|
|
 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Unsung heroes L.A., Chicago rely on overlooked players in semifinal
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Neither Saladin McCullough nor Kevin McDougal played in the Los Angeles Xtreme's 39-32 double-overtime victory over the Chicago Enforcers on Feb. 10. However, both figure to have major roles Sunday when the teams meet in an XFL semifinal playoff game at the Los Angeles Coliseum. McCullough was on the Xtreme's practice squad when the teams played in the second week of the first XFL season. Now, he's a starting running back. McDougal, meanwhile, was the Enforcers' second-string quarterback then. Now, he's the starter. McCullough spent four of the Xtreme's first five games on the practice squad before becoming a starting running back March 11, when he rushed for a team season-high 129 yards on two touchdowns in a 35-26 victory at Birmingham. The former Oregon standout finished the regular season second in the league in average rushing yards per game with an 88.0 average, trailing only Chicago's John Avery, who averaged 88.9. With McCullough starting, the Xtreme averaged 93.0 rushing yards per game after averaging 52.8 yards on the ground in the first five games. When asked why McCullough was on the practice squad for so long, Xtreme coach Al Luginbill replied, "Stupidity on my part." "If we had to do it over again and know what we know now, we would have moved him up earlier," Luginbill said. "The fact that we did move him up tells you something about him because he kept working hard. He never pouted, he never was negative, he just kept coming to work and doing whatever he could do to help the team win." McDougal became the Enforcers' starting quarterback in the fifth week of the season, and guided them to a 5-1 record, including victories in their last four games. The Notre Dame product ended up fifth in the league in passing yards with 1,168, despite completing only 3-of-6 passes for 64 yards over the first four games. "If I had 20/20 hindsight, I probably would have gone with him earlier," said coach Ron Meyer, whose team began the season 0-4 and finished with a 5-5 record, good for second place in the four-team Eastern Division. "There were other reasons for that decision. It looks like we're complete idiots when we didn't make that decision earlier, but it was very close." Los Angeles, which won the Western Division with a 7-3 record, is a 7 1/2-point favorite over Chicago. The winner will advance to the first XFL championship game April 21.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
