Utah Blaze: White believes the Blaze are ready to start winning
White's Utah Blaze are 0-9 and the only winless team in the AFL. They host another struggling club, the 1-7 Kansas City Brigade, tonight at EnergySolutions Arena. Kickoff is set for 7.
It wasn't always this tough for White, of course. The AFL Hall of Fame coach averaged 12.3 wins per season with the Arizona Rattlers from 1996 to 2004 — and in the first seven of those nine years the AFL played just 14 regular season games instead of the current 16.
Utah's lack of success — because of White's belief that his team is talented enough to be winners — is confounding to the veteran of 16 AFL seasons. White still feels the Blaze will win games, starting tonight.
"I don't think Kansas City has the team we have and I think it's definitely a game we should win," White said.
In fact, the Blaze coach believes consecutive home games against the Brigade and the 3-5 Colorado Crush could get his club back on track. Kansas City's lone victory was two weeks ago against Colorado.
Utah still leads the AFL in total offense, but is only ninth in the 17-team league in the more important offensive stat, scoring. The Blaze rack up the yardage in the middle of the field and in trying to catch up after falling behind. But costly turnovers and penalties have been a big problem for the offense. Last week in a loss to New Orleans, for instance, the Blaze had three touchdowns called back due to holding penalties.
"It's hard when you get big plays called back, but we're behind our offensive line 100 percent," said Blaze quarterback Joe Germaine. "They have done a great job and they are out there playing hard and fighting, so we can't fault them or the effort they are giving."
The Blaze, meanwhile, are last in the AFL in scoring defense, giving up an average of 66 points per game. Kansas City isn't much better, giving up 60.1 points.
Despite the 0-9 start past the midway point of the season, the Blaze players still seem to have plenty of confidence.
"We're doing fine," said Germaine. "We've had some up-tempo practices this week and everyone is still working hard and that's a good sign... We have great character on this team. I hate using the word pride, but our guys do take pride in working hard and trying to get better."
The biggest bright spot for the team this year has been the support of the fans despite the lack of success on the field. Utah is averaging 14,691 fans per home game, which is fifth in the league. A crowd about that size is again expected tonight.
E-mail: lojo@desnews.com
On the air
Kansas City Brigade (1-7) at Utah Blaze (0-9)
Tonight, 7 p.m.
EnergySolutions Arena
TV: none Radio: 1320 AM
Recent comments
Haven't we heard they are ready to win for a few weeks now, and...
Same old | May 3, 2008 at 11:24 a.m.
