By Howard Tsumura
Varsity Letters
VANCOUVER — In its classrooms at UBC, first-year physics students all begin with the knowledge that mass times velocity equals momentum.
Across campus on Friday night, those very same principles held true at venerable Thunderbird Stadium where 2,912 fans jammed themselves into the old yard’s cozy confines to watch a first-year running back put on a show they could never have expected nor later have put a price tag on
That’s because an 18-year-old Ottawa native named Marvyn Larozar pulled on his jersey No. 1, and in his university football home-field debut proceeded to reveal himself as his own kind of force multiplier, in the process confirming the age-old findings of guys like Isaac Newton and Galileo.
In a performance that was jaw-dropping by anyone’s standards, Larozar rushed for 285 yards and four touchdowns as the ‘Birds (1-1) defeated Edmonton’s visiting Alberta Golden Bears 43-10.
If there are a thousand things which make football a beautiful game, one that remains underrated only because of its rarity among gridiron harriers, is the cinematic, near-regal feeling you get while watching a big, physical back seemingly cast a spell over an unsuspecting defence.
And at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds with the awareness and the want to punish the opposition between the tackles, Larozar is most spectacularly one of those.
Afterwards, revelling in the burst of chemistry he was clearly beginning to feel with a veteran offensive line he would much prefer to be speaking about instead, he was asked to describe the essence of his running style and how he has learned to embrace what it can bring to the engine room of an offence.
“I think it’s really effective because I’m 6-3,” he said. “I am not a regular running back. I’m not 5-8 or around there. I’m 6-3, so I’m tall. I have long legs. Most people, they don’t really understand the way I move. And because of these long legs, whenever I come towards you, you’re scared. There’s a certain psychological change in your mind when you’re seeing me in pads running towards you. And I kind of use that to my advantage.”
At whatever level you choose to watch, including the NFL, there is something special about how quickly that kind of mass reaches full velocity and how much more difficult it is to slow that resulting momentum.
At once you appreciate the economy of that long stride. They in fact cover so much more ground than a scat back to the point where they almost appear to be moving in slow motion. And therein lies the deception that equates as tackle-shedding fuel.
On his first touchdown, Larozar took a handoff from quarterback Drew Viotto straight up the gut behind the blocking of left guard Jamin Dunn and right tackle Navjot Puni, then with a change of direction seemed to just glide to a crease that took him to the sideline and into the end zone for an eventual 7-0 lead just 3:36 into the game.
With much needed balance restored to what was a run-deprived offence a week ago in its loss at Calgary, UBC took a 14-0 lead first quarter lead on quarterback Drew Viotto’s 48-yard pass to wide receiver Trey Montour, who expertly broke back to the ball on the sidelines before re-pivoting and running another 20 yards into the end zone.
Larozar’s second major, a six-yard touchdown run, was schematically similar to his first, developing up the middle behind the blocking of centre Wolfe Colavecchia and later on a cut to his left, aided by a block from massive tackle Caleb Cunningham at the goal line for an eventual 21-0 lead.
It didn’t take much longer before Larozar’s snap-to-snap home-run potential became embedded in the opposition defence’s mind to the point where figurative foundations started to lose their stability and structural integrity.
For a Golden Bears defence struggling to gain traction, that might be the best way to describe what would transpire as UBC’s rookie wonder went on to score touchdowns on runs of 46 and 57 yards in the second and third quarters respectively before he was pulled from the game with almost the entire fourth quarter still to be played.
“Marvin’s quite the athlete, right?” smiled UBC head coach Blake Nill. “He flew in a bit under the radar (from the Asheville School, a boarding school in North Carolina). If you watch him, his pads are square, he runs low to the ground and he typically makes the first guy miss. You don’t get a clean shot at him until he’s three or four yards (across the line of scrimmage).”
THERE’S A CATCH TO THIS RUNNING BACK
It’s obviously premature to make any kind of grand declarations on Larozar’s UBC future based solely on the minute sample size of his opportunity and the current struggling nature of Alberta’s defence.
Yet to ignore the way he passed one eye-test after another is to pull back on the credit that he clearly deserves as both an ascending and versatile chess piece within the UBC offence. And if what he showed Friday is indeed his real deal, it’s something a team can build its entire identity around. Time must be allowed to tell.
In UBC’s 32-7 loss at Calgary to open the season Sept. 4, one in which the team was playing without the benefit of a preseason game, Larozar got five carries and rushed for 11 yards. Yet he also caught eight passes for 68 yards and the team’s only touchdown. On Saturday, in addition to his 285 rushing yards, he caught two passes for 28 yards for 313 all-purpose yards.
And so quite amazingly, his abilities to thrive as a 6-foot-3 receiver seem as viable an offensive option as his abilities as that 6-foot-3 running back, especially if you dig a little deeper and see how he was deployed last season at Asheville (NC) over its 7-3-1 prep season.
