The Romney Rocket
September 28, 2004 11:13 AM | General
September 28, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Leave it to 5-foot-7 Bryan Wright to keep things interesting during last weekend’s 45-10 blowout victory over James Madison.
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| Bryan Wright ran four times for 61 yards last Saturday against James Madison.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Wright came into the game late in the fourth quarter with the Mountaineers comfortably ahead 38-3 and the stadium quickly emptying. With the football resting at the West Virginia 37, Wright took a simple handoff, broke past the line and met a James Madison defender head-on about five yards downfield.
The JMU defensive back bounced off like a rubber ball hitting a wall and Wright lumbered down the sideline for 54 more yards to the JMU four yard line. Wright’s amazing run kept those leaving the stadium clogging up the exits for a few extra minutes.
“I remember I got hit like five yards after the line and I just kept my feet moving and I saw the end zone and I was just trying to get there,” he said.
Wright’s run covered 59 yards in all. The next play was supposed to have gone to Wright, too, but the James Madison defense left Brandon Myles uncovered and the play was instead changed to a pass to Myles for a touchdown.
“I saw the play was called for me and I was happy thinking I was going to score,” Wright said. “Then they checked at the line and threw it to Myles. That’s alright as long as we scored.”
Wright, a former walk-on, isn’t in a position to be picky. He just wants to play.
The 5-foot-7, 195-pound sophomore came to WVU unheralded (he says he wasn’t even recruited by I-AA James Madison) and has progressively fought his way up the depth chart. His first extended duty at running back came three weeks ago at Central Florida when Kay-Jay Harris went out of the game with an injured hamstring after his second carry.
“You’ve got to be ready at all times,” Wright said. “Like against UCF when Kay-Jay went out on the second play and I had to step in there and be ready. I’m prepared to go out there.”
Harris’ injury left the load to backup Jason Colson and third-teamer Wright, who wound up carrying 12 times for 55 yards and scoring on an 11-yard pass where he broke three tackles to reach the goal line.
Wright says defenders that try to ‘block tackle’ him or run him over without wrapping are in for a surprise.
“I think that is where a lot of them mess up,” he said. “Our coach tells us that a lot of teams try what is called ‘block tackling’ where they deliver a forearm and knock you down. Against UCF the guy tried to block tackle me and I spun off and ended up getting into the end zone.”
Despite being so short in stature, Wright actually prefers to run into defenders instead of making them miss.
“I like them to think that I’m not going to try and run them over,” he said. “Then I deliver the blow and the next time I’ve got them thinking when they try to come up and hit me. They’ll know; other teams watch film on me and they’ll see.”
Delivering the blow is a tactic religiously taught by WVU running backs coach Calvin Magee. Wright says if you shy away from contact or purposely run out of bounds along the sidelines you’re going to hear about it.
“He doesn’t teach us to run out of bounds,” Wright said. “We have to stay in bounds and try and run them over.”
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When a WVU running back is in the open field and doesn’t think he can outrun the defense to the end zone then he is taught to run into the defender and get as many yards as he can before going down. Not only does it maximize the number of yards a runner gets, but by being aggressive into the defender it keeps running backs from being careless with the football, too.
Record-setting runner Avon Cobourne was a master at this.
“They teach us to stiff-arm or what is called the sideline lift,” Wright said. “When they get close like that you try and run them over but you better not go out of bounds because you’ll hear it the next couple of days in practice.”
Wright admits he is beginning to hear a lot about runners like Darren Sproles from Kansas State and Quentin Griffin from the Denver Broncos. Both are in the 5-foot-7 range and both have had tremendous careers. Those two have given hope to smaller runners like Wright.
“My mom watches him and she says, ‘You see Darren Sproles. He’s about your size and he’s doing well and why can’t they put you in?’” Wright laughed.
Wright, called the ‘Romney Rocket’ by radio play-by-play man Tony Caridi, says he tries to pattern himself after Griffin. “He’s my size and he’s doing his thing with the Broncos. I’m hoping I get that chance to show my talents.
“Who knows? As long as I get the chance I just take it from there and keep doing what I’ve got to do,” he added.
As for being called the ‘Romney Rocket’, Wright cracked a smile: “They can call me what they want. I’m just glad they’re calling me something,” he said.
