By Tom Haley
D3football.com

Curry coach Skip Bandini's cranium is jammed to capacity this week as he tries to devise a way to win an NCAA second-round playoff game for the first time, against Cortland State.

But there was a temporary diversion after Tuesday's practice. Bandini was in his car en route to a football banquet at Methuen (Mass.) High, putting the finishing touches on his speech. All the thoughts about his Colonels and Saturday's game plan were put on hold ever so briefly.

He would begin his speech by asking the audience: What would you do if you came to a fork in the road?

"Most people would say they would go right or go left," Bandini said while negotiating the highway on the way to the banquet.

"But what if somebody said they would pick it up. They wouldn't be wrong. They would just be thinking a different way."

That was Bandini's way of illustrating the importance of respecting teammates' feelings and the different ways people think. It is something he is very big on in building the team concept. Much of the emphasis from the start of training camp in August is getting teammates to know one another and get in tune with the way others are thinking.

All coaches preach that to a point. Bandini and his staff might take it to a new level.

"Sometimes when a new coach comes in here, he thinks we're crazy. We make sure the players eat dinner together and do things together all the time right from the start of camp," Bandini said.

"People think differently. That doesn't mean they are wrong."

There's no substitute for talent and the Colonels are well stocked in that department.

But you might not want to minimize the Curry Way when it comes to team building. The numbers speak for themselves. The Colonels are 61-4 the past six seasons. When they lost 28-17 to Plymouth State on Oct. 25 it was considered an unusual event. They have qualified for postseason play the last seven years and are making their sixth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament.

They won their first NCAA playoff game last season, taking down Hartwick, 42-21.

Now, they try to take the next step but the obstacle is an imposing one. Cortland went unbeaten in one of the country's toughest conferences and last week toppled that Plymouth team that gave Curry its only blemish.

But the Colonels boast a quarterback in Ryan Van De Giesen with plenty of playoff experience. It began for the senior three years ago when the Colonels got spanked 42-14 in the opening round by Springfield.

"The game has slowed down a lot for him since then," Bandini said. "Everything was fast and furious for him then as I'm sure it would be for any sophomore quarterback. He has learned from that experience."

Now, he has four NCAA playoff games under his belt, including the wins against Hartwick and Ithaca last week.

He has completed 170 of 324 passes for 2,464 yards and 24 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. And he has done it by spreading the ball around as nine receivers have caught TD passes. Brian Taylor is the main target with 59 catches for 846 yards and five touchdowns. But Norman Landry and Jon Rodriguez also have five TD grabs.

The other side of the ball has its own leaders. Scott Driscoll has a team-high six interceptions and is the owner of two New England Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors as well as two ECAC Northeast Division III Player of the Week accolades.

Tim Bloniasz comes in a 5-7 package but the hype following him into the season was big as he was on a pre-season All-America team. He had seven interceptions in 2007 but was injured for a few games this year.

"He is a football player. He studies film night and day," Bandini said.

Daniel Dawson is another standout on defense with 74 tackles, including 20 for a loss.

The Cortland game will be especially meaningful for Curry defensive coordinator Todd Nestor, a 1996 Ithaca graduate and intern Bill Struzzi, a 2007 Ithaca graduate.

Cortland and Ithaca meet each season for the Cortaca Jug, one of the game's great rivalries and one that celebrated its golden anniversary this year. The rivalry between the nearby schools is a fierce one and Saturday will be like a slice of the Cortaca Jug for Nestor and Struzzi as they go against the Red Dragons.

"Struzzi is a lot more than an intern. He is going to be one of the great coaches someday," Bandini said. "No question about it, this game is going to be special for them."

But more than Van De Giesen, Driscoll, Bloniasz, Driscoll, Nestor or anyone else, Bandini would rather talk about his Colonels in a collective manner.

You, see his words at the football banquet were not hollow ones. His speech was not some kind of window dressing or fancy talk to impress high school players and their parents. The message delivered Tuesday night is the Curry Way.