For the love of the game

11/18/2008 4:30:00 PM | Football

It was the toughest time of Matt McGowan’s football career. Sure, the 5-foot-11, 210-lbs. running back had been challenged before, using his bruising style up against linebackers that had serious height and weight advantages over him. That part of the game never bothered McGowan, but having to sit on the sideline with an injury for much of the 2007 season crushed him.

 

“It would feel fine one day, and then the next day I would wake up and be set back right to the point where it was at the beginning,” McGowan said. “It was extremely frustrating, and one of the harder things I’ve ever had to endure.”

 

Now, more than a year later, McGowan has finally taken his rightful place as the star tailback for the Mountain Hawks.  But McGowan does not take his success in 2008 for granted; not after last season and all he had to go through to fight his way back.

 

“You appreciate it a lot more once something like that happens,” he said. “Having to sit out last year and watch from the side, knowing that I could have been out there helping the team; it was heartbreaking.”

 

McGowan came into his junior season with extremely high hopes. He had put in all the hard work he needed to become one of the premier backs, not only at Lehigh, but in the entire Patriot League. McGowan had played in all 11 games as a sophomore, averaging seven carries per game, and 2007 was supposed to be his chance at a breakout season.

 

But on a simple outside zone run in preseason, all those plans came crashing down, as McGowan suffered a hamstring injury that hampered him for the rest of the year.

 

“It was weird the way the injury worked,” McGowan said. “It wasn’t that painful, but if I tried to play I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I had no explosion out of a stance and I couldn’t run full speed.”

 

From the beginning, the training staff and coaches were optimistic McGowan would be able to return to full strength relatively quickly. At first it was going to be three weeks. Then three weeks became four. Then McGowan would get into a game and register some carries, but he would be in agony the next day.

 

The whole process wore him down as much mentally as physically. He never knew when he would get the chance to show his value to the team and the thought of further injuring the leg was always there.

 

“It was tough because you have to worry about your assignments and what you’re doing,” McGowan said. “Other people are counting on you to do something during the play, but in the back of your head, you’re worried about getting hurt. That was probably the most difficult part, fighting through the pain and living one play at a time.”

 

By the time the season ended, McGowan’s injury had robbed him of nearly all the playing time he expected going into the year. He got into three games and registered just 44 carries for 198 yards (4.3 yards per carry).

 

Even with the injury haunting him on a daily basis, McGowan was able to show some flashes of the back he would become. He averaged a team-high 62.7 yards per game and got into the end zone three times in the three games he played. It just gave him even more motivation to work hard in the offseason to prepare for 2008.

 

“He worked incredibly hard this summer, probably the best he ever has to prepare for this season,” Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. “He’s always worked hard, but he worked extra hard this summer in the weight room and running and conditioning. He was in fabulous shape.”

 

All that hard work paid immediate dividends for McGowan. He started slow in preseason workouts, working his way back into the system. During the summer workouts he would start to push himself to the limit, and eventually while running the stadium steps or up the mountain, McGowan wouldn’t think about the injury at all. That’s when he knew the sky would be the limit for the upcoming season.

 

And Coen wasted no time making sure his workhorse was rewarded for all his efforts. On opening day, Coen trusted his senior captain to take control of the game at a rain-soaked Goodman Stadium, giving him the ball 39 times. McGowan rewarded his coach’s confidence by putting up 173 yards, and controlling the clock as Lehigh rolled to a 19-0 win over Drake on Sept. 6.

 

“At that point you’re tired,” McGowan admitted with a laugh. “But when you’re trying to fight to hold onto a lead, you put that fatigue behind you and just keep going. Coach said during the week, if it rains then it’s all on you, but I wasn’t expecting (39 carries). It shows that he has a lot of confidence in me and in the offensive line as well.”

 

Now that McGowan’s career at Lehigh is heading down the home stretch, Coen said he stands as a shining example to his teammates on how to overcome adversity. Through all the pain and suffering 2007 put him through, McGowan has been able to persevere and use the motivation to propel him to a fantastic senior campaign.

 

And all the adversity has just made him appreciate this season even more.

 

“I hope his teammates see how much he really enjoys playing the game on Saturdays,” Coen said. “You would think everybody that plays would understand that, but sometimes you have to have it taken away from you to really appreciate it. Matt had last season taken away from him and now he’s squeezing every ounce out of this season.”

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