SIOUX CITY — As the football season starts reaches the midway point Saturday, Morningside College football coach Steve Ryan hopes to have more guys playing and making more use of the roster.
The Mustangs return back to Olsen Stadium for a 1 p.m. Saturday contest against Jamestown, and the Jimmies are a one-win team facing the No. 1 team in the country which hasn’t seen many speed bumps this season.
"You hope that more guys get a chance to play. It can never affect how you approach preparation and how you go about preparation and what you’re thinking,” Ryan said. “Every team in college athletics has talented players and players who can make a difference in a game.”
Ryan said that younger guys could indeed get more playing time, but it’s not like the Mustangs coach hasn't rotated guys around this season.
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For example, freshman quarterback Tate Robards has gotten a few snaps late in games. Robards, the backup to starter Joe Dolincheck, has appeared in four games. He’s 8-for-11 for 93 yards and has thrown three touchdowns.
Robards’ single-game high was 58 yards in the Mustangs’ Sept. 14 win against Dordt. Robards has thrown his touchdowns against St. Francis (Ill.), Dordt and one last week against Briar Cliff.
“Tate is an extremely talented quarterback,” Ryan said. “There’s a whole aspect to subbing quarterbacks out. It’s hard to rotate a guy in when the guy on the field is doing so well. Our plans are to hopefully play Tate more.”
Ryan likes to rotate around seven different offensive linemen and eight defensive linemen.
He wants to keep as many of the linemen fresh, and in case if one of them should get injured, he hopes those men up front have the experience to step in at a moment’s notice.
Ryan also doesn’t recall rotating that many linemen through in a season.
It started when Bishop Heelan High School graduate Jake Noel went down with an injury. Ryan then started rotating in a couple linemen, including Louis Gray.
Gray, a junior from Hickman, Nebraska, was in last year’s starting lineup but not this year. Gray has now found ways to get himself back on the field.
“We have seven offensive linemen that we think are starting-caliber linemen, and we just rotate them in to keep them fresh,” Ryan said. “When we get to midseason, you start to expand the number of players and younger guys who have earned more playing time and play more players naturally.”
Jamestown, meanwhile, has gone on a different path than the Mustangs have. The Jimmies are 1-6, and they started the season with a 0-5 mark.
The Jimmies’ first win was in a four-overtime bout against Concordia during their homecoming. Jamestown lost last week in a 28-21 defeat to Doane.
On film, Ryan believes that the Jimmies have improved in the last couple weeks.
“To me, it’s significant and that speaks to their coaching staff,” Ryan said. “Sometimes, it takes awhile to get things going. As a football team, they are improving in every aspect.”