See you in September

Mariucci doesn't expect Spurrier to run up score in rematch

Steve Mariucci and the Niners had a tough time stomaching the scoreboard late in Saturday's game. AP

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Though Steve Mariucci maintained his typical diplomacy, his feelings were clear -- Steve Spurrier managed to ruffle the feathers of yet another head coach in his first NFL game.

The San Francisco 49ers' rookies and defensive reserves looked frighteningly unprepared for the NFL during the Washington Redskins' 38-7 exhibition victory in Osaka, Japan, last weekend -- but there was a good reason, the Niners' head coach said.

Mariucci stewed on the San Francisco sideline as Washington's first-string offensive line helped the Redskins widen their lead in the second half against the 49ers' fringe players and roster hopefuls.

Mariucci would have liked to play a closer game that would have allowed him to better evaluate his special teams. Though Mariucci was far too composed -- and jet-lagged -- to admit he was displeased by Spurrier's decision to keep his foot on the gas, it wasn't hard to read between the lines.

Video Select a link to launch a video clip Steve Spurrier says he currently does not have plans for the 'Skins-49ers rematch. Visit Video Plus Point of discussion It took only one NFL exhibition game for Steve Spurrier to get quizzed about running up the score. Asked to respond Tuesday, he laughed before answering: "That's the way we play." Complete story, click here.

"It was a different sort of a preseason game that way, from that standpoint," Mariucci said Monday night. "You've got to look at what the Redskins were trying to accomplish. I know the Redskins wanted to start off with a bang and come away feeling good and getting the organization and the players and the fans excited.

"By playing their [first-string] guys a bit longer, they tried to accomplish that. The teams had two different goals in mind, I think. But when you come away from it feeling you got a lot of those things accomplished without looking at the score, it was worth doing."

In all, the Redskins passed for 434 yards -- almost all of it after the 49ers' starting defensive backs left the game late in the first quarter.

Spurrier, who ran up the score with flair and impunity during his 12 seasons at Florida, used every opportunity to showcase the potential of his wide-open offense. Spurrier said he kept charging for the end zone after halftime to give identical game conditions to quarterbacks Sage Rosenfels and Danny Wuerffel.

By contrast, Mariucci didn't run a single play that the Redskins couldn't have seen on game film from last season. That's because the teams meet on Candlestick Point on Sept. 22 -- first-string against first-string this time.

"To get some things accomplished, sometimes you've just got to turn away from the score and stay to the plan and force yourself to play the guys that you've absolutely got to see," Mariucci said. "Our starters would have loved to stay in there. Our defense was feeling really good. They didn't like it, but that was our plan, and I stuck to it."

Mariucci saw positive play from several young players, including first-round pick Mike Rumph -- even though he was beaten for an early touchdown. Mariucci also praised rookie linebacker Saleem Rasheed, lineman Jerome Davis and defensive backs Jimmy Williams and Kevin Curtis.

Though the second-half results didn't show it, "we're deeper than we were a year ago," Mariucci said.

"One part of evaluating our youngsters is to let them play and gain experience. Some of it was against their good players, but it all ends up chalked up to experience. The young guys that are going to make the team need to get out there.

"You throw them to the wolves, you let them play, and you let them make mistakes."

 

Related information

Stories

Redskins run it up on 49ers in Spurrier's NFL debut

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video