COLUMN: Mitch Marrow steps up in clutch

From Luke DeCock's "A Front Row View," Fall '95 The inspiration on offense came from the most likely of sources, wide receiver Miles Macik. Macik is no stranger to carrying the team. Much the same way he dragged tacklers downfield, Macik took the team in his hands in the second half. But we're all used to that. We're not quite as used to sophomore defensive lineman Mitch Marrow. Marrow shocked everyone by spending most of the day in close contact with Dartmouth quarterback Ren Riley and the Big Green ball carriers. Even more shocking was the fact it was his first career start. The name 'Mitch Marrow' never appeared in any articles. No coach ever said, "watch this kid Marrow." Before 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Marrow was a nothing, a cipher, a faceless substitute for a graduated interior defensive lineman. We can only assume Dartmouth felt the same way. Until the first series of the game, anyway. "Tackle by Marrow" was the leitmotif of the Dartmouth offense. On the first two series, the Big Green ran the ball right at what was the supposed weakness of the Penn defense. With all three interior linemen from 1994 graduated, the Quakers needed someone to step up. That someone was Marrow. "Oberle carries up the middle, tackle by Marrow. Gain of two." "Riley carries to the left, tackle by Marrow. Loss of one." "Garcia carries to the left, tackle by Marrow. Loss of two." Marrow spent more time on the Dartmouth side of the line of scrimmage than the Penn side. Of his nine tackles, five were for losses. When Riley fumbled the snap, who fell on him? Marrow. It's probably safe to say Dartmouth wasn't expecting Marrow. It's also safe to say the fans weren't expecting him. Defensive coordinator Michael Toop, though, knew exactly what he was putting on the field. To Toop, Marrow's performance was no surprise. He's seen it happen too many times before. The Bagnoli-Toop regime has developed an amazing farm system -- for lack of a better term -- that feeds young players into the starting lineup. When a key player graduates, there's always a sophomore or junior to replace him. Linebackers Pat Goodwillie and Kevin DeLuca gone? Enter Joey Allen and Tim Gage. When the entire interior defensive line graduated, Toop inserted Marrow. And we all saw what happened. There were harder hits on Saturday. Joey Allen destroyed Riley. Tom McGarrity nailed Riley as well. But that was expected. Less expected was Marrow's contribution. There was no more consistent presence on defense than Marrow. And with The Streak in jeopardy, Marrow's stunning debut was exact- ly what the team needed.