Johnson Ready To Lead Wildcats After Lost Season

MARQUETTE---It was just two plays into the 2018 football season when everything changed for Ryan Johnson. The Wildcat quarterback had his freshman season under his belt, and was ready to take that next step into his sophomore season.

With GLIAC Offensive Player of the Year Jake Mayon in the backfield, things looked promising. Then, on the second play of the game at McKendree University, Johnson took a shot to the ribs. He didn’t think it was too bad to begin with, but a few moments later, it set in. Broken ribs. Punctured lung.

Johnson spent a couple of weeks with a tube in this chest, and spent the rest of the football season trying to come back. He was able to practice in the final weeks of the season, but never saw the field again.

Fast forward to 2019, and Johnson is back in Marquette after working during the summer in his hometown of Ashwaubenon, Wis. And he’s ready for his redshirt sophomore season as the first week of practice has wrapped up.

“It’s great to be back,” Johnson said during Monday’s Wildcat Football Media Day. “Everybody continues to ask me, like, are you OK? Yeah, it’s been good for about six months now. It’s awesome to be out here competing with the 1’s (first-teamers), and with the new offense and everything, it’s exciting.”

NMU Head Coach Kyle Nystrom says that Johnson, and the back-up quarterbacks, have some work to do in adjusting to the new offense being implemented this fall.

“We had about a 65-play scrimmage on Saturday, so we’re ahead, as far as being where we typically have been. So that’s good,” Nystrom said. “The quarterbacks didn’t play well in the scrimmage, and they know that. So, the next time that we get up into that sort of drill, they’ve got to take a major step forward. And they will. In the first week of camp, in that first scrimmage, the defense is always ahead of the offense.”

With Mayon graduated and Johnson set to see his first game action in almost two years, does he feel any extra pressure to perform?

“No, not really,” Johnson said. “We’ve just got to go out there and get the offense ready, and to compete at the highest level we possibly can. We’ve got to do the little things right.”

“R.J. will be fine,” Nystrom said. “He’s got great leadership skills. He’s tempo. He manages the offense well. We just got to have better decisions with the ball, and we have to make better throws. As far as running the offense, and manipulating the run game, and doing all those things, he’s really good at that.”

The Wildcats have a new offensive coordinator this year in Dan Fodrocy, who comes to Marquette after eight seasons at Saginaw Valley State University.

Speaking for himself, Johnson says that he’s ready for the challenge.

“There’s always going to be those growing pains,” Johnson said. “Everybody talks about the big plays, but I like that we’ve been focused on the little things. We do ‘ball security’ every week. That’s not something that I’ve been taught. We focus on procedure and execution, and just being consistent. I like the focus on the little things.

"That’s what the game of football comes down to.”

Johnson will have plenty of guys to throw to, with Ryan Knight back for his senior season, Ravon Johnson back for his junior season, and Ben Loutsis coming off of a strong freshman season. Deandre Caldwell returns in the backfield with the chore of trying to fill Mayon's shoes.

But Nystrom says that it will be up to everybody to make up for all of the lost production that Mayon provided.

“We all have big shoes to fill,” Nystrom said. “Not just Deandre. When you lose an impact-player to graduation, well, that’s how it is everywhere in the country. It’s up to the whole program to make up those kind of plays that he afforded us. So, our three backs will do good. We’ll spread the wealth.”

And now “RJ”, as he’s called by most, is looking forward to a season-opening game against the team that ended his season in 2018.

“Last year was unfortunate,” Johnson said. “This time around, I think it’s just staying within ourselves and focusing on our game. Last year had an unfortunate ending and they played a good game. But this time, it’s here, we’ll have a lot of energy, and I think everyone is locked in on.”

"The kids came back in great shape,” Nystrom said. “The execution level has been better for the first week than we’ve had in the past two years. We’re getting far into practice as far as what we can do ‘team-wise’. “

The NMU-McKendree game kicks off at 1:00 on Saturday, Sept. 7, and can be heard live on WUPT-FM (100.3 The Point), WCHT-AM (NewsTalk 600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to hear interviews with Johnson and Nystrom, and from Ratavin Rinkies on his actions to save a drowning man. Also see photos taken by Derek Miceli.