In 1519, the conquistador Hernán Cortés set out for Mexico from Cuba in defiance of orders issued by the island’s governor, Diego Velázquez. After landing on the Yucatan Peninsula, he proceeded up the coast and established the new Spanish town of Veracruz. Cortés intended to turn west from there and head toward the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. Before he did, though, he wanted to ensure that any of his men who remained loyal to Velázquez would be unable to escape and return to Cuba. Cortés scuttled his own fleet. The message was clear; there was no going back. The only way anyone would survive was through absolute dedication to his cause.

I was reminded of this story as I listened to Ken Niumatalolo’s postgame comments on his decision to come out with a new look on offense against Air Force.

“After last year, we were going to do it,” he said. “We practice it every spring, every camp, but we never really used it. We’ve used it here and there, but we knew after last year, we were going to come back and run the gun stuff.”