Jerious Norwood rushed for a Mississippi State record, totaling 257 yards on the ground in the Bulldogsܬ losing effort against Houston this weekend.
“Jerious was magnificent,” head coach Sylvester Croom said. “He just didn‹¨t have much help today.”
I’ve always had a theory about this kind of thing. I call it The Clemens Theory. It’s when one player plays so far above the status quo that the rest of the team just relaxes and gives them no support.
I call it the Clemens Theory because the most textbook case of this behavior is the Houston Astros pitcher Roger Clemens. By the way, this theory refers to regular season games, not high stakes playoff contests.
Whenever Clemens pitches, the Houston batters seem to just take the night off. The mentality seems to be that ܬRogerܬs going to shut them down, so we wonܬt need much offense tonight.ܬ
This fact is illustrated in Clemensܬ 1.87 ERA, the best in the major league, and his paltry 13 wins. For the regular season the Astros averaged less than four runs of offensive support for Clemens, and in his 10 no-decisions he never allowed more than two runs in any game.
Though it seems unimaginable, this is not an isolated phenomenon. Pitcher John Smoltz has commented on getting the same kind of talent discrimination from the Bravesܬ bats. Pitcher Kevin Millwoodܬs Indians teammates gave him just a shade over three runs a game this season, sticking him with a 9-11 losing record for the season despite his 2.86 ERA.
To some degree, this is what happened with Norwood and his record setting day on Saturday. According to senior center Chris McNeil, the game plan was to be able to control the clock and run the ball about 80 percent of the time. But when the team got inside the red zone, the push the line was getting seemed to fade. Houston was able to force us into field goal situations on three separate sustained drives.
And what of the passing game? Garnering 84 yards on 14 completions is hardly a West Coast ideal. Conner was 14 of 31, but that total was victim to several dropped balls. In fact, Croom went so far as to call Norwood his best receiver.
I am not assigning blame. A loss is a team effort. However, as Croom pointed out after the game, there are people who are not pulling their weight. As a team we let Norwood down on Saturday.
As a team we let Houston hang around in the game long enough to exploit us. This could bode a dangerous precedent for the rest of the season if things do not change.
The jump from a team plagued by the Clemens Theory to one that operates at maximum efficiency is only a play or two away from becoming a reality. However, until there is total team focus and a unified belief in the value of each play and the value of every ounce of effort available, we will continue to live as a team in the reality of unattained potential.