On the field, ISU fullback Ryan Kock has become a force to be reckoned with. His five touchdowns this season have given the Cyclones stability on what has been a shaky red-zone offense. Beyond the lights, though, he is a force on a very different team.

Engaged to former ISU women’s basketball player Katie Robinette and father to their almost 2-year-old son Caden, Kock is living a life most athletes never experience in college.

Running backs coach Tony Alford said the soft-spoken fullback has impressed him with his demeanor, both on and off the field.

“What it did, is it made him grow up a lot faster than some of his peers, and that’s not a negative toward his peers,” Alford said. “He was thrust into a situation, and he had to grow up and be very adult-like very quickly. He had to have a really different type of focus, and he’s done that, and I’m proud of him.”

That different focus Alford described is one Kock said isn’t easy to keep on track. Balancing school, athletics and a family is very tedious and requires a lot of patience.

“It takes a lot of time, but it’s responsibility, and you have to take care of it,” Kock said.

Alford said although Kock is taking care of his responsibilities, he is taking his life in great strides.

“It has not deterred from what he’s trying to do here,” he said. “He’s kept his grades up, he’s done well on the field. From all indications, he’s done well with Katie and his son, Caden, so I commend him.”

Kock said he has always been committed to the role he plays with his family, although his role on the field was not always a clear one.

Until this season, the ISU coaching staff had experimented with where he should play, including placing him on the defensive line. It wasn’t until the coaches had a conversation with Kock that they knew where he belonged.

“We had a conversation with him and said we wanted to keep him at fullback, but, you might play two plays one game, fifteen plays the next – who knows?” Alford said.

“He was fine with that. He just wanted to know, like most people, what am I, and what’s my role here?”

Kock said he was content taking the role he was given.

“I’m an offensive guy and I’ve taken the role they give me,” he said. “I have to be confident in my teammates around me, and hopefully they have the same confidence in me that I have in them, and that’s my role. When I go into the game, that’s what I’m expected to do, so I do it.”

Dating back to last season, Kock has six career touchdowns, including one in last year’s Independence Bowl.

“He’s physical, he’s big, he’s strong and when he sees the goal line, he doesn’t want anybody to take that away from him,” said quarterback Bret Meyer. “You can see how hard he runs. Because he gets minimal snaps, because we don’t use the fullback a whole lot. We use it in short yardage situations, so he knows that when he’s in the game, he’d better make the most of it, and so far this year he has.”

After the lights on the field turn off, the rest of his life takes over.

“Katie’s been a great support system for him,” Alford said. “Katie is an athlete, so she knows the racket, and she knows the ins-and-outs of what the daily grind is.”

Alford also said Kock’s obligations at home have never interfered with his team.

“He hasn’t batted an eye; he hasn’t said, ‘I’ve been up all night with my son, so I’m late for this, or too tired for this,'” Alford said.

In fact, his experiences have helped him find a common ground with some of the coaches.

“It’s funny – he comes in here and says something, and I have three kids of my own, so I can just say, ‘Yeah, I understand that. I know where you’re at,'” Alford said. “I couldn’t imagine doing what he’s doing at 21 years old.”

After all of the touchdown plunges and grinding yards, after many athletes go out to celebrate, Kock said he just wants to go home to his son and future wife.

“They’re the biggest part [of my life],” he said “I don’t get to see them very much, so when I do, I like to be there with them.”