Columbus Discovers Rams and Isn’t Impressed, 14-12
In the old days, the National Football League used to farm out its exhibition games to places like Des Moines, Omaha and Columbus--well, Akron, anyway--rather than belabor the tolerance of its hard-core fans.
Unfortunately for the Rams, Friday night’s exercise with the Philadelphia Eagles was still within reach of television lines, which sent every awful moment of a 14-12 defeat back home.
Instead, they should have shown a rerun of last week’s 39-7 win over St. Louis. The new quarterback, Dieter Brock, looked a lot better in that one. Friday night’s performance will sell no season tickets.
The crowd of 22,623 that turned out at $16 a seat for Ohio Stadium’s first night game was smaller than anticipated and was not impressed by a first half with 11 punts and only 7 points (an Eagle touchdown).
It was so bad that the message board implored, “Let’s make some noise.” The Ohio State Highway Patrol Smokeys in charge of crowd control were needed only when it was over in order to wake up the folks to go home. They’ll never again say Woody Hayes’ teams were boring.
Ram Coach John Robinson summed it up: “We played lousy tonight.”
Brock completed only 7 of 18 passes for 40 yards, with one interception, in his first-half stint. The Eagles’ Ron Jaworski, once a Ram, was 8 for 14 for 99 yards, including a disputed 40-yard touchdown pass to Tony Woodruff 52 seconds before halftime.
Both sides’ rookies and other reserves put on a more entertaining show in the second half.
The Eagles, scoring on rookie Herman Hunter’s 99-yard return of the second-half kickoff, led, 14-0, before the Rams came back with Mike Lansford’s 40-yard field goal, Charles White’s one-yard leap for a touchdown and Booker Reese’s safety to make it 14-12.
Steve Dils, the forgotten man in the Rams’ quarterback scheme, then had them driving for a possible winning field goal or touchdown when White was blindsided by linebacker Rowland Tatum and fumbled. Philadelphia cornerback Evan Cooper recovered at the Eagle 20-yard line.
Robinson said he never considered putting his regulars back in the game to try to pull out the win, as some coaches have been known to do.
“We were going to win it with those guys (the reserves), and we almost did,” he said.
White is trying to forge a new career with the Rams after five disappointing seasons in Cleveland. But the former Heisman Trophy winner from USC also made his fans groan in the first quarter when his clipping penalty erased an 83-yard punt return by another former Trojan, Michael Harper, that would have given the Rams a 7-0 lead.
What it all meant, perhaps, was that the Rams won’t be able to afford an off-day, at least without Eric Dickerson to pull them through.
In Dickerson’s continued holdout, the game’s top rusher was A.J. Jones, who has never carried the ball in three previous regular seasons with the Rams. Jones slashed 14 times for 66 yards, including a Dickerson-like cutback for 12 yards to set up White’s touchdown.
After driving the ball to the one-yard line, Jones was replaced by White, who dived over the top into the end zone.
Asked why he was taken out at that moment, Jones hesitated, then raised his chronically sore right elbow and said: “I had to get some ice on this.”
Later, he underwent a painful draining of elbow fluid while White stood by, appearing concerned. There is compassion even among team rivals.
Barry Redden, Dickerson’s first understudy, rushed 13 times for 49 yards in the first half, when both teams had their available regulars on the field.
Another Ram highlight was their pass rush, which recorded six sacks, including two each by end Reggie Doss and tackle Booker Reese and one each by linebacker Mike Wilcher and safety Nolan Cromwell. That’s 20 in three games, nearly half the Rams’ season total of 43 last year.
“We’re working every week to get you guys off (us),” Doss said, referring to the media critics.
The Rams dropped the Eagles’ second-half quarterback, rookie Randall Cunningham, five times. Cunningham, a second-round draft pick from Nevada Las Vegas, is inclined to run when he can’t find a receiver open quickly. This summer, his legs have gained more yards than his strong right arm, 162 to 146.
He ran four times Friday night for 29 yards, but that was negated by the 54 yards he lost in sacks. On successive plays in the fourth quarter, Cromwell dropped him for a 21-yard loss and Reese dropped him for an eight-yard loss and the safety.
Besides Dickerson, the Rams were without defensive end Jack Youngblood, who is due to start testing his back in practice Monday, linebacker Carl Ekern and cornerbacks LeRoy Irvin and Gary Green. All have minor injuries.
The Eagles were missing three holdouts: receiver Mike Quick, defensive end Dennis Harrison and linebacker Jerry Robinson.
Both clubs are 2-1 in the exhibition season. The Rams play their last tuneup against the New England Patriots at Anaheim next Saturday night.
The Eagles scored their first touchdown after Brock led tight end Tony Hunter too far on a crossing pattern and safety Wes Hopkins made an easy interception at the Ram 43.
On third down, Jaworski sent Woodruff down the middle to catch his perfect pass at the five. Woodruff took a step before Cromwell cracked him from the side at the two and knocked the ball loose. It rolled into the end zone, where Ram safety Johnnie Johnson scooped it up and ran it back out to the 20.
Field judge Jack Vaughan, on top of the play, hesitated, then consulted with back judge Paul Batz before signaling a touchdown. Ram rookie cornerback Jerry Gray argued but said later: “From where I was, it could have gone either way.”
Television replays indicated that Woodruff lost the ball before he crossed the goal line.
Robinson said: “It doesn’t matter. Whenever they stick their hands up, it’s a touchdown.”
In any case, it wasn’t a game to be taken seriously, as far as results go.
Lansford, running gamely on his bare kicking foot, chased Herman Hunter the last 60 yards of his kickoff return and said afterward, with a smile: “He didn’t gain on me.”
Robinson said part of the Rams’ problem was that they spent the week working on plays they didn’t plan to use in this game--obviously, not your ordinary in-season game plan.
Offensive tackle Bill Bain said: “We broke camp this week, went to a (Downtown Boys Club) banquet and flew in here. We didn’t have the right frame of mind.”
The idea is that the approach will be different when the Rams go to Philadelphia to meet the Eagles in a game that counts, on Sept. 15.
But Brock also will have to play better, especially if Dickerson is still sitting in Sealy, Tex., as a holdout.
“Things were underthrown, overthrown or people weren’t open,” Robinson said.
Brock, who has thrown no touchdown passes in the exhibition season, said: “I could be doing better. This wasn’t my first bad game, and it won’t be my last.
“There’s no excuse, but there’s a big crown in the middle of this field, and it seemed like the ball was going high. I saw some of the passes the other guys threw were doing the same thing.”
Dils was 3 for 7, and Jeff Kemp, who played the third quarter, was 2 for 6.
Robinson said: “Going 4 and 0 in the preseason is not a big deal. You almost hope you don’t do that, because when things go too well you might think it will always be that way. We brought that hope to fruition tonight.”
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Ram Notes
The Rams have traded offensive tackle Dan McQuaid to the Washington Redskins for a draft choice. That reduces the roster to 59, meaning nine more players must be dropped by Tuesday. McQuaid, from Nevada Las Vegas, was signed as a free agent in 1984. . . . The only injuries Friday night were not considered to be serious: tight end Mike Barber’s turf toe and safety Eric Harris’ water on the knee from the AstroTurf.