Chudy sees room for improvement from Renegades
| Wednesday, Sep 08 2010 08:33 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Sep 08 2010 08:33 PM
The message from Bakersfield College football coach Jeff Chudy to his players this week:
"We've got to be better."
Make that a lot better.
The Renegades managed to win their season opener Saturday, 52-41 over Los Angeles Pierce College, despite allowing 601 yards of total offense to the Brahmas.
Pierce definitely had some outstanding athletes, but there were misplays all over the field by Bakersfield.
On offense, Chudy counted five dropped passes -- four of those, if caught, would have been good for first-down yardage.
A bigger concen, he said, was the lack of blocking. That contributed to the Renegades' inability to consistently run the ball -- they finished with only 136 net yards.
And then there's the defense.
The total yards allowed was alarming enough, but the inability to finish tackles at times allowed Pierce's attack to eat up big chunks of yardage.
After reviewing film, Chudy focused on seven plays when BC players combined to miss 15 tackles.
"There are two basic rules for success in football," Chudy said. "Having the ability to tackle and, on offense, block people.
"We have a lot of room for improvement."
Scouting Saddleback
On Saturday, BC travels to Mission Viejo to face Saddleback College, which is one of the most consistently successful programs in Southern California. The Gauchos went 9-2 last season, missing the SoCal playoffs on a tie-breaker. One of their wins was 24-14 over eventual state champion Mount San Antonio, Mount SAC's only loss of the season.
Saddleback rolled past Orange Coast 37-6 last Saturday. Sophomore quarterback Brad Curtis was 20-of-34 for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and he completed passes to eight different receivers.
Defensively, Saddleback allowed only 11 first downs, 15 net rushing yards and 148 passing yards.
Saddleback has been to a bowl game 10 straight seasons and was declared the state and national champion in 1985, 1992 and 1996.
Since the current playoff format was started earlier this decade, the Gauchos have reached the SoCal semifinals twice, losing 37-24 to undefeated Canyons in 2004 and 31-29 to El Camino in 2006.
Banks makes Redskins, Colts cut Smith
Ex-BC receiver and kick returner Brandon Banks has made the Washington Redskins' 53-man opening-day roster.
Banks, who played at BC in the 2006 and 2007 seasons before transferring to Kansas State, had a 77-yard punt return for a touchdown in the Redskins' preseason opener. He remains BC's career record-holder with 111 receptions and also holds BC's single-season records with with 93 catches and 15 touchdown receptions in 2007.
Another ex-BC wideout, Taj Smith, was among the final cuts as the Indianapolis Colts got down to 53 players.
Smith had seven receptions for 133 yards in the preseason but suffered a hamstring injury that ended any hope of making the squad. The Colts' talented and deep receiving group also worked against Smith.
