September 28, 2002

By CRAIG MUDER
Sports Editor, Utica Observer-Dispatch

HAMILTON - Tim Lavoie got in his time machine last Saturday and set the controls for 1999.

Suddenly, Lavoie is on the grass at Andy Kerr Stadium in Hamilton, laying out linebackers with bonecrushing blocks. Colgate's tailbacks are running for massive yardage.

And coach Dick Biddle is smiling on the sidelines.

For the soon-to-be 24-year-old junior from Tewksbury, Mass., the dream has become a reality.

"It was a great feeling being back in there," said Lavoie, who missed the 2000 season because of injury and was not in school in 2001. "It's funny: once you're back, you feel like you've never left."

Biddle and the rest of the Raiders certainly didn't feel that way. Colgate's running game hasn't been the same since Lavoie suffered three hamstring pulls in his right leg in 2000. Heading into that season, Lavoie was rated as one of the best all-around fullbacks in Division I-AA.

In his first two seasons, Lavoie rushed for 704 yards and 11 touchdowns while paving the way for tailback Randall Joseph and quarterback Ryan Vena. In 1999, Joseph rushed for 1,446 yards - averaging an astonishing 7.5 yards per carry - behind Lavoie's pancake blocks. Vena, meanwhile, had two 100-yard rushing games as a quarterback in 1998 alone.

"Tim's not back to where he was in 1999 yet," said Biddle, who had inserted Lavoie into the starting lineup as a freshman the previous season. "He was a difference-maker in our program back then. But for him to even try to come back knowing his history takes a lot of nerve and a lot of guts. I'm very happy for him."

The hamstring pulls kept Lavoie off the field in 2000 - and Joseph's rushing total dropped to 837 yards that season. Then last year, Lavoie withdrew from school in order to spend more time with his 6-year-old son James.

But football was never far from his mind - or body.

"I knew it was just a hamstring injury in 2000, and the Colgate trainers felt I could heal it," Lavoie said. "So I spent this summer in Hamilton, working with (Colgate head trainer) Marty Erb. I put on 10 pounds of muscle because we worked so hard."

In fact, the 5-foot-11 Lavoie has added almost 20 pounds of muscle to his frame since 1999 and now tips the scales at a rugged 241. But two obstacles still stood in the way of a comeback: senior fullbacks Justin Polk and Jeff Stone, who were ahead of Lavoie on the depth chart entering training camp.

"Coach Biddle is loyal to his seniors, but coach Biddle also wants to win football games," said Lavoie, who retained his junior eligibility status from 2000 by requesting a medical redshirt. "He's always said the best man is going to play.

"Coach Biddle has always been loyal to me, and he told me that if I was healthy I would probably start and play. That's a big reason I came back."

But injuries sidetracked Lavoie again at the start of this season. This time, Lavoie pulled his left hamstring and missed the season's first two games. But by last week's game against Dartmouth, Lavoie was ready. He saw action in a couple series early in the game, rotating in and out of the lineup with Polk - with Stone out of action following season-ending knee surgery last week.

Then, with 1:14 left in the third quarter, starting tailback Nate Thomas went down with a fractured ankle. Turning to his senior, Biddle put Polk at tailback - leaving Lavoie as the fullback.

Running basic off-tackle blasts, Polk amassed 167 yards rushing in the fourth quarter as the Raiders rallied to beat the Big Green 30-26. Lavoie provided a key block on nearly every run as Biddle and offensive coordinator Mike Foley called for the simple isolation plays that helped Joseph become a star in 1999.

But Lavoie, who led the Raiders to the playoffs in both 1998 and 1999, is far from satisfied with his comeback.

"We didn't win a championship Saturday, we won a game," said Lavoie, who carried the ball twice for three yards against Dartmouth. "It's a team we should have beat and the game shouldn't have been that close. If we plan on winning a lot of games this year, we have to win that game."

With Lavoie healthy and motivated, don't look for a pass-happy offense against Columbia today in Colgate's homecoming game.

"This is the first time this season we've run the ball consistently," Biddle said. "To be fair, though, Justin's runs (against Dartmouth) were a lot better blocked than the same runs earlier in the game. If they had been, Nate would have had some long runs."