Nunes Bukula IV, Rowan running back, and his Prof teammates are looking to win out, and win big. Rowan athletics photo

By Joe Sager
D3sports.com

Rowan believes it’s among the top teams in the country.

The Profs’ play on the field supports that – they came within one score of beating two ranked squads.

However, most everyone else outside the team’s circle may not get a chance to see for themselves. That’s because those setbacks to NJAC foes No. 14 Christopher Newport and No. 4 Salisbury – combined with a 17-all weather-shortened tie against Case Western Reserve – will probably keep Rowan sidelined for the postseason.

“Personally, I may be a little selfish, but I think we’re a Top 25 team,” Rowan junior quarterback Nate Maiers said. “Competing with those teams – just a couple plays here and there – we come out of on top on both of them, who knows where we are ranked?”

Following Saturday’s 31-28 loss to Salisbury, the Profs face the sobering reality of sitting in the middle of the NJAC pack at 2-2.

“It’s definitely disappointing,” Rowan junior running back Nunes Bukula IV said. “It’s like five or six plays that determined each of those games. They won them and we are where we are. We just have to find a way to put everything together. We’re still treating the rest of the season like we have a shot. We are not giving up on the season just yet.”

The campaign got off to an ominous start with the tie against Case Western Reserve. Thunderstorms forced the final game delay with 2:07 in the third and the Profs holding a 17-14 lead. After persistent inclement weather in the area forced more long delays, coaches, referees and the athletic directors mutually agreed to end the game in a 17-all tie.

“It’s unfortunate that game, out of all the games on our schedule, had to be the game where we had bad weather,” Rowan coach Pat Ruley said. “Had it been any other opponent, we probably could have called the game Saturday after the second delay and come back and resumed it on Sunday and been business as usual. But, it had to be the game against an opponent nine hours away from us.”

The team rebounded to beat Moravian and Lycoming before dropping a heartbreaking 49-41 decision to Christopher Newport in double overtime. The Profs clung to a 41-34 lead late in regulation, but saw the Captains rally to tie and take the win in the second overtime in the NJAC opener. Three weeks later, Salisbury held off Rowan’s late charge for the three-point triumph.

“It’s definitely tough when we saw those two teams in our league are legitimate playoff contenders,” Ruley said. “I always tell my guys before every game, that it’ll be five or six plays that decide the game and we don’t know which ones they are until the game is over, so every play has to be the most important play.”

For Ruley, a 2013 Rowan grad and former Profs standout linebacker, it’s all part of the process of learning how to win, which is something he and his staff continue to instill in their troops in their second season guiding the program.

“It’s a continuation of trying to turn the culture around when we are in these late moments and, in games against these great opponents, not having imposter syndrome in those moments. The guys at a program like Salisbury or Christopher Newport are winning eight, nine, 10, 11 games a year. It’s embedded in them that they are going to come out on the right side of those types of games,” he said. “When I was a player here, we expected to win those kinds of games. The guys on the roster have to flip that switch so, instead of playing not to lose, they are playing to win. In the last place I was at (Susquehanna’s associate head coach and defensive coordinator), it took one marquee win to really flip that switch. We’re still searching for that win.”

There are no shortcuts in that process. It’s a marathon and not a sprint, especially for a team that features a multitude of young players in key positions on both sides of the ball.

“It’d be nice to win now, for sure,” Maiers said. “It is cool to think that we have that core group where we’ll be all right for years to come, though. That’s why it’s so important for our next three games to leave it all out there. We want to put our resume on film and go out on a high note and carry it over to next year.”

It starts this week against TCNJ, which sits alone in second in the NJAC at 4-1 behind Christopher Newport (4-0) and Salisbury (4-0).

“We’re just trying to blow every team out of the water now,” Maiers said. “That’s pretty much our only choice.”

“We just have to go out and win – that’s what we can do at this point,” Bukula IV added. “We can’t lose any more games. Now, we have to put everything together.”

The Profs want to rebound for their seniors, while continuing to develop their next wave of players.

“It’s about playing for the seniors and, down the stretch, honoring those guys the right way and sending them out on a high note,” Ruley said. “We want to continue to sharpen our craft and be competitive. We’re playing true freshmen and sophomores in a bunch of positions on defense. These game reps are critical for their overall growth.

“With our roster right now, 2026 and 2027 look great. But, I am not patient. The expectation of this program is we have to figure out how to win now. But, there’s no doubt the future is bright.”