Arkansas vs Auburn Football

Auburn wide receiver Melvin Ray runs for a first-quarter touchdown against Arkansas as Auburn ball boy Jake Longenecker tries to keep pace at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014. (Mark Almond/malmond@al.com)

AUBURN, Alabama -- Even Auburn's ball boys are fast.



You've likely seen the play by now. The video of an Auburn football equipment manager sprinting down the Arkansas sideline and somehow keeping pace with Auburn receiver Melvin Ray as he turns up field and runs 49 yards for a touchdown wowed viewers. The play quickly spread like wildfire on the Internet and ESPN Saturday.



The equipment manager, sophomore Jake Longenecker, gets a small head start at the 44-yard line as Ray catches the ball at the 37-yard line, dodges a defender and picks up speed. Right behind Ray was Longenecker, who closed in on Ray as he galloped toward the end zone. The ball boy's closing speed and wide stride had people buzzing during and after the Tigers' 45-21 victory Saturday.



"That was pretty impressive," coach Gus Malzahn said. "I didn't know he could run that way. We do have our ball boys fly around during practice spotting the ball and all that, but that's the first time I really got a chance to see him turn it loose."



Longenecker's speed should not surprise Malzahn. After all, his hurry-up, no-huddle offense practically requires track stars to serve as ball boys and members of the chain crew. Longenecker played quarterback and outside linebacker at Churchill High School in Potomac, Md., according to TheWarEagleReader.com.



Malzahn wrote about ball boys in his book "The Hurry-Up, No-Huddle: An Offensive Philosophy" in 2003.



Malzahn recruited fast ball boys on his sidelines at Shiloh Christian and Springdale High in Springdale, Ark. They were usually freshman athletes on the junior varsity team or one of his assistant coach's sons, and all of them were usually in excellent physical condition. "This is an extremely important job," Malzahn writes in his book. "So important that you should put one of your coaches in charge of both ball boys."



Malzahn used one ball boy to retrieve incomplete passes while the other handed a new ball to the umpire in an effort to aid his offense and speed up the pace of the game.



"Your ball boys will get a good workout during the course of a game," Malzahn writes in the book. "You should tell them they are just as important as any player on the field."



Malzahn also advised coaches running his hurry-up, no-huddle offense to pay close attention and notify chain crews of their pace. It's no laughing matter, he writes. "You might notice the funny reaction you get the first time you talk to them about how important it is for them to be in good shape," Malzahn writes.



Longenecker is a former high school athlete, though he was told by his high school coach he was too slow to play running back, according to TheWarEagleReader.com. Longenecker stuck with quarterback and linebacker in high school.



On Saturday, he finally got to show off his speed as Auburn's ball boy.



AL.com's requests to interview Longenecker have been denied by officials inside Auburn's athletics department, but he told TheWarEagleReader.com the Tigers' equipment managers love picking up the pace in practice and on game days.



"We like to go as fast as possible, just like our offense," he told the blog. "We have to be ready to give the ball to the refs at all times. If our guy is running 50 yards down the field, we try to keep up with him. Part of it is just having fun, but at the same time our job is to help run the hurry-up the best it can be."



Longenecker's run alongside Ray impressed coaches, fans and players across the country on Twitter. Former Auburn coach Gene Chizik suggested Malzahn should reward Longenecker with a scholarship.



"He's tracking him down," Chizik said while reviewing the play at the SEC Network's studio Sunday. "Ten more yards and he would have beat him in the end zone."



