SUN BELT FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS : Leonard hoping for health benefits
Posted on Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Arkansas State quarterback Corey Leonard was hurting on the inside. In more ways than one. For six games last year, in Leonard’s opinion, Arkansas State was on top of its game. The team boasted a talented defensive secondary led by safety Tyrell Johnson — on the way to the Sun Belt Conference tackles record and a second-round selection by the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL Draft — and a balanced offense led by Leonard and running back Reggie Arnold.
Arkansas State threw a scare into nationally ranked Texas in the opener, beat SMU, showed well in a loss at Tennessee and posted a thrilling comeback to beat Memphis. The only letdown was a 30-13 loss to Louisiana-Monroe in the Sun Belt opener, but Arkansas State responded with a 52-21 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette to keep itself in the hunt for a title and New Orleans Bowl berth.
But Leonard suffered a lacerated kidney late in that game, and things went swiftly downhill.
“That was my best game of the season,” said Leonard, who finished 17 of 23 passing for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns and ran for 84 yards and another score. “Towards the end of the game, I took one hit that I probably shouldn’t have. I should have slid. I think two nights later I had to put myself in the hospital.” Leonard, generously listed at 6-1, 205 pounds, was hospitalized overnight but played in the next two games. With Leonard playing tentatively, unable to run with the abandon he had previously shown and having to protect the kidney, Arkansas State managed just seven points in two Sun Belt losses, 24-7 at Middle Tennessee and 27-0 at home to Troy.
“Instead of that next week being able to fully game plan for that next game, I was sitting there in and out of the hospital,” Leonard said. “Trying to get medication, trying to figure what I could do to be able to play. It was a rough time.” The losses pretty much sank Arkansas State’s title hopes, and the team never got back in sync. Leonard sat out the victory over Florida International, and with him back in the huddle, Arkansas State lost two of its final three, at Florida Atlantic and in the finale at Southern Miss.
“It was very disappointing. We had a great team. We had great team leadership,” Leonard said “I kind of felt like a lot of it was on my shoulders. I got hurt at a bad time. Troy, Middle Tennessee, having to play with a rip in your kidney where every hit you take... My first game back was Middle Tennessee. I think I was sacked 10 times. I felt like I was dying in that game.” Leonard finished his sophomore season 182 for 349 with 2, 235 yards, 16 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, all career highs. He ended up as one of 15 semifinalists for the Davey O’Brien Award, given to the top quarterback in college football, but by any measure, 2007 was a disappointment.
“The first six games we were a great team. We were playing hard, and I think just injuries hit us,” Leonard said. “Reggie was hurt again [ankle ]. I was in and out being hurt. Our offensive line, for what we had last year, did a great job, but they had no rest.” The kidney wasn’t Leonard’s only problem. He also suffered a bruised sternum, a separated rib and wound up with a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder that required off-season surgery.
“This past year has been a very trying time for me personally,” Leonard said. “Some injuries I’ve never had to deal with before. Surgery and stuff like that.” “We’re a football team that still has to scratch and claw and fight for every inch on every play,” Red Wolves Coach Steve Roberts said. “We expect our quarterback to do that as well. Saying that, we still have to be smart to maintain the health of our football team through a 12-game schedule.” Leonard, a junior from Covington, La., is packing 15 extra pounds this year, hoping it will make him more durable and help him lead the Red Wolves to a finish better than their 5-7 mark last year. He is also looking forward to playing behind a bigger, deeper offensive line led by all-conference tackle Matt Mandich and handing the ball to a healthy Arnold, who gained 1, 060 yards with nine touchdowns last season.
“We had great players, but the leadership on our team was lacking at those trying times in the season [last year ],” Leonard said. “This year, it’s a little different. We have a good group. We had over 75 guys there the entire summer. I can’t remember a summer that I’ve been here before that we’ve had every 7-on-7. We used to have to cancel them because people wouldn’t show up.” Only a little worse for wear after last season, Leonard is looking forward to taking on his share of the leadership duties. But this time, he plans to finish in one piece.
“The one thing that comes with maturity is knowing when to take a hit and when not to take a hit,” Leonard said. “I’m a very competitive guy... and any time you see a quarterback run over somebody, your team will go nuts. So you’re trying to be that spark and I think, just last year, I took it a little bit too far. Not really knowing when I should take hits.
“ A corner is one thing. But taking on a linebacker, that’s a whole different story.”
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