Jaydon Blue looks to 'The Program' to help Texas' need for better ball security

Omar Epps starred as Darnell Jefferson in the classic football film The Program in 1993, about a decade before Texas running back Jaydon Blue was born. That didn’t prevent Blue from utilizing one of the strategies made famous by Jefferson in the movie as part of efforts to overcome a fumbling problem.

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Blue, who fumbled on Saturday versus Kentucky and has had problems holding onto the football for all of the 2024 season, walked into the Monday media availability clutching a football high-and-tight in his left hand.

Jaydon Blue brings a football to today’s media avail. Sounds like Sark and his teammates haven’t knocked it loose yet!#HookEm pic.twitter.com/P4jFDfFu87

— Dennis de la Pena (@dennisonfox7) November 25, 2024

It’s a sign Blue understands he has an issue with hanging onto the football, something that must improve for not only the junior running back but for the entire Longhorn team. Texas has a whopping 18 fumbles through 11 games, a mark that places the Longhorns in the bottom quarter of the nation. Only nine have been lost to the other team, but two of those nine occurred on Saturday.

Blue himself has put the ball on the ground four times this year. Two came versus Mississippi State, one came at Arkansas, and one came against Kentucky. Those figures don’t include dropped passes, though Pro Football Focus has assessed him with five of those.

Like a shortstop who lets a ball go between his legs, Blue knows his errors have been costly this season. But when enough grounders go between the legs, something needs to be done.

So Blue decided to channel one of the lasting images from one of Epps’ best roles. He’s keeping the ball with him wherever he goes, whether to bed or to the shower if need be.

“Whenever I feel it getting low, I tend to bring it back up here,” Blue said Monday. “Holding the ball, it just builds you to make sure that it’s high and tight. Whenever you feel your wrist getting low, you tend to pull it back up. I think that helps because in games, I carry it low at times when I’m making moves. I try to walk around with it to make sure I don’t get it low.”

Blue said a few teammates have tried to knock the ball free. On Saturday, it’ll be the Texas A&M Aggies trying to do the same in what’s sure to be a raucous Kyle Field.

Despite a defensive minded head coach in Mike Elko leading the A&M football program, the Aggies aren’t anything special when it comes to forcing fumbles. The Aggies have forced just six this year. That’s a figure that, among teams on the Texas schedule, is tied with Vanderbilt and one better than last-place Michigan.

Even though A&M has not been a threat to punch the ball out, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian knows the ball security has to be better. Not just from Blue, but from every player who touches the pigskin.

“As we all know, coming out of that ball game, our ability to hold onto the football has to improve this week if we want to try to get the outcome that we’re looking for,” Sarkisian said Monday.

Sarkisian, running backs coach Tashard Choice, and the Longhorn football program have all the tools a coach could ask for in trying to foster improved ball security. The Denius Fields, the Bubble, and even Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium are equipped with hoses that can make the process slippery. Coaches and assistants also have various pads to try to teach players how to protect the football. Several “gauntlets” with a number of stiff pads that require players to run hard to reach the other side are also at Texas’ disposal.

Sometimes, however, it’s a simple as a boxing glove on a stick, as this picture from spring ball in 2023 featuring Choice and former walk-on Anton Simieou shows.

Those are the types of strategies Texas will look to use this week as the Longhorns try to solve the acute case of fumble-itis.

“Why did the fumbles occur?” Sarkisian said. “What happened from a technical standpoint? How can we fix that, then how do we emphasize that moving forward throughout the week and work on a few things?

“Like anybody who’s struggling, a batter in baseball, a pitcher in baseball, a three-point shooter, we talked all about that kind of stuff. The physical ability is there, the confidence to execute it is what our job is as coaches, to make sure they’re in the right frame of mind to get that done. That’s why they call us coach. That’s our job to get that done.”

Fumbles were not too much of a detriment for Texas to overcome against Kentucky. The Longhorns rushed 47 times for 250 yards and two touchdowns. The longest UT run was 21 yards, and only six other Texas rushes went for longer than 10 yards. The costliest fumble was coughed up by Quinn Ewers, who certainly has work to do himself in this area. A Wildcat defender grabbed it and returned it to the end zone to make the game 24-14.

Blue had 15 carries for 96 yards and a touchdown while Quintrevion Wisner notched 26 carries for 158 yards and a score. Both were the stars of the show in a fourth-quarter drive where Sarkisian dialed up 15-straight run plays. Wisner punched the ball in from one yard out to cap an 86-yard campaign that took 8:22 off the clock and sealed the Longhorns’ 31-14 victory.

Texas A&M is No. 41 in rushing defense and No. 52 in yards per rush allowed, so there may be expanded opportunities for Blue and Wisner on Saturday especially considering the seemingly hampered status of Ewers. That said, the Aggie defense will have the backing of almost 110,000 fans doing all they can to help the 11 in maroon and white try to jar the ball loose.

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Blue and company will look to improve on ball security before the trip to College Station. The program arguably needs for it to happen to defeat the Aggies and earn a place in the SEC Championship. Luckily for Blue and his teammates, The Program was able to provide some inspiration for improvement.