As the only senior starter on NIU’s offensive line, Joe Gucwa has been through the lean years of the Huskie football program as well as the current success. Through it all, Gucwa remained confident about the eventual growth, not only of the program, but his status as a contributor to the program as well.

“I’m really happy with the way the program has grown,” Gucwa said. “I had confidence with Coach Pettibone. He said he was going to change the program around, which he’s done with the same philosophy. He had confidence in us and as the years went on, we got better.”

Gucwa sees the turning point for the program being 1987’s 34-31 victory against UNLV.

“When we went 5-5-1, we came back and beat UNLV with a field goal toward the end of the game and right then we knew we were winners and we could go out and win against anybody.” he said.

This season’s eight and two record has been somewhat of a surprise, admits Gucwa. “Being eight and two surprises me. We were hoping for an 11-0 season, that’s what our goals were at the begining of the season. As we went on, we gave Nebraska a hard time. As the season went along, we got better. We gained experience on offense and defense and we improved. I think being eight and two is great.

“I think some of the guys look up to me, at least I hope they do,” says the left guard about his leadership role as the offensive lines’ only starting senior. “I just go out there and play. I’m not a rah-rah guy or anything. I just try to help the guys get motivated, keep everything intact and do what we have to do out there.

“This year, I personally tried to do the best I could out there,” he said. “Right now I’m playing up to par, where I think I should be playing. I could be doing better but I’m pretty satisfied with my performance.”

Gucwa, from Chicago’s St. Rita High School, enjoys blocking for NIU’s wishbone offense and the standout quarterbacks that have run the Huskie offense recently.

“I like the wishbone a lot. We get to go out and assault defensive lineman. It’s not a passive offense as far as going out and attacking people. It’s exciting. I feel confident with the quarterback we have now, Stacey (Robinson), and we had Marshal (Taylor) back there.

“They both know what they’re doing and they’re both great athletes,” Gucwa said. “I’m confident they’re going to find the right person to get the ball to and execute the play right. The only thing we have to worry about up front is making our blocks. In a wishbone offense, all 11 people have to make their block in order for it to work.”

After playing in his last home game as a Huskie, Gucwa says that his teammates will be the focus of his memories of his NIU career.

“The memories that will stay with me are those that I have of my friends, the guys from the team, they’re all great,” Gucwa said. ” We’ve gone out and had a good time, played together and joked around. The camaraderie of the guys is what I’ll remember.”