Editor’s Note: This is the fifth of a seven-part series on Emporia State football’s position groups.
Justin Wieser will finally get a chance to live out some Husker highlights.
The Papillion, Neb., can’t help but smile when talking about the Emporia State coaches’ decision to make the option a part of this year’s rushing attack.
“I haven’t really run the option in a few years, but I love it,” the ESU running back said. “I grew up in Nebraska growing up on the option. They used to live and die by that. I’m thinking that’s what the plan’s going to be here.”
With memories still fresh of Tommie Frazier, Scott Frost and Eric Crouch, Wieser has seen how successful the option can be.
The question now is whether the addition of the package will help the Hornets improve on a running game that ranked sixth in the MIAA last season.
“I haven’t done anything like this since my sophomore year in high school,” ESU running back Seville Ko said. “I know everyone’s just trying to adjust and get comfortable right now.”
The learning curve seemed to take a little longer for Ko, who was fifth in the MIAA with 798 yards last season.
In spring ball, the junior played timid while still unfamiliar with the new offense.
“He spent a lot of time guessing and wondering, ‘Am I really going to the right place?’ not really understanding how everything was going to develop,” ESU running backs coach Gary Manuel said.
Additional film study and more repetitions have paid off so far in practices, as Manuel said Ko had taken his game to “another level” from where it was last spring.
Manuel said his next goal was to get consistency from the back.
“The thing about him, I’ve just got to figure out how to keep his switch on all the time,” Manuel said. “I tell him that all the time. That switch, it turns on and off.
“Some days it never comes on in practice, and some days he keeps it on. This fall, for the most part, his switch has been on.”
Ko suffered a hamstring injury on Wednesday but is expected to be back to full strength next week.
Interestingly, he is the second-leading returning rusher in the conference behind Northwest Missouri State’s Xavier Omon.
The ESU tailback’s 1,357 rushing yards are the third-highest total by a Hornet after two years of play.
Wieser should help provide the bang to complement Ko’s flash.
The sophomore — known for his physical running style — had 44 carries for 189 yards and two touchdowns last year. He also added 111 yards on seven carries in the Spring Game, breaking off a 65-yard touchdown run.
Jake Lynch (6-1, 201) and Emporia High graduate Colby Rainey (5-11, 193) also have impressed with strong workouts and could be in line for carries.
One major concern for the backs will be holding onto the football.
ESU lost fumbles 10 times last year. The Hornets also coughed up a pair in the early workout session on Friday.
“You can’t win football games when the ball’s on the ground,” Manuel said, “so I’m a little on the edge right now.”
The players have had to pay for their fumbles by doing “ball drops” at the end of practice.
A back is given a football for each arm, then runs five yards, drops all the way down to his belly, then gets up again.
This goes on for a full 100 yards.
“If you fumble the bean at practice, you’re thinking about it the whole time,” Wieser said. “It’s always on your mind.”
Manuel said ball security would go a long way in helping to decide the Hornets’ playing rotation.
“Whether you run a 4.8 (40-meter dash) or a 4.9 or a 4.4, it doesn’t matter,” Manuel said. “The guy who doesn’t turn the ball over then does what we ask of him — that’s the guy that’s going to play.”