Man's greatest failures often lead to his greatest successes.

Such is the case for Grove City College's record-setting running back R.J. Bowers, who before this season is through could reach the pinnacle of college football's all-division career rushing list.

For it was out of a failed professional baseball career that has left Bowers, a 1992 West Middlesex High School graduate, on the precipice of college football greatness.

And the 26-year-old Bowers, a 6-¼, 238-pound fullback, isn't about to fumble what he believes is a second chance in his quest to become the leading all-division rusher in NCAA history.

"Failure has actually brought me to where I'm at. The way I look at it ... is many people aren't given a second opportunity and I was," said Bowers a son of Raymond and Debbie Bowers, West Middlesex. "When I played baseball, I didn't give it everything I had. I had a pretty bad work-ethic, being from a small school, never being pushed, and when I went to the minors I just tried to do the same things. I never did the extra hitting, the extra fielding. I just showed up and played, whereas, if I would have done that I think maybe I might have made it in baseball. But I have a second opportunity here in football.

"Failure is just what pushed me to be a better player. I don't want to make the same mistake, to be able to look back and say, 'If I would have done this or done that ...' I'm doing all those things so if I don't make it I have no regrets. And if I do, it's just from hard work."

With 5,620 yards, including the first back-to-back 2,000-yard seasons in college football history (2,098 in 1999 and 2,283 in 1998), Bowers needs "only" 1,339 yards to surpass current record-holder, Brian Shay of NCAA Division II Emporia State (6,958). In addition, Bowers can move past Shay atop the career lists for all-purpose yards (needs 2,098) and points (needs 99).

The names ahead of Bowers, who is 15th on the all-division career rushing list, read like a who's who of college football legends. Among them are Heisman Trophy winners Ron Dayne of Wisconsin (3rd, 6,397), Ricky Williams of Texas (7th, 6,279) and Tony Dorsett of Pitt (12th, 6,082). The leading Division III rusher is Coe's Carey Bender, 10th overall at 6,125 yards.

"It's very flattering to look down this list and see the likes of Tony Dorsett, Ron Dayne and Ricky Williams. It's great to be mentioned with those guys," Bowers said. "Granted I'm playing at D-III, but this is something, playing here for four years at this level, I kind of expected to do. A lot of people may tarnish the record because they say it's at D-III. But Brian Shay, he's from D-II and he's leading the list. (In the end), it's an honor that reflects well on Grove City football."

And on Bowers, who has prepared himself physically for the run at the record by trimming 10 pounds from his playing weight of 248 a year ago.

"I was very slow and didn't feel good at all last year," Bowers, a business management major, said. "But I feel great this year."

As for the mental preparation?

"As far as the team, everybody's aware of it but we try to keep it at a minimum," Bowers said. "The guys I've played with for four years, our goal is to go out and win every game. And if we win every game, obviously the record is going to take care of itself. As for a personal goal and the media expectations, quite honestly it really doesn't bother me, because of the baseball career I had a lot of exposure. So being older definitely helps me in that respect, being more mentally prepared. In a sense, I enjoy the attention. I don't look at it as a negative. Each time I take the field I look to put a show on in a sense and I kind of eat it up. I like it and I try to perform my very best."

Wolverines head coach Chris Smith would concur.

"R.J. has been just an amazing story since he first stepped on our campus," Smith said. "He's someone who has tremendous abilities, someone who I have the highest respect for. To come in, handle an academic load after having been out of school for six years, and handle it successfully, and handle the social atmosphere of being around younger people and do that in such a manner that he's become a leader. And then athletically, what can you say? He has done things that I, in my wildest dreams, would have maybe come up with only 50 percent of what he's accomplished."

Among what Bowers has been able to come up with is 26 consecutive 100-yard games. Two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin established the all-division mark of 31 straight playing for the Ohio State Buckeyes in the mid-'70s. It is that mark that means as much, if not more, to Bowers.

"That record has stood since 1974, I believe, and that record to me means a lot more than (the yardage)," Bowers said. "(The rushing yardage mark) shows a lot of endurance, but so does the 100-yard games. Thirty-one consecutive just shows that day in and day out you came out ready to play."

As those who have played with and against him would attest to with Bowers.

"I always place my expectations a lot higher than probably what I can achieve," Bowers said. "But at the same time I don't get disappointed, it's just I don't ever want to settle for something. I always want to strive to be the best I can possibly be."

It is those expectations that Bowers hopes will carry him to the next level: the NFL. And he is fully aware that he will have to prove something everytime he straps on his pads and helmet. While Bowers may be a longshot to be picked in the NFL Draft, it certainly wouldn't be out of the question for a team to invite him in as a free agent next season.

"This is my last hurrah, my last chance to possibly make something in the NFL. And the way I look at it is I have 10 auditions and whatever postseason games we have to get to the NFL," Bowers said. "I really believe that I can. The thing that I have to do is, in my mind, to go out and set the record, open up the eyes, get more exposure and get my foot in the door. And as long as I'm given a chance, then it's up to me. Right now, if I'm never given that opportunity, I'll always believe that I could've done it. But hopefully I'm given that opportunity. That way I can either realize that 'I did do it' or 'I just wasn't good enough.' "

Those same thoughts were probably on Bowers' mind as he entered Grove City College nearly four years ago as a 23-year-old freshman. It was not easy at first, but Bowers let his play on the field do his talking for him.

"Early on, some of the other schools, kids that my brother (Steve) played against, they would make some comments and say some things," Bowers recalled. "They wouldn't last very long. After they would see that I could play, usually they would shut up. Anymore, it's not even really a factor. The only people that bring it up are the media. I take some ribbing from the guys in there (coaches), but other than that it's great. I get a lot of respect."

It is that respect that Bowers believes might have been a whole different ballgame had he attended another school.

"Here at Grove City, and it may be different elsewhere, but the kids they recruit here are just top-notch kids," Bowers said. "Especially when I came here at 23, the seniors accepted me with open arms. I tell people that I probably couldn't have been accepted at any other university in America the way that I was accepted here. It was just a perfect fit."

Not only for Bowers, but for the college and the team, according to Smith.

"He's had to deal with situations that a lot of people don't think about," Smith said. "As a freshman, he was older than the seniors. So, who would he be the closest to? Obviously, the seniors. But then they graduate. And the next year, who would he be the closest to? The seniors. Well, they graduate. The next year it was the same thing. So I give him a lot of credit to continually come back and be a positive member of the team when the group that he was closest with graduated every year."