Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
After trying year, emotional game awaits Blankenship
10/14/2020 6:00:00 PM | Football, BRAA
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — It's hard to imagine a year much more trying than what Reed Blankenship has gone through.
Middle Tennessee's star senior safety suffered a gruesome broken leg in the team's seventh game of the 2019 season against North Texas. Then, after having surgery and rehabbing, the COVID-19 pandemic threw multiple wrenches into his preparation for the 2020 campaign.
Now, he's gearing up for a rematch with North Texas almost a year to the day after the injury. To say the matchup is bringing about added emotions is almost an understatement.
"I think I have something to prove, especially after coming back from that," Blankenship said. "It's pretty special to me, so I'm just trying to grind as much as I can this week so I'm ready."
Blankenship was having a banner junior season until the injury. In seven games, he recorded 58 tackles, two interceptions, three pass breakups, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble, as well as two blocked kicks. Even without playing the last five games, he still did enough to earn All-Conference-USA Second Team honors, the third year in a row he was named all-conference, adding to an honorable mention nod as a freshman and first team as a sophomore.
He was drawing the interest of NFL scouts from around the league until the injury, which was bad enough that a weaker man might've hung up his cleats.
Late in the third quarter, Blankenship was attempting to stop a run play when his left leg was rolled up on, breaking both his tibia and fibula. He suffered a compound fracture, meaning the bone broke through his skin.
"I knew it didn't look good when we were coming onto the field … but I didn't know how bad it was until we were cutting off his shoe and his leg tape, and my assistant told me there was blood," Associate Athletic Trainer Keith Bunch said.
Blankenship, who had to get screws put into the bones, went in for immediate surgery in Dallas before coming back to Murfreesboro a couple of days later and starting his rehabilitation process.
After a few months, he was nearing the end of his rehabilitation when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March. Like all of Middle Tennessee's students, Blankenship wasn't allowed on campus, meaning he had to continue rehabbing at his parents' house in rural Athens, Alabama.
He did anything he could to try and get in shape and strengthen the leg, running down country roads and even flipping tractor tires. He was in constant communication all the while with Bunch and his specialists.
"It was tough not being able to use our facilities [at MT], but I had a lot of people in my corner helping me out," Blankenship said. "I couldn't have done it without them."
The pandemic was already making things tough on Blankenship, but it was unfortunately just the tip of the iceberg.
When he and his teammates were finally allowed back on campus, he was obviously eager to get back to practice, having missed almost half of the previous season plus spring practice. However, COVID-19 had other ideas.
While he never tested positive for the virus, Blankenship was forced to quarantine three different times because of contact tracing. He was in quarantine for 42 days, only getting to practice seven times before Middle Tennessee took the field against Army in Week 1.
"I played Call of Duty a lot and worked out outside," he said. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be because I was quarantined with my friends, but it definitely wasn't the best."
Now five games into the season, Blankenship is just starting to feel more like himself on the playing field, and it shows.
He's tied with safety mate Gregory Grate Jr. for the team lead in tackles with 36, though he's still looking for his first interception of the season, which would give him nine for his career.
"Reed and I will both tell you he probably did miss a beat and he was playing with rubber legs against Army … but, like Reed does, he got a plan together and spent some extra time with the strength and conditioning staff to get himself ready for the next couple," defensive coordinator Scott Shafer said. "He just keeps working hard … and he's such an easy kid to coach, because he's such an attention-to-detail type person."
Blankenship feels like he's finally hitting his stride after so much time off. It couldn't come at a better time, with North Texas' high-octane offense coincidentally coming to Murfreesboro Saturday, 363 days after his injury.
It'll be an emotional day for Blankenship. The last year has been the most trying of his life, but he's taken it in stride, one day at a time.
"I'm just trying to prepare like it's any other game," he said. "I just can't wait for redemption."
Middle Tennessee's star senior safety suffered a gruesome broken leg in the team's seventh game of the 2019 season against North Texas. Then, after having surgery and rehabbing, the COVID-19 pandemic threw multiple wrenches into his preparation for the 2020 campaign.
Now, he's gearing up for a rematch with North Texas almost a year to the day after the injury. To say the matchup is bringing about added emotions is almost an understatement.
"I think I have something to prove, especially after coming back from that," Blankenship said. "It's pretty special to me, so I'm just trying to grind as much as I can this week so I'm ready."
Blankenship was having a banner junior season until the injury. In seven games, he recorded 58 tackles, two interceptions, three pass breakups, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble, as well as two blocked kicks. Even without playing the last five games, he still did enough to earn All-Conference-USA Second Team honors, the third year in a row he was named all-conference, adding to an honorable mention nod as a freshman and first team as a sophomore.
He was drawing the interest of NFL scouts from around the league until the injury, which was bad enough that a weaker man might've hung up his cleats.
Late in the third quarter, Blankenship was attempting to stop a run play when his left leg was rolled up on, breaking both his tibia and fibula. He suffered a compound fracture, meaning the bone broke through his skin.
"I knew it didn't look good when we were coming onto the field … but I didn't know how bad it was until we were cutting off his shoe and his leg tape, and my assistant told me there was blood," Associate Athletic Trainer Keith Bunch said.
Blankenship, who had to get screws put into the bones, went in for immediate surgery in Dallas before coming back to Murfreesboro a couple of days later and starting his rehabilitation process.
After a few months, he was nearing the end of his rehabilitation when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March. Like all of Middle Tennessee's students, Blankenship wasn't allowed on campus, meaning he had to continue rehabbing at his parents' house in rural Athens, Alabama.
He did anything he could to try and get in shape and strengthen the leg, running down country roads and even flipping tractor tires. He was in constant communication all the while with Bunch and his specialists.
"It was tough not being able to use our facilities [at MT], but I had a lot of people in my corner helping me out," Blankenship said. "I couldn't have done it without them."
The pandemic was already making things tough on Blankenship, but it was unfortunately just the tip of the iceberg.
When he and his teammates were finally allowed back on campus, he was obviously eager to get back to practice, having missed almost half of the previous season plus spring practice. However, COVID-19 had other ideas.
While he never tested positive for the virus, Blankenship was forced to quarantine three different times because of contact tracing. He was in quarantine for 42 days, only getting to practice seven times before Middle Tennessee took the field against Army in Week 1.
"I played Call of Duty a lot and worked out outside," he said. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be because I was quarantined with my friends, but it definitely wasn't the best."
Now five games into the season, Blankenship is just starting to feel more like himself on the playing field, and it shows.
He's tied with safety mate Gregory Grate Jr. for the team lead in tackles with 36, though he's still looking for his first interception of the season, which would give him nine for his career.
"Reed and I will both tell you he probably did miss a beat and he was playing with rubber legs against Army … but, like Reed does, he got a plan together and spent some extra time with the strength and conditioning staff to get himself ready for the next couple," defensive coordinator Scott Shafer said. "He just keeps working hard … and he's such an easy kid to coach, because he's such an attention-to-detail type person."
Blankenship feels like he's finally hitting his stride after so much time off. It couldn't come at a better time, with North Texas' high-octane offense coincidentally coming to Murfreesboro Saturday, 363 days after his injury.
It'll be an emotional day for Blankenship. The last year has been the most trying of his life, but he's taken it in stride, one day at a time.
"I'm just trying to prepare like it's any other game," he said. "I just can't wait for redemption."
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