Jacksonville, AL – For Jacksonville student-athlete Wiggins adding extra speed and bulk brings FBS peace while he works on showing himself in Jax State’s FBS real-world.
Think of Ron Wiggins flashing a peace sign when he completed an extended touchdown run at high school.
Yes, he did draw an American flag, but let’s not be so naive. When it comes to things that can draw flags taunting can be, this one was rated around an 8 on a 10-point scale.
Imagine Ron’s runs on the brand new turf at the Jacksonville’s Golden Eagle Stadium. You can be sure that this thought has been in the mind of the man who stomped on the old turf over 5,000 miles when he was an undergraduate and a senior.
Inspiring as the memory from Wiggins can be, they’re not far from the photo of a freshly minted Football Bowl Subdivision running back who looks like he ate an exercise room during the offseason.
Ron is still able to run. Around 20 pounds of bulk did not affect his speed.
The 175-pound man who refused FBS offers to join the Football Championship Subdivision at the time Jacksonville State is no more. He was relegated to a 195-pounder looking to show his worth in FBS.
Peace out.
“I was told a lot of times that I was not going to get to the next level since I was a speedy guy,” he said at Jax State’s Tuesday news conferencein anticipation of the game on Saturday, which starts at 1 p.m. match at home with East Tennessee State.
Just one game of Wiggins’ FBS life, Wiggins looks like a professional.
Jax State began its first season as an FBS member on Saturday, defeating the team that has an acronym everyone recognizes to begin the Gamecocks their debut Conference USA season 1-0.
Wiggins added the footnote to history with his 4 yard touchdown Jax State’s very first complete FBS touchdown, during the second quarter.
Even more impressive than his 24 yards of rushing against UTEP was his 63 yards of receiving. He contributed 40 of Gamecocks’ yards during the drive which culminated with his touchdown.
Does he have the ability to do it at an FBS level?
Yes. Eyes don’t lie.
“Ronnie began to take off towards the close of last season and really enjoyed his year in the spring.” Jax State coach Rich Rodriguez said.
It shouldn’t be it as a shock to learn that Wiggins be accepted into FBS. Arkansas State, Southern Mississippi, Troy and UAB thought enough of Wiggins’ FBS potential to provide him with a scholarship outside of high school.
Additionally, Rodriguez has put two years into improving the roster of Jax State. The majority of players who were deemed to not have FBS potential received that honest assessment and left the team.
Wiggins is still in the game to serve a purpose and his FBS chance became real during the 2021 season, as Jax State made announcements about plans to make a move higher. This move was set to take effect in 2023. Wiggins was able to prepare his body prepared.
To be ready for the moment, you had to bulk up. Run-Ron-Run was transformed into Lift-RonLift and Eat-Ron’Eat.
It’s a given since 175-pound ball players aren’t able to last very all that long FBS. Wiggins had a target.
“I’ve always been around 175 or 180, which is why in the offseason my goal was to be about 190, 195,” said the player. “We’ve had a strong team of strength. The coach Blake (McCall) was a great coach and worked to the max in spring and summer months, as well as I managed to reach my goals.”
This means that the player who wowed UMS Wright defenders with his stop-and-go rig during the 2019 Class 4A final could take a bigger beatings from college football’s top class.
He has also got the ability to hit deuces but it would require a “hard edges” at his FBS coach.
