Anyone who’s been at Grand Valley State University for more than a year knows my history with criticizing our beloved football team for taking such pride in bowling over incompetent GLIAC opponents and choking in the playoffs.

In 2007, the team went undefeated in the regular season before Northwest Missouri State University running back Xavier Omon put an end to their season with 292 yards rushing and four total touchdowns in the semifinal game on ESPN 2.

The following year, the Lakers went undefeated again, but the University of Minnesota Duluth shut them down early in the playoffs.

While this year’s team is beginning to get in a groove with dominating performances over GLIAC creampuffs, such was not the case in the beginning of the season. The Lakers opened the season with three straight comeback victories over nationally-ranked teams. The team erased an eight-point deficit in the first game against West Texas A&M University, scored a game-winning touchdown in the final 20 seconds of play against Hillsdale college (who handed the team its first regular season loss since 2004 last year) and broke a tie in the final 30 seconds of play against the University of Indianapolis.

And GVSU head coach Matt Mitchell was not happy with his team’s performances in those games.

“Well, we’re 2-0,” he said after the victory over Hillsdale.

While these weren’t the prettiest of victories, they will all bode well for the team when playoff time rolls around. Mitchell was not happy with his team’s execution, and yes, had the Lakers executed well and made the plays that they were supposed to rather than the ones that they had to, the games would not have been so close.

But when you’re facing a good team with a good defense, there will be mistakes. Teams in the playoffs aren’t just going to roll over and die like most of the GLIAC – they’re going to do whatever they can to force the issue and get the ball back.

Now, with these three ground-out victories, the Lakers will know how to react in the playoffs when they come up against an opponent who can actually fight back. Within the past year, the team has experienced domination, comeback, battle and loss, each of which comes with four distinctly different sets of emotions. This will enable them to get over that hump and bring home the NCAA National Championship.

[email protected]