Necessary Roughness

When the Texas State University football program is disqualified over cheating and poor academic records, the school is left without a team. Coach Ed Gennero is brought in to rebuild from scratch, recruiting whoever is actually enrolled. His unlikely choice at quarterback is Paul Blake, a 34-year-old former high school star who never played college ball and now runs his family's farm. The roster he joins is a collection of misfits with little in common and less experience.

The comedy was directed by Stan Dragoti, the fifth film in his directing career following Love at First Bite, Mr. Mom, The Man with One Red Shoe and She's Out of Control. Scott Bakula plays Blake, with Héctor Elizondo as Gennero and Robert Loggia as Coach Wally Rig. Harley Jane Kozak, Larry Miller and Sinbad round out the main cast. Rick Natkin and David Fuller wrote the screenplay, and Mace Neufeld and Robert Rehme produced.

Released in September 1991, the film cost about 14 million dollars and took in roughly 26 million worldwide, a modest return. On IMDb it holds a 6.2 rating from around 14,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 5.5 from a much smaller pool of about 140. A critics' rating of 4.6 from 31 reviews places it below even the IMDb audience figure.