Three offensive starters gone for the season.
The No. 3 team in Division II, Grand Valley State, comes to town today.
So you want to coach college football?
Not that Tiffin coach Gary Goff is looking for sympathy. Five days after he lost offensive linemen Gage Gorman and Lorenzo Lepe, as well as tight end Colin Boone in one half of football, Goff allowed himself a moment of discussion about losing the left side of his offensive line before moving on.
"My entire left side of the offensive line," Goff said. "Part of the game. Very unfortunate, very upset for Gage and Boone, two seniors; Gage missed last season because of a knee injury, worked extremely hard to get back. One of those freak injuries that happened. He wasn't really engaged with anybody, he just stepped on the turf and blew his knee."
So Goff will turn to his younger players, including freshman lineman Max Pollum.
"Max Pollum, he's a true freshman, he's gonna be starting right tackle for us, there's no questions about that," Goff said. "He's had a good week of practice, and I told him, hey, we expect him to go out there and battle. Here's a kid that was recruited by some Division I schools, and he's gonna be thrown into the fire now.
"Offensive line is a position where we recruited hard to create some depth there, but that's all out the window," Goff said.
Pollum be protecting quarterback James Capello, who was sacked seven times in last week's loss to Michigan Tech.
Capello said he has faith in the young offensive line.
"They can do the job, we just gotta keep giving them confidence," Capello said.
Grand Valley State should be confident coming in, averaging 65 points over its first two games and coming off an 83-46 win over Notre Dame College.
"They're not ranked No. 3 in the nation for no reason," Goff said. "They're really good on offense; offensively they are sound. They've got NFL-type receivers, and a quarterback who's got all day in the pocket."
Heath Parling has thrown for 465 yards and five touchdowns over two games, while receiver Charles Johnson is averaging 83 receiving yards a game and Chris Robinson is averaging 103 yards a contest.
But it's not just the offense that's dangerous.
"On defense, they've got great speed on defense," Goff said. "They are built on team speed, and the defense has three defensive touchdowns."
Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m.
