Hopefully this article will be a little more tight and focused than that Seahawks-Cowboys game. Good Lord, that was some bizarre football. Still, a win is a win and when the Seahawks win, I’m in a good mood.
Today I want to highlight BR-91 Christopher Newport QB Tyler Quigley and his ever-trusty receiver Taylor Loudan. Why? These two helped put up 51 points against a very good BR-25 Salisbury team in a game that Salisbury had to win. Impressive, much.
(Actually, this article will focus on the game itself, CNU’s season and Quigley and Loudan. So, in that case, I guess I’ve failed at my resolve to keep this one tight and focused.)
Here are the stats, presented in James Bond format for reasons that should not have to be explained.
Goldfinger
In this 1964 classic, the third in the Sean Connery series, Bond runs into a maniac obsessed with (what else) taking over the world. One scene in particular exemplifies the entire Salisbury debacle:
I imagine Salisbury as Bond, tied to the table while a laser veers dangerously close to his, ahem, man parts, while CNU stands gloating above him. As an audience member accustomed to seeing the hero get the slip at the last second, this scene if pretty frustrating if only because Bond doesn’t really do anything. This is the outcome I expected when I first saw this movie (minus Homer’s interference):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXg5dMVCRtI
No doubt, Salisbury fans expected a similar outcome on Saturday. Surely their team wouldn’t fall to a two-win CNU squad during a pivotal stretch of the season when the Sea Gulls desperately needed a win to keep pace with top-seeded Wesley in the NJAC. Surely, someone would step up to make the big play — someone would stop Quigley, Loudan and running back Daquan Davis!
Alas, much like Bond in Goldfinger, Salisbury did little more than survive to fight another day. There was no magical come-from-behind victory; no stunning turn of events that ultimately saved the day. The Sea Gulls saved face with 15 fourth-quarter points — the equivalent of Bond convincing Goldfinger to spare his man parts — but lost a lot of ground in the NJAC in the process.
License to Kill
No one liked Timothy Dalton, who starred in two Bond films before quickly hanging up the Walther PPK to tackle more serious subjects like The Rocketeer and Toy Story 3. In any event, you have to give the man credit. He tried something different. And while his Bond was short lived, his brief stint in the spotlight ironically became the reason so many people remembered him in the role.
CNU won exactly one game before taking down Salisbury — a Week 1 31-21 victory over the College of New Jersey. In that game, Quigley accounted for 208 passing yards and two TDs on 13-of-16 pass attempts. He found Loudan seven times for 117 yards and one score, including a 37-yard TD late in the first quarter that blew an already lopsided game wide open.
Quigley never got on track after that game. Instead, he rattled off 181 yards and one score against BR-61 Hampden-Sydney, then just 141 yards against Wesley, 103 yards against BR-30 Rowan, 224 yards and no touchdowns against BR-73 Kean and 218 yards, one TD and four interceptions against Montclair State — six straight losses, five to conference rivals.
Here are some highlights:
This is not meant to bag on Quigley. This is his first year as starting QB after serving as backup to starter Marcus Morrast his first three seasons. Quigley has struggled this season, but on Saturday, against Salisbury, he looked every bit like a first-string college QB.
Trailing 7-0 in the first quarter, Quiqley put together a five-play drive that culminated with a 57-yard touchdown pass to Daquan Davis. Later, in the second, with the score knotted at 14, Quigley hit Loudan with a 20-yard TD pass to increase the lead to 21-14. Quigley then capped off another impressive drive with a one yard TD scamper — a play so fun, he had to do it twice, the second time coming early in the fourth quarter; a score that ballooned the lead to 38-24.
All told, Quigley accounted for 306 passing yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. The 6-foot, 180-pound senior from Burke, Virginia was, like Dalton, Bond for a day — immortalized for brief flashes of brilliance, and two very respectable, if underappreciated, performances.
(I’m fully aware that I’m stretching this whole James Bond theme, but screw it … we’re moving on!)
Moonraker
I’m no fan of Roger Moore. His turn as Bond was too campy for my taste. Yet, Moonraker stands as a film so over-the-top ridiculous you just had to love it. And why not? It had friggin’ “laser guns” and a crazy plot centered around poisoning the earth.
Just watch and try not to be impressed:
That’s just awesome.
On Saturday, Taylor Loudan was Moonraker personified. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior had put up big numbers previous to the Salisbury clash this season — 117 yards and one TD against TCNJ and 150 yards against Wesley, for example — but never a performance that made you leap for joy at how utterly ridiculous it was. (And when I say ridiculous, I’m citing the late Stuart Scott’s oft-used catch phrase.)
How’s this for a stat line: 13 catches, 230 yards, one touchdown. Seriously, 230 yards? Does that blow your mind? Does it make you question your faith in humanity? Or at least question why Salisbury’s defensive coordinator didn’t adjust his game plan to, you know, force someone else to catch the ball?
The other four receivers (including RB Daquan Davis) on the team accounted for eight catches and 117 yards combined. Loudan doubled their production. That’s as ludicrous as a space battle in a James Bond film!
Even better, we get Loudan for one more season after this, which means, like Roger Moore, who should have rode off into the sunset after basically jumping the shark in the most ridiculous way possible, Loudan has plenty of time to out-ridiculous his ridiculousness.
Goldeneye
When Pierce Brosnan entered the fold, six years had passed since Bond graced the movie screen. Luckily, Goldeneye was good enough to reignite the franchise for another decade (and counting!). Sure, Brosnan’s films got progressively worse, with Die Another Day standing as one of the worst Bond films ever (despite featuring Halle Berry in a bikini), but the actor pulled in enough box office to warrant future Bond films. In fact, one could say the God-awfulness of Die Another Day is what ultimately paved the way for Casino Royale to bring the iconic hero back to his most basic roots.
Look, this CNU team isn’t the best. Nor is it the worst. The Captains were a few plays away from being 5-3 (they lost 14-9 to Rowan, 32-22 to Montclair and 19-14 to Forstburg). They have a lot of talent and a ton of potential. You don’t beat a team like Salisbury in a pivotal time of the season without a little talent. At the very least, the core building blocks are in place for a nice future run.
After all, without Die Another Day, there would be no Skyfall.
