Pain part of the game for Chanticleers’ Ross

After taking a number of noticeably hard hits in Coastal Carolina’s week-two win at South Carolina State, senior quarterback Alex Ross sustained a sprained ankle on the Chanticleers’ first offensive play last Saturday against Western Illinois and appeared to be in obvious discomfort from that point forward.

It was apparent enough that the coaching staff got senior backup Michael Church warming up on the sidelines and discussed whether they should rest their star quarterback for a series or longer, but not surprisingly, that conversation was one-sided and brief.

If a separated throwing shoulder in the playoffs at North Dakota State last December wasn’t enough to knock Ross out, well, he wasn’t about to give a tweaked ankle a second thought.

“He came off and in typical Alex Ross fashion said ‘I’m not coming out of the game,’” offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude said. “So we watched him pretty closely, we had Mike warming up and I feel really comfortable with Mike Church going in the game. We monitored that pretty closely. We cut back on some of the run stuff, but even in the [second] quarter, he had a big quarterback keep, got us down to the [1] yard line. He was gimpy, but he was still able to go. …

“And the last couple series of the game he played great. He threw that bender down the field to Tyrell [Blanks] and he hit the big one to Chris [Jones for a key touchdown] and then he hit the two-point conversion. You just can’t replace the leadership and the experience he has under fire.”

Indeed not. Patenaude has made the comment before that Ross has “basically got a PhD” in football at this point and is invaluable in the adjustments and calls he makes at the line of scrimmage to react to what the defense is showing, and no player is more vital to the No. 1/2-ranked Chants’ quest for an FCS national championship this year.

So the question comes up now and again, how comfortable are the coaches in allowing the Walter Payton Award candidate to remain as aggressive with his legs as he’s been throughout his career, extending and creating plays in exchange for additional hits each week?

“That’s what Dave and I talk about on a pretty regular basis,” head coach Joe Moglia said. “Remember, what he can do, he knows the offense inside and out. He knows the offense as well as the coaches know it. So his ability to manage the game after a call comes in dependent upon what they give us is pretty significant. He can just get us out of trouble by calling the right play, but a big part of the offense is if you’re going to give us the quarterback run, we’re going to take it. We’re going to take advantage of that.”

To be fair, the sprained ankle in the 34-27 win over Western Illinois last Saturday came in the pocket as a defender rolled up on his leg while he pushed forward for a short 2-yard gain, but Ross now ranks seventh in program history with 324 rushing attempts – for 1,404 yards, the third-best total among quarterbacks in Big South history, and 17 touchdowns – while incurring the extra pounding that comes along with that style.

And, for his part, Ross is just fine with that.

While his overall rushing numbers are down this season (23 attempts for 49 yards) as junior running back De’Angelo Henderson has become an even more dynamic weapon out of the backfield with his ability to turn short check-down passes into long gains, Ross isn’t going to pass up any opportunities he sees during the course of a game – sprained ankle or not.

“I mean, no, running the ball is not doing it to me,” he said this week. “It’s just I got rolled up on in the pocket. Of course I love getting the ball in De’Angelo’s hands and will continue to get the ball in his hands, but no, it’s not shying me away from running the ball.”

For that matter, Patenaude is of the same mindset. The fact is, Ross’ rushing ability adds an irreplaceable dimension to unbeaten Coastal Carolina’s potent offensive attack.

“If you really look at where we are, we’ve tried to be selective in what he did,” Patenaude said. “Now, that game, it was the first play of the game, he got tackled in the backfield and the guy rolled his ankle, so that wasn’t a direct influence there. But we have to run the option, we have to run the read and he’s going to take off and run with it. That’s what makes him special, that’s what makes us a little more dynamic. So you try to pick your spots. We happen to have an All-American tailback we can hand it to and really good wideouts, the line’s been playing really well. So you don’t have to manufacture as much of that as we had to in the past, but it still makes us a much more dynamic offense than if he’s not running.

“When you really look at it, when he’s at his best and we’re at our best, he’s controlling the ball about 70 percent of the snaps, whether [through] throws or reads or runs or calling quarterback stuff. That makes him a lot more dynamic and it makes us a lot harder to defend. When people have to defend the read and the triple option and the quarterback run game and all that kind of stuff, it’s hard to be sound against that and sound against the drop back pass.”

As Coastal Carolina (3-0) prepared this week for its home game Saturday night against Bryant (2-0), Ross said he was good to go. He was in a protective boot when the team returned to practice Sunday before being eased back in during the week and he said Tuesday the ankle injury was “minor.”

Whether or not it affects his mobility Saturday against Bryant is to be determined, but either way, don’t expect him to be any less aggressive if a lane opens up in front of him.

“Alex is one of the toughest quarterbacks I’ve ever protected or played with,” junior left tackle Voghens Larrieux said. “It really didn’t affect him as much [last week]. He was just a little bit slower obviously because of a sprained ankle. … [But] he was still the same Alex. Hopefully he’s the same this week.”

That’s a safe bet.

NOTES: Coastal Carolina considers senior defensive end Calvin Hollenhorst (shoulder, elbow) doubtful for the game Saturday night. If he can’t play, senior Aaron McFarland would start in his place.

This story was originally published September 24, 2015 at 6:44 PM with the headline "Pain part of the game for Chanticleers’ Ross."