The Chronicle
EVANSTON, Ill. - Scottie Montgomery wasn't quite sure what to make of his first career rushing touchdown.
Montgomery, who caught six passes for 88 yards, found out after the game that he was also Duke's third-leading rusher for the game-despite only having taken one handoff all afternoon.
In a quirk of statkeeping, the official scorer at Northwestern's Ryan Field ruled that Montgomery's five receptions on quick screen passes were actually backward laterals, and not forward passes.
Thus, the scorer credited Montgomery with rushing carries instead of pass receptions on all five screen plays, including a 37-yard touchdown play late in the third quarter.
The Cherryville, N.C., junior chuckled and shook his head when told that his long touchdown catch was actually a touchdown run.
The origin of the peculiar method is a bit murky, some might say underhanded. But it can be traced to Oct. 12, 1996, when Northwestern All-America running back Darnell Autry was in the midst of a school-record 19-game streak of 100-yard rushing games.
On that day, Minnesota's defense held Autry under 100 yards rushing, seemingly breaking the streak. But upon review of game film, the official scorer ruled that one of Autry's pass receptions, a screen play which went for a long touchdown, was actually a backward lateral.
The scorer changed Autry's reception to a rush, and the additional yardage pushed him over 100. Ever since that game, Northwestern's scorers have been strict on the lateral vs. forward-pass rule.
As a result, Montgomery now owns the longest run from scrimmage by any Duke player this year. But he's probably not bragging about it. In fact, when he and quarterback Spencer Romine review game film and statistics, they'll probably be a little miffed that Montgomery's receiving numbers-and Romine's passing stats-are a bit deflated.
Instead of six catches for 88 yards, Montgomery might have finished with a career-high 11 catches for 138 yards. The extra yardage and the touchdown pass would also boost Romine's QB rating, which last week led the ACC.
Of course, the ruling does hold water in a legal sense, as a first-quarter turnover proved Saturday. When Montgomery dropped a lateral screen pass on Duke's first possession, Northwestern pounced on the ball, which was ruled a fumble.
The turnover set up the first points of the game, and gave Northwestern a 3-0 lead.
"Whatever happens we're going to have some ups and downs," Montgomery said. "Even today we had some downs. When I dropped that pass, that was a down. In the past, I might have put my head down after that."
But Montgomery kept his head up and finished with either a great day or a career day, depending upon how you score it.
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