Baylor's Qualan Jones: 'Falling Forward' Pivotal for Running Backs Success

Baylor Bears junior Qualan Jones addresses running back room as Thursday tilt against West Virginia looms

When asked about the success of moving the ball on the ground, Baylor running back Qualan Jones discussed how the Bears' backs focus on falling forward when it comes to attacking opposing defenses with the run game.

Jones, a 5-10, 242-pound junior running back out of Grand Prairie, Texas, has 162 rushing yards on 29 carries with three rushing touchdowns this season along with 40 receiving yards on seven catches.

"Being in the running back room, we talk about always falling forward," Jones said. "We want to fall forward to keep ahead of the chains and we don't want to have loss of yards to where we put us in a position to where we get confused on what we've got to do. So just falling forward is what we need to do as running backs."

As far as his position in the running back room, the coaching staff views Jones as a protection back.

"The place I fit in in the running back room is really they look at me as a protection back, so you know I'm getting in on protections and stuff like that," Jones said. "Then they try to mix it up to where we play teams, they see me come in, and they don't want to be like he's going to pass or whatever, so they try to stick a couple runs in there here and there. So basically a protection back."

So how nice is it to have a running back like Richard Reese leading the way, along with depth on the Bears roster?

"It's very important because at tough times, like on a 4th and 2, we trust him [Reese]; we know he's going to be decisive and he's going to get the first down," Jones said. "And you know we've got other backs put in positions where, like me, where you have third down and need a big pass play coming in protection and they throw me in, get the protection down and then we've got other backs to where they put us in good position to run the ball and keep the chains moving."

Jones also addressed some areas where Baylor needs to improve as the season rolls on.

"I feel like we need to get better at the penalties and stuff like that," Jones said. "We don't want to have penalties to set us back and we talked about bringing energy. We need to bring energy, start fast and play green."

Baylor coach Dave Aranda and the Bears return to the gridiron for a Thursday night conference showdown at West Virginia, with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. Central Time on FS1.

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