In his first two years on the Muhlenberg College football team, Bryan Auvil and the Mules could almost taste it. But almost wasn't good enough to get the Mules over that coveted hump they had been looking to top.

In 2014, however, that all changed for the junior offensive lineman and the Mules.

After finishing with two Centennial Conference losses in each of his first two years, seasons that ended without a trip to the NCAA Division III tournament, Muhlenberg made another jump in 2014.

The Mules rode their momentum to another impressive campaign over the fall, culminating in an 8-1 mark in the Centennial Conference (9-2 overall). And while Muhlenberg ultimately did come up short in securing a conference championship behind Johns Hopkins University, the Mules earned an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010. Widener University, however, squeezed out a 36-35 victory in that opening-round game.

"Going into this year, we wanted to break that streak," Auvil said. "We had a ton of guys coming back on both sides of the ball, so we had confidence going into the season.

"We ended up getting an at-large bit, and we thought we deserved it. We were really happy to have the opportunity to get a chance to play in the playoffs. We lost a really close game to a very good team. At the end of the day, we're pretty happy with how it turned out."

As a member of the Mules' offensive line, Auvil was a part of an offense that put up historic numbers in the team's 11 games. The Mules scored just under 40 points per game (38.3), including a 59-point effort against McDaniel in the third game of the season.

The Mules also set program records in total yards (4,825) and first downs (269).

And while the offensive line had a big part in achieving those numbers, Auvil knows that offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Tom Perkovich and the team's skill position players are just as critical to the offense's success.

"It's a lot more fun on offense when you can keep moving the ball," Auvil said, "Like with anything, you obviously have more fun when you're winning and dominating. We had some incredible skill position guys.

"As far as the team's offensive statistics, give him [Perkovich] a lot of credit for putting us in a position to be successful. For me personally, I've come light-years since I got to Muhlenberg as far as on offensive lineman."

After starting in all 11 games for the Mules, Auvil was named to the All-Centennial Conference First Team for the second straight year.

"There are a lot of really good players in the conference and a lot of good linemen," Auvil said. "It's an honor that the coaches of the conference thought I was worthy of that."

Auvil is more than just a gifted blocker for the Mules. His achievements in the classroom are just as noteworthy.

As a chemistry major who holds a cumulative 3.96 GPA, Auvil was recognized with the Centennial Conference Scholar-Athlete Award, which goes to the junior or senior on the All-Centennial team with the highest cumulative GPA.

He was also honored as an NCAA Division III Academic All-American by Capital One, the ninth Mule to ever receive the award.

"I guess you could say I consider myself sort of a nerd," Auvil said. "I actually probably took more pride in those honors. It's something that is very important to me based on how I was raised. I take a lot of pride, and I guess maybe more so than the football side of things."

In the middle of his junior academic year, Auvil still has one more season to capture that elusive Centennial Conference championship. It's still more than eight months until 2015 kicks off, but the goals remain the same.

"The whole time I've been there, we've been 8-2 or 9-1 and in second place," Auvil said. "The expectation really doesn't change for us. We expect to pick up where we left off. We know we have a lot of great guys and younger kids that are ready to step up and play at a high level.

"Our team goals are going to be the same thing-win the conference and get a bid for the playoffs. And we'll move from there."