Although the names of the teams he played against aren’t the point, the numbers he put up as a pass catcher and a runner most definitely are: Against Hayesville, Larozar made four catches for 112 yards and a score, against Ambassador Church he had 16 carries for 136 yards and a score, against Covenant Day seven catches for 207 yards and three touchdowns.
Based on that, a couple of things seem clear:
1 He’s got the ability to line up in a myriad of different looks this season for UBC and as we speak, you can see that clearly amidst the figurative cloud of chalk-dust possibilities.
2 If running the football comes from his right-side brain, then catching it comes from his left. It’s his own version of football ambidextrousness.
JOINING SELECT COMPANY
Indeed there is an old-school soul floating around inside Marvyn Larozar’s rare physical package.
After all, your author doesn’t even need one hand to count the number of times a prospect, while being interviewed, has thrown out his post-game love first-and-foremost to… wait for it… his strength and conditioning coaches.
“Shout out to coach (Doug) Harger if I can,” Larozar said in homage to his strength coach at Asheville. “He’s a big reason why I became the man that I am today. I didn’t really like lifting as much. I was more timid towards the weight room, but because of him, he made it so much more interesting and more fun to be in the weight room. And that was a big reason why I chose UBC and Coach Joe (McCullum). I know he’s a great strength and conditioning coach. And I’m honestly excited to get working with him. I know he knows what he’s doing.”
With that said, it’s intriguing to contemplate the potential physical transformation that is surely ahead for Larozar because with, say an added 15 pounds or so of added and refined muscle, it’s scary to imagine how much more effective he could be.
Yet already it’s amazing how quickly and organically the conversation in the UBC press box, during the first half of Friday’s game, turned to the program’s well-curated record book.
As Larozar began to eat up huge chunks of yardage, he not only gained an instant nickname from an esteemed member of the UBC Sports Information office — Marvyn ‘The Missile’ — that moniker quickly transitioned its way down media row to the broadcaster’s booth and into vocabulary of the team’s play-by-play voice Len Catling.
It’s all part and parcel of what happens over the course of a game when its unfolding plot line begins to tread into the ground of some of the program’s most hallowed numbers.
On Friday it reached places it seldom gets within shouting distance of, and by halftime, with Larozar already sitting at 170 yards rushing on 15 carries and three touchdowns, there was suddenly legitimate reason to be looking at the top single-game rushing performance in UBC football history.
As a refresher for the die-hards and as an introduction to the newcomers, the new list looked like this after Friday’s game:
TOP 10 UBC SINGLE-GAME RUSHING YARDS LEADERS*
1 Mark Nohra — 351 yards vs. Calgary, Oct. 25, 1997
2 Akbal Singh — 328 yards vs. Saskatchewan, Oct. 15, 1999
2 Chris Ciezki — 328 yards vs. Simon Fraser, Oct. 18, 2006
4 Akbal Singh — 305 yards vs. Alberta, Oct. 23, 1999
5 Marvyn Larozar — 285 yards vs. Alberta, Sept. 11, 2026
6 Glenn Steele — 277 yards vs. St. FX, Nov. 13, 1982
7 Akbal Singh — 272 yards vs. Manitoba, Oct. 23, 1998
8 Dave Corcoran — 267 yards vs. Pacific, Nov. 1, 1969
9 Akbal Singh — 260 yards vs. Calgary, Sept. 12, 1998
10 Glenn Steele — 259 yards vs. Calgary, Oct. 31, 1981
*Source — UBC football
For Larozar that is select company indeed, being part of a Top 10 led by the legendary Nohra who has held the top spot for almost 30 years. And as you can see, Larozar’s effort on Friday is the most productive game enjoyed by a UBC running back in 20 seasons… or two years before he was even born.
All of which had your author wondering just how unique a physical specimen this 18-year-old kid from the nation’s capital really is when compared to the quintet of others he shares a place with in the all-time Top 10 list of UBC single-game rushing leaders.
To get the complete skinny on the heights and weights of the five other players, your author consulted with none other than UBC historian Fred Hume to gain a consensus on their overall dimensions.
What we learned was that the five others all stood under six feet. Weights were also available for each but it is not known for certain how much fluctuation there was in that regard over the course of their careers.
From tallest to shortest with heights and estimated weight: Mark Nohra 5-11, 228; Chris Ciezki 5-11, 220; Dave Corcoran 5-11, 220; Glenn Steele 5-8, 180; Akbal Singh 5-7, 190.
It’s also interesting to note that Nohra, Ciezki, Corcoran and Singh all accomplished their best single-game performances over the mid-to-latter stages off their UBC careers.
Steele’s 6th-place performance came in his second year (1982) at UBC where he earned Vanier Cup MVP honours, while his 10th-place performance came as part of his dynamic freshman year (1981) when he was named CIAU Rookie of the Year.
