Experienced secondary leads WKU defense
Published 8:14 pm Friday, August 9, 2019
WKU ATHLETICS
News Release
BOWLING GREEN — As day eight of WKU Football fall camp came to a close at Houchens-Smith Stadium on Thursday, the energy from the team continued to grow as the season opener is only three weeks away. A lot of that energy is coming from the veteran crew of defensive backs, who are excited for the opportunity to show how they have improved.
“I love the way we’re flying around and the team seems to be having fun,” junior defensive back Dionté Ruffin said. “To stand out in Conference USA, you have to play with a chip on your shoulder and have the mentality that you’re the best … We have a solid group of DB’s all-around and we’re going to prove that when the time comes.”
Leadership is always something you want to see from a veteran group and first-year safeties and special teams coach Andy LaRussa is seeing that from his core players in the secondary: “I think they have done a good job being leaders back there and bringing the young guys along.”
One of those core Hilltoppers is junior Devon Key, who started all 12 games last year and was tied for first on the team with three interceptions and is taking on a bigger overall role for the upcoming season.
He expressed about the defensive back unit that “it’s my job to keep them excited about the upcoming year.” Key also shared “I want to get a couple more interceptions this year and force more turnovers as a personal opportunity I can work on to help the team win.”
Junior defensive back LA Rodgers-Anderson is trying to build upon what he learned in his first two seasons and execute defensive coordinator Clayton White’s vision for the defense.
Rodgers-Anderson discussed that vision and what the secondary is doing in order to be successful for this upcoming season; “We’re going to tighten up every single coverage, we’re going to stay in the film room 24/7, listen to our coaches and go from there.”
With Thursday, August 29 quickly approaching, the Hilltoppers will look to stay on target and keep the energy high as week two of fall camp nears a close.
