Some people who have prominatant roles in life like to put themselves out there, and gain lots of attention. Ryan Gunderson isn't one of those guys.

I've watched him do it time and time again. He's one of the first guys out of the tunnel. He runs to the bench, sets down his helmet. That's probably the last time he'll touch it until the end of the game. He puts on his Beaver hat, the same one he wears every game. Then, he goes over gets his teammates pumped up, and maybe plays some catch with Moore or Canfield.

What probably you don't know about this guy, is he is heavily responsible for the sucess we've had this season. He's Riley's right hand man. He signals in all the plays to Moore. Matt and Ryan are best friends.

In fact, this year's late-season success might have to do with a couple nerf guns.

"We went out and bought these pretty sweet Nerf guns and we play this stupid game that 10-year-olds shouldn't play. . . . It's awesome. We do it at the (road game) hotels, too." said Matt.

Matt and Ryan have developed a bond. The night before the Washington game, the two were in their hotel room, and Ryan could tell Matt was in a bad mood.

"I had kind of a bad attitude at the time, and I'm telling you, that talk with 'Gundy' made a huge difference," Moore said.

"It got the point where everything was just kind of collapsing in on him,"Ryan said. "There was so much criticism. I just told him, 'A lot of people don't think you can do it. A lot of people don't believe in you. But I believe in you. This team believes in you. The coaches believe in you. Just go out and play and quit worrying about everything.' "

The next day Matt went 14 of 19 for 308 yards. That was the game that turned this season around.

That is why the third string quarterback, who has completed one pass this entire season, is the fourth leading passer on the team, behind even the punter, should get this year's MVP. We wouldn't be here without you, Gundy.

And to top it off, Matt Moore now leads the nation with 117 completions without a interception. Not too bad, considering he was tied for the most interceptions in D-1 last year.

Go Beavers!

--JB--