By Tim Graham
Grinnell College guard Jack Taylor scored 138 points in a Division III game Tuesday night in a 179-104 victory over Faith Baptist College.
I asked some Buffalo Bills players -- and one famous Indianapolis Colt -- what the football equivalent of Taylor's 138-point performance would be. Here are their answers:
Cornerback/kick returner Leodis McKelvin
"Opening kickoff return, I'm going to the crib. Come back out, first play on defense take a pick-six to the crib. Next drive we get a three-and-out, and I take a punt to the crib. They even put me in at receiver for a screen pass, and I take that to the crib. A fumble recovery, I get a sack. I'd probably still want to see how hot I am after halftime and stay out there. It's just an awesome job what that kid did."
Defensive end Shawne Merriman
"That would be eight sacks in one game. I never even rushed the quarterback in high school. I played middle linebacker, so the most I ever had in one game was 4.5 against Oakland on 'Monday Night Football.' I didn't even really play the fourth quarter. I probably could've gotten more.
"After that game I watched the film and I was, like, 'Damn.' I know [Taylor] is going to watch the highlights and think the same thing. How do you even have the endurance, the wind to score 138 points by yourself? If you're on the floor with nobody on you and somebody says 'You have 32 minutes to score 138 points by yourself.' That's still rough."
Running back Fred Jackson
"If you can touch the ball, you get 25 carries, 500 yards and 10 touchdowns. That would be my version of a 138-point game. At least four of those plays would go for 60 yards."
Free safety Jairus Byrd
"Man, probably like 10 picks in a game would be the equivalent. Five of them for touchdowns.
"That was just something out of this world. I didn't believe it. I saw the highlights, and still don't know how he did it. That's just incredible, no matter what level."
Kicker Rian Lindell
"That's probably like a 12 field-goal game. A good night in basketball is 30, so you multiply that by four. That's just ridiculous. So that would be 900 yards throwing. Just wow."
Wide receiver Stevie Johnson
"The equivalent to 138 in hoops? I can hit 138 points, but I'm a team player. I like to dish the ball off. But maybe a 300-yard receiving game with four touchdowns."
Linebacker Nick Barnett
"I'm thinking you would have to make all the tackles and all the plays. But they scored 179, so how great is one guy scoring 138? That is tough to do, but I haven't heard of 179 in basketball. That's amazing. That would have to be about 50 tackles in one game and four sacks on top of that."
Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (on conference call with Western New York reporters)
"Oh, my gosh. I have no clue. That's got to be throwing double-digit touchdowns and, like, 800 yards."
