sports
8
e thwichitan
Wednesday — December 5 2012
thewichitan.com — your campus / your news
A run-down with Keidrick Jackson Photo by KIRSTEN CASKEY
Junior finds his spot in MSU history ORLANDO FLORES, JR. A&E EDITOR
The football team has seen their fair share of great running backs. However, it’s not every day that MSU, or any collegiate team for that matter, has a running back whose season is so special that he takes over the record books. But that’s exactly what junior running back Keidrick Jackson did this season. “My goal this year was to do better in every aspect,” Jackson said. “I wanted to have more carries, more yards, more touchdowns…everything. I know that it takes work to do that, so I worked hard the entire summer and spring to accomplish what I did this season.” During the season, Jackson rushed his way into the record books, running for 1,354 yards off of 195 carries. He chalked up 21 touchdowns, the most an MSU running back has scored in one season, scoring four in one game against Texas A&M-Kingsville (the 2nd most in school history for touchdowns in a game). Jackson averaged 123.1 yardsper-game, the second most in MSU history behind former NFL running back Dominic Rhodes’ 126.1 yards-per-game season in 2000, and he also now holds the number seven (197 yards against Abilene Christian) and number
nine (193 yards against West Alabama) spots for most yards in a game. All this resulted in Jackson being named to the All-Super Region 4 1st Team at the end of the season. Most impressive is that in his three-year career, Jackson holds the number two spot for yards in a career (2827 yards off of 416 carries), and he now holds the record for the most touchdowns in a career with 46. Even more impressive is the fact that he’ll be returning next season as senior, potentially shattering the career rushing record and adding even more touchdowns to his current count. Throughout all this, Jackson remains humble, and says that more important than any of the numbers and accolades is the success of the MSU football program. “It does mean a lot to me to be named one of the best rushers in MSU history,” he said. “But when it all comes down to it, it’s all just numbers. I’m more focused on winning. I always look to win our conference and eventually a national championship. [The records] show that I’ve worked hard to get to where all those numbers are, but it just makes me want to do more. I just really want to go out and play football and enjoy doing it – that’s it.” Road To Record Jackson’s road to his recordsetting season was not that of a typical stud running back. “I started playing football
when I was 10 years old,” he said. “I played peewee football, but I didn’t play in middle school. That’s when I realized that I really wanted to play football, so when I got to high school, I played throughout the whole time I was there.” Jackson played at Arlington Bowie High School, and led the Volunteers to a deep playoff run his senior year, but it was not as a running back. “In high school I was a defensive tackle,” he said. “I was about 250 pounds, and that’s how much I weighed my entire high school career.” Jackson found his true calling as a running back during his freshman red-shirt season at MSU, due to a lack of running backs on the team. He worked out all through the 2009 season to drop to the 210 pounds he currently weighs. “At the time I didn’t know what I was going to play,” he said. “I was on defense most of the time, mixing it up at defensive tackle and linebacker, and I liked hitting people, but at the same time I wanted to run the ball.” Trying Out When Jackson heard that Coach Maskill was asking for volunteers to play at the running back position, he knew this was his chance to prove himself and jumped at the opportunity. “When coach asked if anyone wanted to try out for running back, I knew it was something I could do,” he said. “So I took
the opportunity and ran with it. Since then, I’ve always played on the offensive side of the ball, and I’ve gotten better and better at it each season.” At the time of his red-shirt season, Jackson wasn’t quite sure why he was red-shirted, but he said that over time he’s realized that it helped prepare him better for the jump from high school football to playing on the collegiate level. “For the most part, the speed level is way different,” he said. “That’s different in every sport, but in football you have bigger, smarter and more disciplined players that you’re going up against. It took a while to adjust to it, and at first I didn’t understand why I was red-shirted, but I understood that it was to better prepare me for the level of play and I eventually got the hang of it.” Strong Work Ethic Since that freshman season, Jackson has maintained a strong work ethic that’s translated to big numbers on the football field. Every season he’s played has seen drastic improvements in his carries, rushing yards and touchdowns. “I’ve always wanted to do better than what I did the previous season every year,” he said. “Most of the time I workout with the team doing drills that the coaches set up for us to do. If coach doesn’t set anything for us to do on a particular day, I’ll find my own workout. It’s a constant thing.”
Jackson claims the speed and agility he possess stems from countless sprints and numerous agility and cutting drills. Over time, he’s adapted his style of play from that of a power back to more of a speed back. “I try to score every time,” he said. “I like the contact, because I used to be a bigger back, but when I dropped all the weight and became more agile and quicker, all I wanted to do was make the big play every time I got the ball. I think that’s what motivates me to run so hard and with the determination that I do.” Season Ends Unexpectedly Despite Jackson’s record-setting season, it did not end according to the plan he had in mind. After a 52-48 comeback victory over West Texas to become the fourth seed in the NCAA D-II playoffs, the Mustangs fell 3114 to the fifth seed Indianapolis (team name) to end their season. “We were a good team,” Jackson said. “I think we could have done better as far as our last playoff game. I think we kind of fell apart when it came to the end.” Jackson looks to make the most of his last season as a Mustang, however, but knows that it’s going to take more of the hard work he’s used to putting in, as well as a better team morale. “First off, we need to be a team,” he said. “We need to be more of a brotherhood and a family. Everything has to come into place for us to get to where we want to be.” Jackson also said that he does
Keidrick Jackson playing against West Georgia at Midwestern State University’s last home game of the season. File photo by KERRI CARTER
feel that he now holds a bigger responsibility as a leader on the team being a senior aside from being one of the core players of their offense. “It’s not just on me,” he said. “Every senior and anyone else considered a leader on this team will have a bigger responsibility next season. If I can do my part to help lead the team, though, I think we’ll turn out just fine.” Jackson knows that this may be his last chance to play football at the competitive level, and hopes to gain enough attention to attract pro scouts in his last year like other former Mustangs have. The most recent examples are Amini Silatolu, who was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in this past year’s NFL Draft and is currently one of their starting offensive guards, and David Little, who made it on to the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad during training camp. “I’m looking at the option of pro football, and hopefully I get the opportunity to play for a pro team,” he said. “But if that doesn’t work out, I graduate the December after the season ends.” As a senior majoring criminal justice, Jackson believes that if his pro football aspirations don’t pan out, he’ll still be able to do something that he loves for a living when he no longer has to put on the pads and helmet. “I would like to either be a police officer or a criminal investigator,” he said. “Anything in that field, really.”
