Full Speed Ahead

All R. Jay Soward has to do is jog by, and you’ll feel a little breeze.

If he’s sprinting, watch out.

“He’ll run by your ear in a minute,” USC cornerback Brian Kelly said. “With the talent he has, he’s dangerous.”

With the mouth he has, he can be dangerous too. Soward’s laughing banter doesn’t have a bit of belligerence in it, but it always comes thisclose to being bulletin-board material. Those who know the Trojans’ live-wire receiver can only smile and roll their eyes.

“We’ll have a walk-through and he’s loud,” Kelly said. “R. Jay, he’s just an energetic guy. If he were throwing newspapers on the doorstep every day, he’d be loud at that too. He’s just hyper, all day long.”

Good thing for USC too. Soward is only a sophomore, but he has so much game-breaking talent he already has five touchdowns this season and 12 in his career--one for every 5.3 times he has touched the ball the last two seasons.

With three kickoff returns for touchdowns, he’s halfway to Anthony Davis’ USC and NCAA record of six in a career.

“I want to get at least two more this year,” Soward said.

His specialty lately has been bailing the Trojans out of trouble. He broke open that way-too-close-for-comfort game against Nevada Las Vegas last week by catching two fourth-quarter touchdown passes--one on a play covering 44 yards and the other covering 78. The week before, he had touchdown receptions on plays of 33 and 65 yards in a must-win game against California to keep the Trojans from starting 0-3.

“He’s already starting to get the kind of attention Keyshawn [Johnson] and Curtis Conway got,” said Kelly, who goes against Soward in practice sometimes and says he’s the better for it. So does Soward.

“Who do you know who’s going to play you more aggressive than Brian Kelly? Nobody,” Soward said. “I say Brian Kelly is the best cornerback in the Pac-10 right now. That guy is a great football player. Daylon McCutcheon, he’s not as physical, but you think you have him beat and all of a sudden it’s an interception. Playing against those two every day makes my life a whole lot easier. You don’t see many like that.”

You don’t see many like Soward either. He has become a cornerback’s terror--and that’s even before he opens his mouth.

“I laugh with ‘em,” Soward said. “I say, ‘What’s up? How you doing? You’d better back up. Don’t come up on me.’ Even if the ball’s not coming to me, if it’s a running play, I’ll make a move, make him humble, laugh at him. I just do stupid things to get on people’s nerves.

“You can see which guys came to play ball, and which guys are afraid of you. But they can’t just worry about me. On the other side is No. 3 [Billy Miller], looking like Keyshawn--he hasn’t dropped a ball all year. And Mike [Bastianelli], he’s the guy running across the middle, making the big catch.”

Soward admires Johnson no end, but he hasn’t matched him yet--either in catches or in words.

“You have to be real good when you run your mouth like that,” Soward said last year. “Yeah, I run my mouth, but I don’t think like Keyshawn does. That’s a big step. I’m not there yet.”

He’s getting there, though, by learning to become a more complete receiver this season, adding consistency and route-running ability to his 10.34 100-meter speed. After catching 18 passes for 507 yards last season--six of them in a school-record 260-yard game against UCLA--he already has caught 20 passes for 400 yards in four games this season, and is averaging 28.3 yards a kickoff return to boot.

“R. Jay Soward is developing into a complete football player,” Coach John Robinson said. “Last year, he was kind of a loose cannon, running around. But he’s come back and has really settled down. The job [assistant coaches] Mike Wilson and Hue Jackson are doing with him is really impressive. It’s like trying to tame a wild mustang.

“He’s gifted and loves to play football. He loves to go out for a pass, like Keyshawn Johnson.

“We plan each week to get the ball to him as much as we can. He is something, I tell you.”

That loosey-goosey quality Robinson mentioned was on full display in last season’s Arizona State game, when Soward says he sent himself into the game.

“All I can remember is dropping that pass, and [Robinson] told me not to go back in after I subbed in for Chris Miller without permission,” he said.

When Soward was sent in with the kickoff-return team later, he brought the kick back 98 yards for a touchdown as a frantic game headed toward its conclusion--a 48-35 Arizona State victory in double overtime.

“I was mad at [Robinson] and wanted to show him I can play football,” Soward said. “I ran that kick back to show Coach Rob that Chris can play, but I can play too.”

Robinson credits the tag team of Jackson, the offensive coordinator, and Wilson, the former NFL receiver who coaches Soward and the other receivers, with helping Soward emerge as a go-to receiver this season.

Wilson works with him on being consistent--and practicing the way he wants to play.

“Coach Wilson, I can’t explain how much he means to me,” Soward said. “He played in the pros as a receiver, and he played in the Pac-10, so it’s been like a gift. I want him to be my coach as long as I’m here.

“I wouldn’t say I’m better this season, I’m just more focused. I have my priorities straight. I’m doing a lot better in the classroom, and I’m more consistent catching the ball. I’m starting to get the grasp of the game. I’m starting to get a little more experience.”

Jackson has known Soward since Soward was a youngster, when Jackson was an Arizona State assistant coach recruiting Soward’s older brother, Marcus.

“He came by my house, I must have been 11 or 13,” Soward said. “I was running around the house, a little kid in my pajamas. He said, ‘Are you going to be a football player?’ I was running around the house, saying, ‘I’m going to be better than my brother.’ Talking my Keyshawn when I’m 11 years old.”

Jackson laughs at the memory.

“He was be-bopping around when I was recruiting his brother. He’s a terrific kid, great to be around, so much enthusiasm. He brings a lot to our offense, not only with the way he plays, but with his personal charisma.”

It’s a charisma that has to be harnessed on occasion.

“He might come off as being cocky, but it’s a good cocky. It’s enthusiasm,” Jackson said. “Obviously he’s blessed with some God-given abilities not many people have. He’s special. But he can’t burn all that energy being vocal. We need him to perform.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Soward’s Longest Plays

*--*

Yards Play Opponent/Year 98 (TD) Kickoff return Arizona State/1996 97 (TD) Reception Illinois/1996 95 (TD) Kickoff return Washington State/1997 78 (TD) Kickoff return Washington State/1996 78 (TD) Reception UCLA/1996 78 (TD) Reception UNLV/1997 66 Reception UCLA/1996 65 (TD) Reception California/1997 60 (TD) Reception UCLA/1996 56 Kickoff return Houston/1996 49 Kickoff return Notre Dame/1996 44 (TD) Reception UNLV/1997

*--*