By Mathew Starner

With a 1-5, football Head Coach Glenn Caruso may sound unfounded when he says this year is a success. But it is the history of the team and the story behind the numbers that painstakingly supports every one of Caruso’s words.

“The thing we have to remember right now is winning and success are different things at this point in our career and this point of our program,” Caruso said.

After a couple of winless seasons, the team made it a point that this would be a rebuilding year. And the team showed a lot of promise after Saturday’s game at Colorado College, where they set a new school record with 551 yards of total offense.

The offensive onslaught wasn’t enough for the win, though, as Colorado College defeated the Scots 56-35. But the milestone alone was enough of a story to come back home with.

“Even though we did not win the game, there is success in having 550 yards,” Caruso said. “The school has been playing football for 118 years, and we’ve never had 500 yards before—never. And then we got 550. That was a huge step into the right direction.”

Mac did jump out to a 14-0 lead with the help of scores by Jacob McDonnell ‘10, first on a 60 yard run then on a 62 yard catch.

McDonnell’s performance, especially as a freshman, has turned some heads on the coaching staff.

“Usually in college football, you don’t play with true freshmen,” Caruso said. “Here’s a guy that, 11-12 months ago, was playing high school football. It’s very difficult to fathom how much success he’s having.”

So much, in fact, that McDonnell was moved from receiver to running back to maximize his amount of touches.

In last Saturday’s game against Colorado College, McDonnell set another school record by being the first to gain 100+ yards on the ground as well as through the air.

McDonnell rushed the ball 10 times for 104 yards and a TD, also catching the ball 10 more times for 149 yards and 2 TD’s.

Performances like McDonnell’s, especially as an underclassmen, promise for a successful rebuilding year, which couldn’t as easily be argued last year.

“After watching last year’s film, there was a natural regression toward the end of the season,” said Caruso. “This year we’ve steadily improved every week. We’re starting to play our best football now. So we’re definitely heading in the right direction.”