Feature story on ODU running back Ray Lawry.
After just one carry for four yards in Old Dominion’s opener last season against Hampton, running back Ray Lawry burst onto the scene with 71-yards and three touchdowns the following week at NC State. That performance gave Lawry confidence and also let him know he would be an important part of the ODU offense for the rest of the season.
“I had no idea that I was going to come in and have that much impact on the team” Lawry said. “They gave me my chance and I just made the most of it.”
It was the eighth, three-touchdown game by a back in ODU’s history and put Lawry at the forefront of defense’s game plans for the rest of the season.
It was after the NC State game, I had my first three touchdowns when I realized the team was going to need me,” Lawry said. “That’s when I got more focused for the rest of the season.”
The one thing holding Lawry back slightly was pass blocking. Lawry needed to be able to keep quarterback Taylor Heinicke upright, and blocking was not something the New Jersey native did much in high school.
“Strength and flexibility were the two biggest things I needed to work on,” Lawry said. When I got stronger my technique got better. I watched a lot film and that made me a lot better.”
Lawry put an exclamation point on his freshman season in the final game of the year with 213 yards rushing including a pair of 60-yard runs that helped ODU to a 31-28 win at Florida Atlantic.
The finale catapulted a season in which Lawry rushed for a single-season school record 947 yards and was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Year.
With the graduation of Heinicke and Antonio Vaughan, Lawry and other Monarchs will be looked to for an even bigger season. The off-season conditioning program the Monarchs take part in has been a big help for Lawry.
“We didn’t really have a lifting program in high school and I really didn’t start lifting until the summer before I came to ODU,” Lawry said. “It’s hard, but I can see myself getting bigger, stronger and faster than last year.”