Cole Ruble steps up as Redhawks' running game faces challenges

In recent years, the running game was the backbone of the Southeast Missouri State offense during Geno Hess' time in the backfield.

This year, it has taken a village to move the ball through the ground for the Redhawks, in more ways than one.

Freshman Peyton Brown first established himself with 97 rushing yards and three touchdowns in SEMO’s 37-15 win over North Alabama. He also rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown during the Redhawks’ rivalry win at Southern Illinois.

However, he has been hampered by injuries recently, which has been more of a compounding problem with Brandon Epton Jr. and Darrell Smith also on the mend.

The Redhawks are down to sophomore Cole Ruble to take the lion's share of carries. The redshirt freshman from Seckman waited for his chance for a year and a half and started to find playing time as the depth chart started to thin out.

“I was just kind of waiting for my moment, to get my chance this season,” Ruble said. “I think I (paid) my dues and waited my time a little bit but I just stay patient.”

Ruble led the Redhawks with 31 rushing yards during a 34-3 home win over Tennessee Tech last week. A week before on the road, he scored his first career touchdown at Eastern Illinois, his second game as a college football player.

"I'm not gonna lie, I was on cloud nine," Ruble said last week. "I didn't really know what to do. All I could do was kind of let Zach Gieg and Andrew Civey pick me up out of the end zone and celebrate with the rest of the team."

SEMO football fans were first introduced to Ruble in 2021. He earned First-Team Class 5 All-State honors as a junior the year his Jaguars fell to the Jackson Indians 52-14 in the Class 5 District 1 championship game.

Ruble ran for 160 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries, as well as won the respect of former Jackson head coach Brent Eckley.

"I was really impressed with him," Eckley told Semoball.com of Ruble. "He's a tough kid. He ran hard and was fast and savvy. He reads blocks well and doesn't give up on plays. He's a tough, tough, tough kid. He'd be a great fit in a system like ours as a running back because, in their offense, everybody's keying on him."

Two years after concluding his high school career as Seckman’s all-time leading rusher, Ruble’s bigger, stronger, and overall different running back. The redshirt year paid off for Ruble, as the transition from high school to college football took some time.

“Last year, I couldn't keep my feet when I was running the ball. I kept tripping over myself, which I think I was just getting used to the weight I put on and everything,” Ruble said. ”But this year, it got a lot easier as I went on and just doing extra work on the field.”

Ruble was also a successful wrestler at Seckman, which he said helped him become a better athlete on the football field.

“Wrestling has helped me in a huge way,” Ruble said. “Balance, really anything to do with my feet just because in wrestling, you always have to stay in a good position and all that. So I think it’s helped me with football 100 percent.”

With the offense being led by one of the best passing attacks in all of FCS, the ground game has been deemphasized at times. However, running the ball has bode well for the Redhawks when in a pinch. Before his injury, Smith rushed for 127 Yards on 31 carries during a 19-0 win over Northwestern State when the passing unit struggled to connect in the end zone.

“I'd honestly say, just for the running back room, at least just take it step by step, and eventually the run game will open up for us,” Ruble said.

The offensive line has also had to adjust after key injuries but has continued to keep quarterback Paxton DeLaurent relatively safe so far this season.

Through the adversity, Ruble is still confident that the offensive line will pave his path to the end zone.

“It’s just kind of grind a little bit,” Ruble said, ”have faith in our O-linemen and just see where it goes from there.”

The Redhawks travel to Charleston Southern to take on the Buccaneers on Saturday, Oct. 19. SEMO (6-1, 3-0) is looking to maintain their perfect record against FCS opponents while the Bucs (1-5, 0-3) are looking for their first conference win of the season.

This is as good of an opportunity as ever for the Redhawks to finally win a game that takes place so far away from their nest.

“I’m excited about this trip,” SEMO head coach Tom Matukewicz said. “We haven’t won a plane game since I’ve been a head coach here so hopefully we can get that done.”