UCLA cornerback solid as a Roques

Friday, October 23, 1998

UCLA cornerback solid as a Roques

Switching from running back, player finds niche

By Rocky Salmon

Daily Bruin Staff

Traveling down a rocky road the past three years, No. 33 has
finally found a home ­ thanks to someone in his family.

Coming into UCLA in 1996, Ryan Roques (pronounced "rock")
believed he was going to play wide receiver until he was switched
to running back.

In his freshman year he would rush the ball only eight times for
37 yards before injuring his ankle.

"I wanted my hands on the ball," the junior said. "I came in,
then hurt my ankle.

"But I learned a lot from Karim Abdul-Jabbar, looking at his
attitude and how he did what he had to do for the team to function
best," he said.

Seeing a backlog of running backs already at UCLA, Roques did
something he never envisioned ­; he asked to be switched to
cornerback.

But this idea did not come from Roques alone, rather it was a
member of his family that encouraged the switch.

Holley Evens, his aunt, would suggest to Ryan that since he had
the build of a cornerback he should play the position ­ like
his older brother, Aaron, did for UCLA.

"She would always bring it up and then laugh it off," Roques
said. "She said she had a feeling that I would excel."

She was right.

Roques only accumulated nine tackles, but wanted to see his
decision through.

"I knew I wasn’t going to get any playing time," Roques said.
"Look at where I was at the beginning of the season and look at me
now. I have had luck. I can’t say that I did it by myself but the
Lord’s blessed me.

"Before the season I was second string nickelback. I’m just
thankful."

And so is UCLA.

During the last two years, Roques has grown by leaps and bounds
thanks in part to his hard work and his teammates.

"Jason Bell took me under his wing," Roques said. "He would stay
after practice with me to teach me drills he learned from other
corners."

"Roques wants to be good," Bell said. "Everything I work on he
works on. He is molding himself to his own player. He has worked
hard to be where he is."

Part of his success has come from playing spring ball after the
baseball season. Roques is unable to devote all his time to the
football team because he plays outfield for the baseball team.

"Sometimes I wonder how good I would be if I just stopped
playing two sports and just focused on one," Roques said. "Both
sports are fun because they are so different.

"In baseball you can’t go up to the plate pissed off and fired
up, you have to be relaxed. In football, your adrenaline is
sometimes your best asset.

"In baseball you have to control your emotions to the right
moment, like when I am put in to steal bases. Everyone knows I’m
going to steal, but I can’t go until the pitcher moves. I can’t
flinch. In football, you can just explode at any time."

Now football is on Roques mind.

Through his first five games he has totaled 17 tackles, four
interceptions for 79 yards and seven pass break-ups.

In a tumultuous time in the secondary, Roques has become just
that: a rock. Solid and consistent, Roques has stepped up in big
games, totaling six tackles against Arizona and picking off a huge
pass in the third quarter.

Against Oregon, Roques would pull down a heave-ho pass by Akili
Smith and try to run it back for a two point conversion to end the
game.

"Ryan has great hands and is a good athlete," defensive
coordinator Nick Aliotti said. "If we lost him it would hurt us. We
are thin at corner and we don’t have a lot of numbers."

To make Aliotti sweat a bit, Roques fielded punts against Oregon
after Deshaun Foster went down.

However, the rocky road continued as Roques felt dizzy before
the game.

"Fielding punts before the game, I dropped three because I was
light headed," Roques said. "Then the first punt he hit was a
boomer. I was loving it though. Trying to make people miss and
having eleven people out on the field chasing you is one of my
favorite parts of football."

Ryan Roques has shown improvement and has battled through a
menagerie of positions to come into his own this year.

Now Roques will head up near The Rock this Saturday to put the
Bears to rest and further smooth out his once rocky journey.

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