NOTES : Milestones by Dupree, Lyght Are Bright Spots on Dim Day for Rams
Lost among the seemingly endless string of Ram bumbles and stumbles Monday night were two firsts. Six years after his career was believed to be over, running back Marcus Dupree scored his first NFL touchdown and No. 1 draft pick Todd Lyght had his first interception.
Neither event prevented the Rams’ sixth consecutive loss, a 33-10 thumping to the San Francisco 49ers at Anaheim Stadium. Neither player seemed overwhelmed with his milestone at first, but upon further review, hey, you have to start someplace, right?
“That’s true,” said Dupree, who had 23 yards in 11 carries and also caught a swing pass from quarterback Jim Everett for 21 yards. “It’s nice to get my first touchdown to a certain degree. I would rather win than score touchdowns.”
His one-yard slam into the end zone came with 3 minutes 59 seconds left in the third quarter.
Dupree’s long, curious route to the end zone took him from the University of Oklahoma, where he was an All-American and gained 905 yards in his freshman season. He jumped ship to the USFL soon after, then suffered a serious knee injury while playing for the Portland Breakers in 1986.
Four years later, the Rams, searching far and wide for help in the backfield, took a gamble on Dupree, who played in seven games, started once and gained all of 72 yards in 1990.
Lyght came to the team this season, with memories of his defensive magic at Notre Dame fresh in the minds of most Ram followers.
In only his fourth start, he took away an underthrown pass intended for Jerry Rice along the 49er sideline in the third quarter. Before making the interception, Lyght said he needed to make two key moves. The first was to keep Rice from sprinting past him, and the second was to stay between Rice and the approaching ball.
“I basically rebounded the football,” Lyght said. “I was able to make a good turn and . . . I turned around, made a good read and there (the ball) was.”
As time has passed this season, Lyght said he’s become more confident at his cornerback position and, at this point, the Rams can use all the help they can get.
“When I first came in the league, my objective was to just get confidence,” he said. “But now I realize I need to start taking the ball away.”
If it was a Monday night in Anaheim, that must have been 49er receiver John Taylor running wild against the Ram secondary. And sure enough, it was. This time around, he caught six passes for 121 yards, a major chunk coming on a 78-yard gain that set up the 49ers’ second touchdown in the first quarter.
Big numbers to be sure, but not close to his best effort at Anaheim.
In the 49ers’ 30-27 come-from-behind victory Dec. 11, 1989, Taylor had 286 yards receiving, the fifth-highest total in NFL history. On that night, Taylor turned two short patterns that seemed destined for only short gains into 92- and 95-yard touchdowns.
Monday’s 78-yard gain to the Ram 12-yard line in the first quarter looked a lot like his long touchdown runs in the 1989 game. In the first quarter, Taylor caught a quick hit from quarterback Steve Bono, made a couple of defenders miss, cut back to the center of the field before defensive back Darryl Henley caught him from behind.
Signs O’ the Night: Hanging from the second deck at Anaheim Stadium, “Magic, buy the Rams!” and in the lower deck, “Commitment to Mediocrity.”
Quotes I: “What’s the deal?” Vernon Turner said when questioned about his first-quarter gaffe that resulted in a 49er safety. “What do you guys want? It’s two points. What did we get beat by? And I’m getting hacked up about a safety.”
Quotes II: “I think we were all very ready and excited about playing this game,” Ram defensive end Kevin Greene said. “Then we fell into the same old rut. There is a lot of frustration and anger on this team.”
Quotes III: “We destroy ourselves,” Ram receiver Henry Ellard said. “We can’t seem to shake it. We have to stop turning the ball over before we look at doing anything else. We committed to running the football tonight and wanted to stay with it. But when we got behind by as much as we did, you have to look at other options.”