Widener coach takes no pride in 90-0 win

WHEN YOU beat another football team 90-0, people tend to notice. And ask questions. Maybe even make judgments.

Third-year Widener coach Isaac Collins, whose Pride beat Wilkes by that score Saturday, gets it. He's been on the other end. When he was the defensive coordinator at the Citadel in 2008, his team lost to Florida 70-19. His Widener B (or junior varsity) squad lost early this month to Lackawanna, 67-6.

Widener (4-0, 3-0 Middle Atlantic Conference), ranked 18th in Division III, had previously beaten Western Connecticut 63-17 and Misericordia 67-0. Last weekend, six other teams from various levels scored at least 70, including Nebraska (73-7 over Idaho State) and Texas A & M (70-14 over South Carolina State). You think Bo Pelini or Kevin Sumlin had any explaining to do? But 90 is, well, a big number.

At Wednesday's weekly small-college football luncheon at Villanova, Collins took the time to try and put everything into perspective, even though he understands it's not easy.

"I wish it had been 62-0," he said. "Then we wouldn't be having this conversation. It's not something you'd like to see. But a lot of factors go into it. I'm 100 percent opposed to someone scoring 90 in a game. All week, people have been trying to get me to defend 90 points. You can't, and I won't even try. But what I will do is defend our players, and our program. I know our intentions were in the right place.

"You play hard, and you play to the final whistle. I only know one way. To me the scoreboard was irrelevant."

Widener led by 7-0 at the end of a quarter, 35 at the half and 62 after 45 minutes. Of the four fourth-period touchdowns three came on runs, the last with a minute and a half left, the other on a fumble return. The starters were out well before the end of the third.

Wilkes was one of two teams to beat Widener last season.

"I got emails talking about vengeance, but that was the furthest thing from my mind," Collins said. "People don't have all the facts and they assume. But if I just saw the score . . .

"I can't do anything about it. I can just tell them what happened. Here's how the game played out. It's not anything we did. It was an unfortunate situation. My heart goes out to [Wilkes]. But things get lost in the translation. There really isn't a response. It's what the game was.

"Our goal is to try and win by one. The results will be the results. If that's wrong, then I'm sorry. It's not the place of [then-Florida coach] Urban Meyer not to score 70. That's on us. To that end, if you're going to ask me about my players and the way they played, you'll get a dogfight. Ask me if I believe in 90 point, it's no I don't . . .

"We made the proper substitutions, based on the guys that were eligible," he continued. "Are you supposed to tell kids to take a knee? I don't know how to answer that."

Next up for the Pride is a trip to Lebanon Valley (3-1, 2-1). Last year it was 57-33.