Former Yazoo County Panther football standout Corey Rucker had a historic performance last weekend in helping lead the Arkansas State Red Wolves (4-7 overall, 2-6 Sun Belt) to a 48-15 victory over winless University of Louisiana-Monroe (0-10, 0-7).
Rucker, a true freshman, had nine receptions for 310 yards and four touchdowns in the win while setting program and NCAA FBS records in the process. His 310 receiving yards surpassed Lennie Johnson for the most yards in game in school history and his four touchdowns tied Omar Bayless and Alfred Bentley for the most ever in a game. Rucker also set the FBS record for a freshman with his receiving yards.
Rucker torched the ULM secondary all day with catches for 69, 66 (TD), 55 and 31 (TD) yards.
Rucker’s exploits excited not only the nation, but especially his fans in Yazoo County. His former head coach Robert Dobbs was one of those fans.
“I was very elated to hear about his performance on Saturday,” said Dobbs. “I am very proud of him and he had a really big game that made headlines nationally. He took advantage of his opportunity and seized the moment. It was a stellar performance.”
It was also the type of performance Dobbs always envisioned Rucker having one day.
Says Dobbs, “Corey is one of those explosive players that has the potential to score at will when the once the ball is in his hands. He is a very good route runner with good hands at the receiver position. He always worked on his skills to improve and he showed the world what he’s capable of doing. Corey is a very humble player that works very hard and has an extremely high football IQ. He’s so much more advanced in his development than most players it doesn’t surprise me at all to see him have so much success so fast as a true freshman.”
