On a patch of grass separating McNeese’s two practice fields, Ryan Ross kneels between two of his running backs — Ben Jones on his right and Ryan’s brother, Lawayne, on his left.
Running backs coach Dennis Smith tosses a football. Ryan catches it as both Jones and Lawayne hit his shoulders and biceps with large tackling pads. At the same time, Dylan Long’s arm comes from behind, attempting to punch the football from Ryan’s suddenly fumble-prone grip.
The drill, if performed correctly, will teach Ryan to bring his off hand — the one not carrying the football — up and onto the ball when he senses defenders around him. The tackling pads serve to mimic those defenders.
Long’s role is all too familiar.
All six of Ryan’s fumbles this season, Smith says, came when defenders were positioned as Long is in this exercise — behind Ryan and with a fistful of his jersey.
Teams have noticed Ryan’s low arm slot when he carries the ball and are honing in on a foolproof way to strip him from behind. Defenders either tomahawk their fists up and under at the football or claw over the shoulder and poke it away.
“When you don’t put the ball on the ground, people don’t notice that,” Smith said. “But when you put one on the ground or two on the ground, the opposing teams see that on film and become aware of it. So he’s going to have to make some slight adjustments to his running style.”
Along with bringing his other hand up, this drill moves the football more into Ryan’s elbow crevice as he gets into traffic. If done correctly, the grip is secure and any of the aforementioned strip techniques are rendered moot.
“Good running backs can feel guys closing in on them,” Smith says. “And when you feel guys closing, he has to become more aware sooner of bringing the off hand to the football.”
Ryan’s lost two fumbles in McNeese’s last three games. He has six through the team’s first eight games after fumbling only twice last season, when he garnered second team All-Southland Conference honors and rushed for nearly 900 yards.
Now, just 18 yards shy of 2,000 for his career as No. 1 Sam Houston State looms, Ryan approaches a crossroads.
“Ryan is a really good football player,” Cowboys coach Lance Guidry said Monday. “He just has a problem right now with holding onto the ball and people keep stripping him … he’s not running as fast, he’s a little bit more impatient and he’s just worrying about holding onto the ball now. Trying to get him fixed this week, get him going and play fast.”
Overhauling a running back’s way of running or the way he totes the football is an arduous process. Doing so in one week is impossible.
Smith’s task, then, is to ensure the difficulties of the past three weeks do not linger. This sort of problem can become mental, he says.
Though he was requested, Ryan was not made available for interviews following Tuesday’s practice. Asked how Ryan was handling the first turnover problem of his career, Jones noticed no difference with man nicknamed “the Boss” inside the running back room
“Ryan’s going to continue to be Ryan,” Jones said. “Just everybody goes through those rough times, everyone’s got their lows. He’s handling it real good and continuing to do what he do. The way he runs the ball is not going to change just because of a few fumbles or a few bad weeks. He’s going to continue to show up for us.”
Ryan ceded his starting spot to freshman Justin Pratt in last week’s 33-14 win against Abilene Christian. He entered on the team’s second offensive series, fumbling James Tabary’s screen pass on the third play while attempting to cut up field.
He touched the ball twice for the remainder of the game.
“He needs to play well this game,” Guidry said Monday. “Ryan’s a big time player that needs to play well in a big time game.”
Concurring with his boss, Smith issued a brave prediction while reaffirming his confidence in McNeese’s workhorse.
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