By MARK CRAIG
Minneapolis Star Tribune
MIAMI _ Apparently, the secret weapon to stopping Peyton Manning's deep threat is a public tax accountant living in Kenosha, Wis.
His name is Matt Blaziewske.
"We just call him 'Blaze' because he's a Polish kid with a long last name," said Brian Borland, defensive coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
From 2005-07, the Warhawks played in the Stagg Bowl for the Division III national championship against a Mount Union (Ohio) team that had a speedy receiver named Pierre Garcon.
"I ran about a 4.6 40," said Blaziewske, a cornerback. "Obviously, I wasn't as fast as Pierre."
There are NFL players who can say the same. After all, Garcon is the same guy who caught an AFC Championship-record 11 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown to help the Colts beat the Jets, 30-17, to advance to Super Bowl XLIV against the Saints on Sunday.
Today, Garcon is a household name. He's one of the young receivers who stepped up when future Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison got too old to play. The son of Haitian parents, he's also the NFL's most ardent supporter of the Haitian earthquake relief organizations, not to mention the only player to wear the flag of Haiti as a headband during Tuesday's Super Bowl media day.
Garcon didn't turn many heads early on when the Colts used a sixth-round draft pick to select the 6-0, 210-pounder in 2008.
"What did I think of him?" asked Reggie Wayne, the veteran receiver who went to the University of Miami and was a first-round pick in 2001. "I thought, 'Where's Mount Union?'"
It's in Alliance, Ohio, about an hour's drive south of Cleveland, eight miles east of Canton and light years ahead of most Division III football programs. The latter is what made Garcon call Purple Raiders coach Larry Kehres out of the blue in 2005 and ask if he could transfer there from Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., where in 2004 he played with Cooperstown graduate Billy Hribar, a defensive lineman. That season, Garcon had two receptions for 34 yards as Norwich defeated host Hartwick, 31-30, in overtime on Oct. 30.
In 2005, Mount Union beat Wisconsin-Whitewater, 35-28, in the Stagg Bowl as Garcon caught seven passes for 107 yards and touchdowns of 63 and 12 yards.
"I was a wide-eyed sophomore nickel back that year," Blaziewske said. "By the time they put me on him, he had scored two touchdowns and had beaten everybody else. I gave him a pretty good cushion, but he closed on me so fast, I got called for a holding penalty. It was either that or he was going to run right past me."
The next year, Garcon burned Blaze again, catching eight passes for 116 yards and touchdowns of 46 and 10 yards as Mount Union beat the Warhawks, 35-16, in the Stagg Bowl.
"He caught this little drag pass underneath and it was just a man against boys trying to chase him down," Borland said. "We had angles on him, and he still ran right past us."
In 2007, Borland and Blaze were determined not to let Garcon do it to them again.
"I never watched more film of a guy than I did before that game," Blaziewske said. "Every play of every game, every split and every route he ran, I watched. We had a great plan."
Borland came up with a bracket zone in which Blaze would play aggressive underneath with plenty of help behind him deep. Garcon caught four passes for 30 yards with a long of 14 as the Warhawks won, 31-21.
"That game still upsets me," Garcon said Tuesday.
"I don't know why (Saints defensive coordinator) Gregg Williams isn't calling me," Borland joked. "I could pull out that 2007 game plan and maybe share some secrets. But my phone has been kind of silent, so I guess they have an answer for Pierre."
The game plan in 2007 wasn't the only key, Borland fessed up.
"I kind of remember Pierre limping around a little before the game," Borland said. "Boy, was I happy to see that."
The biggest Stagg Bowl crowd Garcon ever played in front of was 6,051. But he always knew he had what it took to go from the Stagg Bowl to the Super Bowl.
"You have to believe you can do it," he said. "And not believe those who say you can't."
The Daily Star contributed to this report.
