BOWLING GREEN — Bowling Green State University football coach Dino Babers approached Ronnie Moore a few weeks ago to ask a question.

Babers wanted to know if Moore, a wide receiver for the Falcons, would be willing to play some defense.

“I thought he was ‘playing’ because I’ve been trying to play defense ever since I got here,” Moore said. “When he asked if I wanted to play defensive back in nickel situations, I said, ‘Heck yeah. Let’s go!’ ”

Because of a gaggle of nagging injuries in the defensive backfield, most notably the loss of senior cornerback Darrell Hunter in the Maryland contest, BG’s second-year coach wanted to avoid burning a redshirt of an incoming freshman just to have an inexperienced player see extended time in the secondary.

“When Darrell went down, we needed someone who might make a mental mistake, but who wouldn’t be physically overwhelmed,” Babers said.

“And Ronnie Moore is one of the best athletes on this team.”

When Babers asked Moore to spend some time on defense, he mentioned a former Arizona standout who played both ways in college before embarking on a long NFL career.

“One of the biggest wins in Arizona history came when Dennis Northcutt played both wide receiver and defensive back against USC,” Babers said.

 “I told him, ‘If you pull this off, people will talk about it for a long time.’”

But Babers and the coaches did not have trouble selling Moore on the move to defense. That’s because the 5-9, 170-pound junior had been a two-way player while at Seminole High School in Sanford, Fla.

At different times in his senior year of high school, Moore played wide receiver (29 catches for 484 yards and four TDs), running back (939 yards and 13 TDs), and quarterback (21-of-32 passing for 332 yards in two state playoff games).

On defense he played mostly safety, posting 27 tackles and six interceptions, two of which he returned for scores.

And Moore served as Seminole’s kick returner, posting 371 yards and another touchdown.

But Moore is quick to point out college football is much different than high school ball.

“The speed and the size are different,” he said. “You have to watch out for pulling guards and stuff like that.

“Also, I mostly played safety in high school, so I was just coming down hard.

“At cornerback you’re in the action, so you watch offensive linemen trying to block you and running backs trying to cut you.

“At cornerback, you have to have your head on a swivel.”

Moore has seen limited game action, playing a handful of snaps on defense at Purdue, then roughly 10 plays with one tackle at Buffalo.

But he is learning more about defense every day on the Falcons’ practice fields.

“I’ve got to battle against my brothers — and they are some of the best receivers in NCAA football,” Moore said. “Roger [Lewis] is on top of the NCAA, and I battle against Gehrig Dieter every day.

“He makes me better, and I make him better.”

And practice has been tough, Moore said, because while he wants to improve on defense he also does not want that work to affect his contributions on offense, where he is second on the team with 34 receptions good for 343 yards and a touchdown.

“I feel [playing defense] keeps me warm for offense,” Moore said. “When I play defense, my legs keep moving, and when I’m back on offense I’m ready to roll.”

So far the additional time spent of defense has not affected Moore’s offensive production. He caught nine passes for 74 yards at Purdue, including a four-yard TD strike early in the fourth period, and at Buffalo he caught five passes for 31 yards while adding a seven-yard touchdown run.

And while Moore said he is becoming more comfortable on defense every day, he still cannot wait for his first interception.

“I almost had one at Purdue, but their guy interfered with me,” Moore said. “It’s going to come.”

Contact John Wagner at: jwagner@theblade.com, 419-724-6481 or on Twitter @jwagnerblade.

First Published October 9, 2015, 4:28 a.m.