Homecoming hero Cole Ruble on resilience and selflessness in SEMO's running back room

Sophomore running back Cole Ruble posted his best performance of the season on Oct. 26 against Gardner-Webb, to help lift the Redhawks to victory on homecoming.

Ruble finished the game with 122 yards on the ground, and an additional 66 receiving yards, and 1 touchdown.

Entering the game, Ruble was coming off of his performance against Charleston Southern, a game where the running back was only able to muster up 15 rushing yards, and was taken out of the game early.

Ruble stated that he responded to this by taking it as motivation for his next game, with a goal to run harder than he ever had previously.

“The game before that I fumbled in the game that I got taken out. The mentality during the week was just to take care of the ball and just have a different mindset running the ball. I think I ran a lot harder Saturday and I was a lot more confident in myself. That was really the mentality to just be more confident in myself and take care of the ball,” Ruble said.

During the second quarter of the game, Ruble unleashed a 65 yard run resulting in a touchdown to bring the Redhawks back to level terms against Gardner-Webb, and shifting the momentum of the game.

Ruble stated that this run was not only one of the most special moments of this season, but also his entire career.

“When Paxton handed off the ball, I saw a one on one with Kobe Sixkiller and the linebacker [matched up]. And I’m going to take Kobe 100% of the time, and when I did, all I saw was green grass. Then getting in the end zone, everybody running up to me [that] was probably the best feeling I've had in college football.” Ruble said.

The Redhawks’s running back room has continued to play a large part in the offense this season, despite numerous injuries to the position, as they average 94.6 yards per game and have three different players to rush for over 100 yards.

Running back coach Madison Bunch expressed that this was a testament to the character of the personnel in the room, as each is supportive of one another in practice to produce these performances on game day.

“I think it's just a testament to those guys. They're not selfish, and the biggest thing is they support each other. It makes my job a lot easier, because the way these guys prepare and support each other helps the next guy be ready to go. We've had multiple guys playing games and making big plays for us, and that's a testament to how hard they work, and they do a good job of not moaning and crying. They just, they come in, they walk in the game, then whenever their number’s called they do what they're supposed to do; execute,” Bunch said.

Going into their next game the Redhawks take on Lindenwood for the “Game Ball Brawl” rivalry match, and will look to continue to keep the run game involved against the Lions.

“[We are going] to run the ball more than we have all year, [we think] they’re not very good at tackling so we think we can take advantage of that all game,” Ruble said.

The Redhawks will take on Lindenwood for the chance to win their third trophy this year in the “Game Ball Brawl” Rivalry match in St. Charles, at 1 p.m.