wilton speight
one on one
wilton speight is a buffalo ballerina

One-Play One-on-One: Wilton Speight Comment Count

Adam Schnepp

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[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.”

Comments

PopeLando

November 9th, 2016 at 11:12 AM ^

Definitely seems like he can see the Matrix code. Wilton Speight internal monologue: "Well, everything is proceeding as I have foreseen. Dum dee dum, nobody open. Holy shit the middle's open. WITNESS MEEEEEEE!!!"

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xtramelanin

November 9th, 2016 at 10:19 AM ^

but he takes off at the 2 and lands about 3 yds deep in the end zone.   not bad hops for a 6' 6", 250 lb dude in pads.  

Joined: 12/09/2014

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reshp1

November 9th, 2016 at 10:45 AM ^

That's probably what makes him so sneaky elusive. Obviously he's not the most explosive athlete, but he's so big and lanky, his moves cover a lot of distane even if they look awkward. One side-step and he's outside of the arm span of a would be tackler. He's also got great instincts to set up the juke and time it perfectly. 

Joined: 10/31/2011

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milk-n-steak

November 9th, 2016 at 10:28 AM ^

Speight sounds so calm and knowledgable.  Superior coaching combined with a great intellect and developing instinct is making me more and more excited for the rest of this year.  Speight is also going to be a tremendous asset next year when our O-line gets younger.

Joined: 11/02/2016

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Sopwith

November 9th, 2016 at 10:52 AM ^

I'm glad we have that endzone hop on film, but I'd just as soon we never see that again because it's a great way to get absolutely lit up with a perfectly legal ribcage-crushing hit.



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El Tostador

November 9th, 2016 at 11:27 AM ^

I actually think it's a great way to avoid a ribcage-crushing hit and a very smart decision, provided the path into the endzone is clear.  He gets up so high on his jump that it would be all but impossible to hit him in the ribs unless the player was launching from like 5 yards deep in the endzone WELL AFTER he has already crossed and scored, and the play is now dead.  You see runners get "lit up" all the time after they crossed the goal line and I would rather not see that happen to our starting quarterback.

Joined: 09/27/2016

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Kevin13

November 9th, 2016 at 10:55 AM ^

read and did a good job letting the play develop and open up.  Speight is making some huge strides the last few weeks and with the coaching he gets in a couple of years pro scouts will be drooling over him.

I have been pleasently surprised at how well he does move for his size. He is actually fairly quick for a big guy and has great pocket presence. He does a good job of avoiding the rush and still keeping his eyes downfield and if he has to run has the ability to pick up some decent yardage.

Joined: 01/26/2016

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dragonchild

November 9th, 2016 at 11:01 AM ^

He stands pretty tall in the pocket yet he's got an uncanny knack for spinning out of sacks.  Some of it is his ability to move around in the pocket such that defenders don't get a clean hit on him, but it's weird how they often seem to bounce off him.

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4godkingandwol…

November 9th, 2016 at 12:10 PM ^

... 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.”. 

 

Brings back painful memories of OSU last year. 

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UMfan21

November 9th, 2016 at 12:12 PM ^

really curious to see how the QB situation plays out over the next 2 years. people thought Speight would just warm up for Peters next tear, but how can you bench Speight when he's playing like this?

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saveferris

November 10th, 2016 at 7:40 AM ^

Speight is a redshirt sophmore, but you point is taken.  That said, if Speight continues on his current trajectory, it's not hard to envision him leaving early for the NFL.  A pro-style QB with his tools; teams will be foaming at the mouth to draft him.

Peters and the rest of the QB corps will get their chance.

Joined: 07/02/2009

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Michigasling

November 9th, 2016 at 1:28 PM ^

Glad you said it first.  As someone who did some ballet at more than a foot shorter and more than half his weight, I was blown away by the grace and height on that little hop, skip and jump. To say nothing of avoiding all those goons trying to stop him.  

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