GET THE BALANCE RIGHT
Marvyn Larozar smiled in the post-game media scrum Friday night when it was pointed out that he had earned the nickname ‘Marvin the Missile’ by the time the game had hit half time.
“But I also go by Starvin’ Marvyn,’” he interjected, “just because in everything I do, I give intent. I give like the hunger of a man that hasn’t ate in every motion that I do, you know? Playing football, my academics, talking to people. I just give a lot of effort to everything I can. I want to be the best version of me,”
Whatever you call him, he was unforgettable. His 285 yards are believed to be a U.S. and Canadian university/college best this week for U SPORTS, the NCAA, and the NAIA, but now, with an undefeated Regina Rams (2-0) team sharpening its already-suffocating defence to stop him this Friday (6 p.m., Thunderbird Stadium), the surprise factor no longer exists.
Yet regardless of his actual numbers this Friday, a successful encore for the young UBC star would be providing enough of a threat on the ground for quarterback Viotto to be able to anchor another balanced offensive attack with a cache of receivers all with the capability to inflict damage.
“We need to be able to run the ball if we want to win in this league,” said Viotto who led his team to a victory by going an efficient 12-of-18 for 169 yards with one TD and one pick, contrasting his 30-of-47 for 332 yards with one TD and one pick in the previous week’s loss at Calgary. “We showed that today.”
UBC’s running back committee was held to 12 carries for 49 yards against Calgary but rallied with 40 carries for 419 yards on Friday. Viotto gave credit were it was due.
“(Marvyn), he’s an unbelievable player and he showed that today. He is going to open up our talented receivers so much more.”
Yet UBC’s defence was at times stellar, and when it came time to making big-time plays, the ‘Birds secondary was spectacular.
With Alberta looking to equalize the game at a touchdown apiece on its third drive of the contest, UBC’s third-year defensive halfback Darrien Brown snuffed out a Golden Bears drive when he intercepted a pass from quarterback Christian Veilleux at the home team’s three-yard line on first-and-10 from the 21.
Then it was Brown again, this time taking a sure touchdown away from Alberta’s Isaiah Sanderson on second-and-10 from the UBC 15-yard line, knocking away Veilleux’s pass at the very back of the end zone to extinguish a late-second quarter touchdown drive.
Cole Pryputsch, a versatile second-year player able to affect havoc at all levels of the defence, managed to pick off Veilleux, also at the UBC three-yard line, early in the fourth quarter to protect the team’s 43-10 lead.
As well, veteran end Aaron Parker came through with a big sack late, having his first pillage of Veilleux wiped out by penalty but then coming back on the very next snap to repeat the feat, this time for a 13-yard loss midway through the fourth quarter.
“After the first play came back, I just told myself that I needed to make a play and I fought through,” said Parker. “It’s super satisfying. Our D-line is just a group of gritty guys.”
WHAT’S THE REAL FORMULA?
It was as hard a night as any to underplay the storylines at work in the offensive backfield.
Nill eluded as much to that fact when asked after the game if he knew Larozar was 15 yards shy of the 300-yard rushing mark when he pulled him.
“Well, someone should have told me, and I would have taken him out earlier,” deadpanned Nill. “No, but you know, don’t be greedy. Besides there’s a little guy hanging around that is pretty effective, too and that’s why I took (Larozar) out.”
Nill was talking about another freshman running back in 5-foot-7, 170-pound running back Josh Martin, the Burlington, Ont. native who actually averaged a game-high 15 yards per carry, turning five totes into 75 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown run with just over four minutes remaining to round out the scoring.
On the night, entrusted with kick-off and punt return duty as well, the lightning-quick Martin finished with 203 all-purpose yards. Add Larozar’s 313 all-purpose yards and you get a stat-sheet stuffing 516, surely a team record for most combined all-purpose yards in a game by two UBC freshmen.
“I’m telling you he’s going to make some noise, too, before this season is over,” said Nill of Martin. “He was pretty impressive.”
The Thunderbirds’ aim now is to see how it will best deploy the sudden depth which appears to inhabit the team’s running back room, one which also includes veteran fourth-year Riley Michaud.
It was just that kind of night, one UBC football fans have to hope was a portal to the future
And for his part, the kid who introduced himself to UBC fans as if shot out of a cannon and is already known as The Missile was more than happy to profess the joy he has in wearing blue and gold.
“I came out super early, on July 12th, to work with the boys and really have an impact on the field,” Marvyn Larozar said. “I’m so thankful it’s paying off so far. I’m just happy. There is no way to explain this feeling.”
Except perhaps to say that while Mass-x-Velocity = Momentum is indeed an accepted reality of science, sometimes the best formulas are the ones that can’t ever really be explained.
Just enjoyed.
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