Winning — and winning big — has a way of masking a football team’s deficiencies and mistakes. To the fans at least.

Last week, freshman Julian Edelman found out Friday he would start — over Kevin Linnell and Jose Avina — Saturday against West Hills.

The College of San Mateo offense has been in a groove the first two weeks of the season, averaging 446 yards and 30.5 points per game.

Two weeks into the 2005 season, the College of San Mateo football team proved it can score points. The Bulldogs scored 61 points in two games and are ranked 11th in the state in total team offense with 446 yards per game.

CSM had to overcome 15 penalties totaling 126 yards, which is believed to be the team’s highest total in the last five years.

Coaches get two years to mold players into cohesive units while always keeping an eye on the future. The hope is players get their feet wet as freshmen and then move into starting roles as sophomores.