Ohio’s media guide lists redshirt senior Ryan Clark as a cornerback despite the fact that he’s lined up as a wide receiver in every game this season.
The gaffe won’t cause him to be overlooked by opposing coaches, though. Clark, a converted cornerback, caught his first career touchdown pass — an acrobatic corner-end zone grab — Saturday, making him a focal point of Ohio’s come-from-behind win against Marshall.
Clark’s ability to shift from the defensive to offensive side of the ball has turned some heads, but his transition has been far from radical because he returned punts and kicks for the Bobcats during the past two seasons — a role that he said kept his offensive side sharp.
Ohio defensive backs coach Fred Reed said, keeping Clark active offensively by utilizing him on special teams allowed him to make a seamless switch from making hits to attempting to avoid them.
Reed and wide receiver coach Dwayne Dixon approached Clark in the spring with the idea of making the jump to receiver. Little did his coaches know, he already had an inkling that he might be a good fit for the Bobcats’ wideout corps, and had pondered posing the idea himself.
With little persuasion, Clark and his coaches decided to make the switch, which turned out to be more of a success than anyone would have anticipated, more so because of the skills he learned while working on Ohio’s special teams unit than anything else.
“The (transition) was smooth,” Clark said. “Because of playing special teams and returning, I was doing cuts all the time. And the transition from corner, there’s always a lot of quick footwork. It wasn’t that hard to transition.”
A chief reason Clark’s coaches agreed to move him to the wideout slot is his explosiveness. Dixon said Clark runs a 4.40 second 40-yard dash, making him one of the Bobcats’ fastest players.
But Clark couldn’t crack the lineup on speed alone. He slid into a receiver slot because of his smooth transition and the mass exodus of the Bobcats’ long-ball threats last season. So far, only redshirt junior Donte Foster has more receptions and yardage.
Ohio lost four of its top six receivers in 2011. That crew — LaVon Brazill, Riley Dunlop, Donte Harden and Phil Bates — combined for 63 percent of the Bobcats’ total yards through the air.
This year’s top four make up almost exactly half of Ohio’s 815 receiving yards, of which Clark has contributed 114.
Clark has an advantage when it comes to reading defenders, being that he was one for the majority of his career. When it comes to breaking down tackles and coverage schemes, he has a good idea of what to expect from opposing defenses.
“You utilize what you’ve learned, and I think that helps a defensive back that comes over to wideout,” Dixon said. “He’s going to learn the integral parts of what I expect from a receiver, and you take that with what you know a defensive back is taught to do and (learn) how to counter it.”
The Bobcats’ secondary, which was predicted to be one of Ohio’s strong suits this season, has fallen prey to the injury bug, losing starters Travis Carrie, a redshirt senior, and Jamil Shaw, a redshirt junior, to season-ending shoulder injuries.
Clark was on the verge of working his way into a contributing role in 2011, and likely would have this season, given the circumstances.
“He was always a hard worker at defensive back, a guy who was right on the fringe of breaking the lineup and helping us out,” Reed said.
Ohio still has seven active cornerbacks on its roster, but if the opportunity were to arise where Reed needed an extra body, Clark said he could still hold his own on defense.
“I think I could still cover, but I’d have to look at the playbook for some of the coverages and stuff,” Clark said. “I think I could still do it.”
jr992810@ohiou.edu
