MULES ON THE MOVE Unlikely Heroes Enjoy A Shining Season Ye
ars from now, someone >C a n n i ng the Colby f ootba l l log w i l l sec
tudent:, a n d fa c u l t y ra l l ied beh i nd t h e tea m . There were
an ord i nary 3 - 5 rec ord , hut an yone assoc ia ted wi t h the 1 990 varsity
c heerl eaders , a Pep hand and a large crowd f or the ope n i ng game. But
w i l l remember i t fore\'er as a team tha t tr
few among the wel l w i she rs bel i e\'eJ Austin or his pl ayers, who said
am
cended the com monp l ace
of sport , t u r n i ng h locks, tac k l e and touchdowns i n to meta pho rs for res i l i e nc e , determ inat ion and at ta i n me n t . Th is w a s a t e a m t h a t sent
they p l a n ned to win seve ra l game>. "b·eryone wa> sn
14 pl<iycrs h o m e f o r a semes te r t u
c
ponder the i m propri e t y o f i l l ic i t soc i a l b e h a v i L r, wa t hed t w o others 4 u i t <ind disco\'ercd j ust before the start of prac t i c e that i ts 4u<1rter
defcnsi,·e bac k Rob
De l
ure we were go i ng to he terrible," j un ior
e
e
l l o rec a l led a few we k s in to the sea on. " I
think w e bega n to wonder a bou t i t ourselve . " T h e defense m a d e prog res · e a r l y i n t h e ·eason. Fir t - year l i ne
h<1ck h ad hrnken h i , jaw. That left but f1\'e of 2 2 starter from the 1 989
men M a rk G a l l a g h e r ,
s4uad and nn l y e ig h t j u n iors and sen iors on a roster that wa. nearly
Wagenk nec h t and J on Granoffheld their L1wn and occ as ion a l l y made
ean
n phomore l inebac ker
De\' i n c , S h a w n J e n k i ns , R i c h
2 0 names shorter than nor m a l . For coach Tom A ust i n , neccs>it y
big p lays.
would bec ome the moth er of i n ve nt ion .
performed so c apably that Baker could devote more and more t i me to
H i s first move was to ass i g n the more able and expe rienced h ands both offe ns i ve and defensive pos i t ions. A l l - N ESCAC l i ne backer Len Baker wou ld a l so play fu l l bac k . Offensi ,·e l i nemen Tom G r i ffin and Carm i n e CL1larusso wou ld play the defensive ! me on key
Gregg uffre d i n i and Eric DeCo ta
h i fu l l ba ck c hores. And t h e econda ry o f Dele l lo, John Conaty, Pau l Fro io, M i ke Rega n and Peter
andhlom pl ayed sol id l y .
E a r l y l rn,..,e ., to Tri n i t y, H a m i l to n a n J Tuft
h ighl ighted t h e
Wh ite M u les' w e a k >Pot>, hut the i r play proved t h e y weren't inca
downs. Tight ends Greg Burns and Pa u l Bais ley would become guards
pac i t ated. For three soggy quarter' i n Connec t ic u t they
eemed
i n ;in offense fea tu r i ng one runn i ng hac k , four w ide receivers and an
dest ined for a n up > et 1.if undefea ted Wesleyan , only to lose ,
1 4- , on
untried quarterback rec o v eri ng frum k nee recnmt ruct ion .
a n 8 5 -yard pas p l ay i n the ope n i ng m i nu te' uf the fou rth period. When W i l l iam came to town at Homecomi ng and e x tended the nation' 1 1.r n g e s t w i n � t r e a k a t Co lby '
expen e,
the
Wh i te M u l e h a d not h i ng but an 0- 5 record to how for their work and enthu . iasm. I nj u ry was added tO tn�u l t when the center, Griffin, and Gal lagher, the bul wark of the new defen s i ,·e l mc , l i m ped off w ith knee inj uries, departing for the rest of the season. Austin had been there before, however. He replaced Griffin w i t h fir t y e a r student Brian
O' u l
l i \'an a n d told B a i l ey h e c o u l d be a t i g h t e n d agatn-pro"ided h e would abo play dcfensi\'e tack le. A s Colby prepared for the Parents Weekend game aga i n ·t Bate , the M u le were down to three e n iors but had added a
44
Photo by
fifth j u n i r. J i m Dion izio,
Len Baker '9 2, in his fullback mode , heads for rhe end zone ivirh a block frnm Dan Teguis '9 1 .
the quarterback w i t h the
Colby ,
J anuary
1 99 1