[Fuller/MGoBlog]
Sure, I could have picked one of the inch-perfect bombs Wilton Speight unleashed. Could have gone with one of the throws where he stepped up, spun away from a rusher, and unloaded on the move, too. Those plays, though technically excellent and certainly worthy of further analysis, don’t have the same panache as a 6’6” quarterback taking flight for his first career rushing touchdown. I had a chance to go in-depth with Speight on his 10-yard run at the end of the first quarter.
What did you see when you got to the line?
“I saw bracket coverage, so I knew that Jake Butt was gonna have to do something special to get open. I gave him a chance but they doubled him pretty well. Felt the rush there on the edge and realized there was nobody spying me in the middle because they were running the bracket 2-man, and then so I just hitched up twice and took off. I don’t know what I was doing when I got to the end zone. It just kind of happened in the spur of the moment.”
Oh yeah? So that wasn’t premeditated?
“No, not at all. Not at all, because I didn’t think I was going to have a rushing touchdown more than a QB sneak. That’s God’s honest truth. I don’t know. I just jumped up and everyone thought it looked like the Jumpman [logo].”
But that’s not intended?
“No, not at all.”
Have you seen that kind of defense before? With Coach Durkin having coached here before, was that familiar to you?
“Yeah, yeah. Coach Fisch always tells us the best checkdown versus 2-man defense is the quarterback scramble. So I was able to do that and it worked it out.”
Were you waiting to see whether they manned up Higdon as he split out to see if you’d have room in the middle to run?
“Yeah, I mean, I knew they were going to. I knew they were going to presnap, yeah.”
Is there a certain number of reads that you’re coached to make before you take off, or are you--
“That’s just a feel thing. Yeah, it’s just—obviously I want to go through all of my reads, but once that internal clock goes off and it’s time to take off, then so be it.”
As you get near the goal line after taking off, what’s going through your mind? It’s okay if it was the Drake song.
[laughs] “No, I was just so pumped. Fired up. Tossed the ball to the ref so I could go celebrate with my teammates.”