By Duane Cochran
For the Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT —
For M.J. Twyman and Doug Brazill this is it.
The pair are two of the most experienced Fairmont State football players and would love nothing more than to see the fortunes of their team turn around in this, their senior and final seasons in college football.
That duo, who have enjoyed just one winning season together at FSU, and the rest of the Falcons will have their opportunity to start off the 2010 campaign in the right fashion when they travel to Clarion (Pa.) University Thursday night for a 6 p.m. game with the Golden Eagles at Memorial Stadium.
Twyman, a 6-1, 255-pound defensive end from Piedmont, is a rare sixth-year senior. Redshirted as a true freshman out of Keyser High School, Twyman starred for three seasons at linebacker for the Falcons before making the move to defensive end last year.
However, in FSU’s season-opening 33-21 loss to Clarion last fall Twyman suffered a badly broken middle finger on his left hand and missed the rest of the 2009 campaign taking a medical redshirt.
“Last year was a very long year for me,” said Twyman, who has 98 career tackles, including 11 sacks and 16 tackles for losses. “It was very hard for me to just sit and watch. I spent this whole summer with (FSU strength) coach (John) Marano trying to get back on track. He’s a great strength coach and I feel like I’m back, right up there and ready to compete at a high level this fall.”
Twyman toyed with the idea of finishing school and moving on with his life after the injury last season, but his love for football prompted him to drop down to part-time status as a student in the spring, pay his own way to school and return to the squad this fall on a full-time basis with one semester left to play.
“In some ways it was a tough decision, but ultimately it really wasn’t,” said Twyman. “I love playing football so much I wasn’t ready to give it up. I didn’t want to end my career on that note.”
Thus, Twyman is back, healthy and he expects big things from himself, his fellow defensive lineman and FSU’s team in general.
“We’ve got an awful lot of talent on our defensive line,” said Twyman. “I expect us as a unit to do big things this fall and I honestly believe we will. We have three big, powerful nose guards, who in my opinion are three of the best ones in the conference. The talent we have at defensive end or defensive tackle is just ridiculous. We’re going to rotate a lot of guys there so we can stay fresh and constantly get after people. I can’t wait for that.
“Coach (Mike Lopez) has said he wants us on the D-line to be the leaders of this team and we’re ready to accept that role. Our shoulders are broad and our backs our strong. I believe we’ll be up to the task.”
Brazill, on the other hand, is a fifth-year senior running back for the Falcons from Daytona Beach, Fla. who is seventh all-time in school history in career rushing with 2,253 and 12 touchdowns on 487 carries.
He says he’s looking forward to his final season in a Falcon uniform and to helping his team get things turned around in 2010.
“This season is important to all of us, but it’s especially important to the seniors on this team because it is our last chance to do good things,” said Brazill. “Everything about my career here at Fairmont has been great, except when you look at the win and loss column. We’ve had too many L’s here in recent years and this year we’d love to change that.
“You know we’ve got a lot of veterans on this team and it’s really up to us to go out and execute what we’ve been taught, do our jobs and see what happens. I’m excited about this season. I can’t wait for Thursday night.”
Brazill is listed as FSU’s number one back, but also look for talented junior transfer Patrick Pinchinat to see a wealth of time in the Falcons’ backfield this season.
“I’m excited about that,” said Brazill. “I know I can come off the field and the back replacing me is going to be just as good, if not better than me. He’s a talented runner and we’ve developed a good relationship. We expect big things from ourselves and this offense.
“The offense this year is very multiple. We feel like we have a number of options and a number of weapons. We’ve had weapons here in the past, but right now it just seems like we have more of them and it’s up to us to utilize them and to execute at a high level.”
