Five years after winning a national title in his inaugural season in Amherst, Mark Whipple found himself in a bit of a predicament Saturday at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

He was already without Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year R.J. Cobbs, who was in street clothes due to “academic discipline,” and had lost starting tailback Raunny Rosario to a leg injury in the first quarter.

So after falling behind early to lowly Central Connecticut State in the opening game of the 2003 season, Whipple went with what worked for him so many times back in 1998.

He handed the ball to No. 5, and let him do the rest.

The end result? 141 yards and two touchdowns to help pace the offense to 51 unanswered points in a rout of the Blue Devils.

So while Whipple’s original No.5 – Marcel Shipp – is now carrying the ball on Sundays, his new No. 5 – Steve Baylark – is beginning to become the subject of numerous comparisons between the two.

While Shipp was the unquestioned leader of the ’98 team – a superstar good enough to have recently received a multi-million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals – Baylark, a sophomore who just recently made the move from fullback to tailback, is in his first year with the Minutemen, and is vastly unproven. Their physical makeup and running styles are quite similar, yet they now have something much bigger in common: their potential importance to their team’s championship hopes.

Shipp was the key to the offense in ’98, with plays designed to get him the ball any way possible. Baylark does not have to duplicate Shipp’s tremendous junior season for the Minutemen to be successful. He does, however, have to do more of what he did on Saturday.

With Raunny Rosario out for as many as six weeks, Baylark essentially becomes the starting tailback, given that Cobbs’ remains at wide receiver upon his return.

Evidence of the ill-effects of being unable to run the football were rampant against CCSU, as quarterback Jeff Krohn was picked off three times before Baylark was able to find a rhythm and gain good yardage, and the offense sputtered at times against a less-than dominant Blue Devil defense.

So as it was with Rosario, it’s a position that must be a strength for the Minutemen, as it could directly tie into the health of quarterback Jeff Krohn and will determine the success of Cobbs and the rest of the offensive unit.

If Baylark is able to run the ball effectively, pass rushers will be unable to tee off on Krohn, leaving the injury-prone signal caller with a far greater chance of remaining on the field for an entire season. Also, it will free up Cobbs to remain at wide receiver – a position Whipple seems to think he will be most effective playing – and further diversify the offense.

With a chance to cut his teeth against top-level competition this weekend, and an all-important A-10 opener with Maine just a week away, the time is now for Steve Baylark. He has, for the time being until Rosario or Cobbs return to the position, taken over as a key to Whipple’s offense, and given the Minutemen the chance again to rely on No. 5.