean and Rocco on the same page because when the corner left, the linebacker buzzed out to take route away, (O’Malley) knew that he wouldn’t be able to throw it, so he just converted it on the move and the safety was late getting over and Sean stepped up and saw what was happening and threw it. Great play by the guys.”

“Coach Garrett challenged me to be a complete all-around back and trusted me to be in the game during that situation and that meant a lot to me,” Amill said of the fourth-quarter pass. “That’s my job. I was just doing my job. My job was to protect the edge and that’s what I did.”

“C.J. has done a remarkable job in a number of roles, because we go by what we see,” Garrett said. “And we have given him those opportunities and he has come through. It’s pretty simple. Watch him catch the kickoff and he runs and he makes a couple of guys miss and he gains yards, so it looks like a pretty good kickoff return. So, you put him in the backfield, you have him run a route, he wins and you throw it to him and he catches it and you say let’s give him another shot. Then he does a good job running.

“It was nice to hear about him wanting to be a complete back. For running backs, all through history, a lot of rookie running backs can come into the league wherever they are and play right away with the ball under their arm. That’s instinctive. They know how to run. All the other things they have to learn to be a complete back. So ,C.J. has accepted challenge. (He said) I’m gonna be a complete back and be able to block and I want to be in there all the time. All the different jobs we’ve given him, he’s made a concerted effort to improve and get the job done, so I commend him for his play when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands.”

Amill has caught 15 passes for 92 yards, rushed 16 times for 28 net yards and returned seven kickoffs for 144 yards. He wants more.

“I embrace it; I love it,” e said about the challenge he received from Garrett and the weekly increase in his workload. “That’s what I like to see. It definitely puts a lot of tjhings on me, but I asked for it. I want my plate to be full and to do what I can for the team.”

Amill is from Youngstown, Ohio and hails from a football family. His father played at Kent State, uncles played at Youngstown State, Ohio U. and Illinois and cousins at Indiana U. of Pennsylvania and Prairie View A&M. They follow the Leopards on the Lafayette Sports Network and C.J. is in touch a number of them every week. They give him tips on what he can do better and ask about the game plans and what they should look for. “Having that in the blood and in the family is great. They always encourage me.”