‘Barow’ Breaks It Down

By John Baranowsky, athletic correspondent
Posted on October 11, 2007

I really think that we were fortunate as a team to escape Northeastern with a win. In a game where everything was going wrong we found a way to pull through and that is the mark of a truly great team.

Now I am definitely not ready to crown us as champs with a performance like last week, but I think that we are really working toward something special here. As for the actual game I knew it was going to be a long day when I stepped off the bus at Parsons Field.

Within about two minutes I had gone from a full travel suit to boxers and a t-shirt because it was so unreasonably warm outside. 

Immediately after kickoff I knew that Northeastern had brought their “A” game because they were playing a lot harder than anything that we had seen on film. As the game went on the rest of the defense and I got a little more comfortable and finally stepped it up and had enough defensive stops to win the game.

The way that the game finished up you really had to feel for Northeastern. They played really hard. As we boarded the bus en route to the airport the message on the bus was clear, everyone knew that we would never give that poor of an effort in any of our remaining games. The CAA is way too strong and if you take a week off you will lose.

The trip home was a long one. I slept pretty much the whole ride and had my usual dreams which include eating food and hitting quarterbacks, with the occasional conversation with Elvis. I also spent time working mentally to put the game behind me. By the time we arrived back in Harrisonburg the whole team was happy and ready for URI. By no means will anyone take this weekend’s game lightly.

John Baranowsky is a senior economics major and starting defensive tackle.