'Maybe we learned how to win,' and other notes from SFA's 37-31 escape

The players gazed on from the sideline in a stunned trance. The crowd was quiet. Incarnate Word had just rattled off the last of their 31 straight points to take a ten point lead in the middle of the fourth quarter.

SFA, who had not scored since the opening 15 minutes when they started the game up 21-0, looked defeated. On press row, it felt like witnessing the program's funeral. A disappointing beginning to the season was about to turn disastrous as the team picked 11th in the league looked a mere minutes from upsetting the Lumberjacks at home.

How do you recover from that? If it's possible to put a nail in SFA's coffin after just one conference game, that was about as close to it as achievable.

But what this team has lacked in execution over the first three weeks, they made up for in heart with the game on the line. Where inconsistency has plagued them each game, they found a way to string together just enough to avert calamity.

And while it was a game most fans had to hope SFA would win handily, sometimes, the dramatics are enough to set in motion a positive effect. "Maybe we learned how to win tonight," head coach Clint Conque said after the game.

Maybe they did. While we don't yet know the answer to that question, here are some things we did learn during SFA's 37-31 victory over Incarnate Word:

In two quarters, the potential of this team showed through -

If you take the first and fourth quarters of last night's affair, SFA was rolling over a clearly inferior opponent. Isolate the middle two periods, and the Lumberjacks were back to their SMU and Southern Utah ways of missed tackles, shoddy blocking, blown coverages, and incompetent run defense.

Head coach Clint Conque will quickly point to his team's youth. He's not wrong. But it cannot continue to be an excuse all season as these players adapt to their new roles on this team. If the first and fourth quarters are any indication, when plays are executed the way they're capable, the Lumberjacks can sport a decent football team.

When they don't, the possible worst team in the Southland Conference can go on a 31 to nothing scoring run.

If you're an optimist, last night should give you some hope. If not, you should be very concerned. Both the good and the bad showed through in all three phases last night. That level of inconsistency will not be nearly enough to beat SFA's next four opponents.

Foster Sawyer will continue to suffer if SFA cannot find a way to run the ball effectively -

Early in the game, I commented on Twitter that SFA's pass protection looked miles better than it had through the first two games. It did. Quarterback Foster Sawyer looked poised and accurate as he gunned down the field and stepped up in the pocket to buy time.

By the end of the first 15 minutes, Incarnate Word started daring SFA to run the ball. The blitzes started coming and Gary Crowton adjusted by running a series of delayed handoffs and draws. No matter what they called to offset the blitzes with their backs, with few exceptions, the running game was ineffective. UIW kept the heat coming, harassing Sawyer's pocket, and without the threat of a potent rushing attack, the pass protection started to fall apart.

This will continue to be an issue - perhaps even earlier in games as soon as future opponents study this one - so long as the Lumberjacks cannot figure out how to get their running backs in space. Conque said during the summer that one of their goals this season was to make an offense that was less quarterback dependent.

So far, they've gone the wrong direction there. I'm not saying I have the answers, but with four very capable running backs, they have to find a way to better use them than they did last night.

SFA's return game is a weapon that could win a game this year -

It hasn't made a major impact on a game yet this year, but don't forget about the near touchdown by Jamall Shaw just before the half. On a squib kick, Shaw picked up the ball and ran it all the way down to UIW's six yard line before he illegally attempted a lateral in desperation with time expired.

There have been a couple terrible return decisions made this season (including one last night) where players have tried to reverse their field and been tackled deep in their own territory, but there have also been some very impressive run backs from a special teams unit that has been a real strength of this team early on. Near misses eventually turn into hits.

With Alize Ward, Jamall Shaw, and Josh McGowen receiving kicks, it's only a matter of time before the Lumberjacks break one at a big moment. The kickoff and punt return game is a weapon that could very well turn a big game.

And let's not forget, of course, that on the final play of this one, Alize Ward's interception return that will live in infamy, he showed that same extraordinary vision to find the end zone. It won't be the last time he uses that very special skill set in a meaningful football moment this season.

Don't overlook that SFA almost lost to an inferior team at home -

It was an exciting game. One of the best college football games I've witnessed at Homer Bryce Stadium if we're being honest - well, besides the scattered yellow laundry all night. Incarnate Word discovered their running back in Derrick Mitchell who, if last night does his ability any justice, may make them a far better team than originally thought.

But regardless, this is the team, Incarnate Word, that was picked dead last in the Southland Conference in 2017. It's the team that mustered almost no fight in their opening two contests. This is a program that was a card carrying member of the Division II Lone Star Conference just four years ago.

If SFA is what they want to be, this should not have been a close game. This should not have required a fourth quarter comeback led by quarterback Foster Sawyer or a dramatic go-ahead touchdown by a defense who allowed over 400 yards on the night.

If this version of the Lumberjacks appears in their remaining eight games, they'll be lucky to win a couple of them. This team has to improve - they have to - or the excitement and boost of energy that the incredible finish last night provided will be worn off and forgotten by this time next week.

If Abilene Christian crushes SFA - and do not mistake me, they will if last night's second and third quarter team shows up - the fans who proudly sang Oh future bright on Saturday night will go right back to the angry comments and lash outs at coaches and university administration.

A win was good. It was a must-win or changes would have been imminent. The effort, though, was not good enough to carry them the rest of this season.

Clint Conque's timeout on third down with 16 seconds remaining was quietly brilliant -

Had Incarnate Word not made the dumbest choice of the night on their third down play, throwing a flea flicker into triple coverage with time expiring, this would have been an irrelevant anecdote. When SFA's Clint Conque called timeout after a short second down gain, though, he was daring UIW to do something stupid.

I don't hate the Cardinals' play call, actually. It could have worked on SFA's young secondary in a game almost certainly winding down to overtime. I'll never fault UIW's coaches for their part in calling the flea flicker. The decision to launch the throw, however, was more than a little misguided.

And that's what Conque was hoping for.

"I just wanted to extend the game and see if they would make a mistake," he said later. "And they made a mistake."

A lot of coaches would have been content with the ten point comeback in the final minutes and accepted overtime. Some have criticized Conque in the past for not being aggressive in game changing moments. Last night, it was his decision to egg on Incarnate Word into taking their shot that led to the game winning points.

That, and, of course, a secondary disciplined enough to not bite on the trick play. For all the criticism Conque has received, give he and his coaches some credit, too. Choosing to make UIW run an extra play was the game winning move of the night.

And Alize Ward, even if he had played it safe and gone down at the 20 (with enough time to kick a field goal), converted that move into the play of the night. If you're reading this, you've probably seen it at least ten times.

Join me in watching it for the eleventh: