Tyler Mullan has proved that his amazing debut as a fill-in-field goal kicker this season was no fluke.
The 5'10", 160-pound kicker had an incredible debut, as he kicked four field goals and five point-after attempts on the way to a 47-25 victory over U of T on August 27 in Kingston.
The North Bay native and St. Joseph-Scollard Hall Bears alum got the starting job with the Gaels after the starter sustained a season-ending injury in training camp.
See related: Amazing USports debut for North Bay Kicker
But Mullan did not stop there as he finished the season going 17 for 17 on field goals and 32 for 32 on point after attempts as Mullan finished third in scoring (83 points) in USports Football.
The Gaels beat the Laurier Golden Hawks 30-11 on Saturday to finish the OUA regular season with a 7-1 record and secured the No. 2 seed heading into the playoffs.
Mullan credits his teammates for the perfect rookie season of success.
"The offence, they always put me in a nice spot, nothing too long," said Mullan.
"I guess it is just going out there and I owe a lot of it to my long snapper and holder as I could not have done it without those two, they are pretty awesome."
But Mullan admits making the adjustment from high school football in North Bay to the thunderous university crowds is challenging.
"It was quite an adjustment coming from North Bay where there are just a few hundred people and going to a place like Western in London where you are playing in front of a crowd of 12,000 people," admitted Mullan.
"That was pretty crazy as that was my third game."
Mullan says the key is staying focused.
"I love home games playing at Richardson stadium it is always pretty electric in there and playing in front of the home fans but it is always a different feeling going to someone else's stadium and all the fans are yelling at you and students chirping you," said Mullan, whose dad Sean is a longtime local high school coach at Widdifield and now West Ferris.
"You just have to drown that out and focus on what you need to do. You just have to focus on the task at hand. It is nice to hear them chirping and then it slowly dies down as you are beating them. That is always nice."
Mullan, who is a Science Major at Queen's, admits the success is making him think about pro football opportunities
"It definitely has been a wake-up call. It is my first year and it is a grind having school and football," he said.
"I really have not looked into what happens next. I really would love to keep playing football and do that the rest of my life but it does not happen for everyone.
"In the position that I am in this year, I am having a good year. If I keep it up and get a little bit stronger and bigger it will definitely open the possibility of that professional door opening but I am not really trying to focus on that too much. I just try to take it day-by-day, year-by-year and see what happens from there."
A good playoff run would likely make pro football even a bigger possibility.
"Keep a watch out for the Gaels, we are going to make a run," he said.
