Colin Payne enjoys a hall-uva college debut in Golden Wolves’ opener

After playing just one college football game Colin Payne is headed to the Hall of Fame.

He’ll make his way to Canton, Ohio, Friday along with his Alvernia teammates, who are doing a little sight-seeing on the way to their game Saturday at Oberlin College in Ohio.

A couple more games like he had Friday, in his Golden Wolves debut, and the Exeter grad just might be headed for a permanent spot in some Hall of Fame.

All the true freshman did in his first football game in nine months was throw two touchdowns, complete 24 passes and throw for a program-record 380 yards.

Remarkable considering that he wasn’t involved in Alvernia’s offseason workouts or spring practices and had little more than two weeks of practice to learn the offense and his new teammates.

“For the first start as a freshman, he did a wonderful job,” said veteran running back E.J. Lee, who caught four passes from Payne. “He prepares the right way. Going into the game, he knew what he was doing.”

Steve Azzanesi, Alvernia’s first-year head coach, has been working with college quarterbacks for over 20 years. He’s never seen a freshman come in so game-ready.

“One thing I knew early (in camp) is that he’s a pretty special player,” said Azzanesi. “He was killing it in camp, just making play after play. Even though he’s a freshman, we had a lot of confidence in him going in.”

Payne did not disappoint. He was admittedly nervous for the first few plays — he says he always is, in any game — and was in an unfamliar spot when the Golden Wolves fell behind Ursinus 24-0. That almost never happened when Payne played at Exeter.

He quickly gathered himself and his teammates and put three second-quarter TDs on the board, cutting Ursinus’ halftime lead to 31-20.

“In college football, everybody’s good, so the game’s going to go fast,” said Payne, who experienced that during a preseason scrimmage against Moravian. “But (after) the first couple plays it really slowed down. Once I stepped on the field, it was just another game to me.”

That’s not Payne being cocky; that’s just the self-confidence he gained as a successful all-season competitor at Exeter where led the football team to its first district championship, earned All-State honors in basketball and played on three teams — including baseball — that qualified for the PIAA Tournament.

Payne was excited by his stunning debut, but hardly shocked — and not completely happy. Ursinus pulled away for a 59-27 win.

“I go by wins and losses,” Payne said, “I don’t care about individual stats. But it did feel pretty good. It’s something I didn’t expect.”

After commiting to Alvernia last winter Payne thought he’d have a chance to get on the field this season but no one — himself included — saw this coming.

“As summer went on, I began to realize how difficult it would be to get the starting spot,” he said. “(The other) guys had the spring to learn the offense. I came over during the summer a couple times and got to work with receivers, but not much. I wanted to rest my body. I haven’t had more than four (straight) days (of) rest in a year-and-a-half.”

His mindset going into camp proved beneficial.

“I (told myself to) act like it’s your team,” he said. “I’ve been through quarterback battles before. When you think you’re the underdog, sometimes you don’t act like the leader; sometimes you don’t show that you’re a leader. I just wanted to show that I’m a leader for these guys.”

The Alvernia staff saw that right away. After just a few practices the coaching room was buzzing about him.

“Really early in camp we saw that his arm talent was there, the accuracy was there,” Azzanesi said. “But the mental capacity is what really made him stand out. Usually, it’s just so hard for (even) the smartest guys to be able to consume all the information and be able to process it. He consumes information at a pace that is miraculous. The things he can do with (calling pass) protections is amazing.”

Given his performance last season, when he set an Exeter record for passing yards, and last week, when he topped the Alvernia passing record by more than 100 yards, you’d think Payne has spent years in the pocket. Not true.

Yes, he started — and won — a game at quarterback as a freshman, filling in for injury starter Kolby Haag. He had his eyes on the full-time job as a sophomore but Gavin McCusker, talented and a year ahead of him, earned the starting job and held it for two record-setting seasons. (He set the single-season passing mark before Payne topped it.)

Payne ended up spending most of his junior season playing wide receiver. He threw just five passes that season — fewer than he had thrown as a freshman or sophomore.

In a program that consistently churns out top-notch quarterbacks Payne had to wait his turn. That helped him form a steely resolve that was on display last week in Alvernia’s season-opener.

“Without that (often disappointing experience at Exeter), I would not have been as prepared, or as motivated, to get this job,” he said. “I’ve been through everything. People were telling me I should move from Exeter (and transfer to another school in order to play quarterback).

“I did not want to (lose out on a chance like this) again. I wanted it so bad I would’ve done anything to get that job.”