Wednesday, September 01, 1999
First-team suits Cooper fine
Running back glad he's finally 'the man'
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A running back is not supposed to look back, because there is always more danger ahead. This is not easy for UC's Robert Cooper. The past is difficult for him to outrun.
“It's been kind of rough. One day you start, and the next day, you're third-team,” said Cooper, a senior with the Bearcats. “The coach is trying to do what's best for the team.
“When I was young and it was happening, I didn't know how to take it. I didn't know if I was doing something wrong or I stunk. I never did know.”
Cooper begins his final season at 7p.m. Saturday at Nippert Stadium, when the Bearcats play Kent in each team's season opener. Over the course of his UC career, Cooper has produced 4.6 yards each time he has been handed the football. He just never could be certain when that might happen.
There always has been somebody in his way, and that does not include the opposing defenders.
Cooper started four games in each of his first three seasons at UC, but mostly has been an alternative to Darryl Royal, to Orlando Smith to DeMarco McCleskey.
McCleskey was only a freshman when he led UC with 861 rushing yards last season, and there was little doubt he would be the starter in 1999. But he was arrested last spring and charged with rape, which mandated his dismissal from the program. Now there's nobody else left, and UC finds itself comforted that someone as reliable as Cooper remains in the backfield.
“Coop is a guy that we know what we're going to get,” said assistant coach Amos Jones. “The biggest thing with Coop now is that he understands this is his season. Unless some unforeseen injury occurs, he's going to have an excellent year.”
There were many times during his career that frustration led Cooper to consider transferring. He said, “I didn't expect to be here in my fourth year,” and by that he did not mean he was planning early entry to the NFL draft.
“Really, my family told me to stick with it, and some of my friends on the team. Last year, I came back and then I'm watching my team lose from the sidelines.”
In Cooper's 12 starts, his average game rounds out to 16 carries for 83 yards, a 5.3 per-carry average. And that includes his disastrous trip to Memphis last season, when he fumbled the only three times he carried the ball.
It's hard to figure why somebody with those numbers had such a hard time keeping his job.
UC coach Rick Minter has one explanation. “Coop's been immature at times. He's been a stalwart when he's gotten an opportunity to play,” Minter said, “but his immaturity has shown through occasionally. That's all part of growing.”
But Minter likes the development he has seen from Cooper, not just on the field but in how he is handling his status with a team recovering from a 2-9 season. In the conditioning program, he set a school record for running backs with a 375-pound bench press.
“He's been in battles for the last two years, and this year he comes in as the man,” Minter said. “I think his summer workout habits reflected the fact that he wants to be the guy, wants to be the leader.”
Cooper is fast enough to dash through a hole inside and powerful enough to break an arm tackle or two as he pounds toward the secondary.
He's had games of 191 yards (vs. UAB, 1996), 129 yards (vs. Tulane, 1997) and 161 yards (vs. Indiana, 1998). In Cincinnati's offense this season, he will not only be a key ballcarri er, but also may be asked to catch more passes. He has only 11 for his career.
“He's a big-play guy. Everything doesn't have to be just right for him to have success within the running play,” Jones said. “He's not afraid to be his own blocker if he has to be.
“We don't talk about the past, because I don't bring it up and he doesn't either, but I just think he senses that it's kind of a light at the end of the tunnel.”
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