Outlaws aim to stress defense from beginning

Victoria Sun

Friday, Feb. 2, 2001 | 11:38 a.m.

The recently crowned Super Bowl-champion Baltimore Ravens won it all because they featured one of the best defenses in NFL history.

Comparing the Las Vegas Outlaws to the victorious Ravens would be foolish, but the teams do share one philosophy -- an emphasis on defense.

"I think the one thing our head coach Jim Criner has always said is win on defense," defensive coordinator Mark Criner -- Jim's son -- said. "Be sound on offense and be great on special teams so we can win a lot of ball games."

The Outlaws' defense and offense will be tested Saturday when the team hosts the New York/New Jersey Hitmen in the inaugural XFL season opener at Sam Boyd Stadium. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.

Mark Criner welcomes the challenge.

After making quarterback Chuck Clements their top pick in the October draft, six of the Outlaws' next nine selections were defensive players. Of those six, defensive ends Antonio Edwards and Michael Mason figure to be key players in the Outlaws' success.

Because a majority of the XFL teams are expected to throw the ball more than they will run, Criner has orchestrated the defense accordingly.

"We're running the 4-3 defense," Criner said. "I believe the 4-3 gives you the opportunity to always rush forward and gives good pressure on the quarterback.

"It's a balanced defense which will allow us to play the wide-open game that I think we're going to see."

That is not to say the Outlaws won't be prepared for teams that choose to run.

"It's an aggressive defense," Criner said. "I don't want to say aggressive on the quarterback because you've got to be able to stop the run game first. We're going to go run game first and be sound on stopping the running back."

Criner has been most pleased with his defensive linemen. He plans to start Carl Simpson and Angel Rubio inside and defensive ends Edwards and Kelvin Kinney for Saturday's game.

Edwards has participated in several NFL camps and played in the 1998 Super Bowl with the Atlanta Falcons. Kinney is making his return to professional football after a four-year hiatus. He last played for the Oakland Raiders in 1997.

The Outlaws kept seven defensive linemen and 10 defensive backs on their roster.

"We want to be able to have enough guys and enough pass pressure guys to put pressure on the front as well as being sound up front in the run game," Criner said.

Offensively, the Outlaws have had some difficulties after Clements, their projected starting quarterback, injured his shoulder and was placed on injured reserve.

Starting in his place will be Ryan Clement, who will be backed up by Mike Cawley.

Their pass targets will include starting wide receivers Mike Furrey out of Northern Iowa, former UNLV Rebel Todd Floyd, Brent Bech, a former LSU Tiger, and Nakia Jenkins.

"I really feel good about the ability of our receivers," Jim Criner said.

"The problems we've had ever since we lost Chuck in trying to solidfy our quarterback situation caused us to lose some consistency as an offensive team, but I think we're starting to get that back."

Running backs Rod Smart, Chrys Chukwuma and Ben Snell have impressed Criner, who said the team will be close to a 45-55 run-to-pass percentage team depending on each opponent's coverage.

"If people are going to try to play eight people up on us, we're not going to bat our heads in there because they've got some holes in the secondary," Criner said. "If they do that, we'll throw the ball more.