Category Archives: Player to Watch

Duke run defense to be tested again by Jones

Posted on by
Leave a reply

Last weekend, Duke’s undersized defensive line struggled against Miami’s extremely physical offensive line, allowing Hurricanes’ star running back Lamar Miller to exploit holes en-route to 147 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Blue Devils run defense, which allowed the Hurricanes to accumulate 265 total yards on the ground, will be tested again this weekend against Virginia and their own star running back, junior Perry Jones.

Jones has been the linchpin of the Cavaliers’ offensive attack this season, rushing for 782 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 5.2 yards per carry. In the process, he is bidding to become the first Virginia player to rush for 1000 yards since 2004, and has performed brilliantly in several of the Cavaliers’ (6-3) most impressive performances this season.

In Virginia’s 24-21 upset victory over then No. 12 ranked Georgia Tech, Jones rushed for 149 yards on just 18 carries, and added three catches for 37 yards. Just two weeks ago in the Cavaliers 28-21 victory over Miami, he rushed for 67 yards on just 12 carries, but more impressively turned a short screen pass from Virginia quarterback Michael Rocco into a 78-yard touchdown reception. The play was representative of Jones’ athleticism and versatility, attributes that the Duke defense will contend with on Saturday. And the 5-foot-8 back is coming off a career-best performance against Maryland, having spearheaded the Cavaliers’ 31-13 rout of the Terrapins. Jones rushed 22 times for 139 yards and two touchdowns as Virginia secured its sixth victory, becoming bowl-eligible for the first time since 2007.

Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, Jones is just one prominent cog in the Cavaliers’ balanced, multi-weapon rushing attack. Freshman Kevin Parks has made a surprisingly quick impact, totaling 538 rushing yards and a team-high seven rushing touchdowns. Freshman Clifton Richardson has also contributed in his limited opportunities, running for 290 yards and two touchdowns on just 56 carries.

The Blue Devils defense, ranked second-to-last in rushing defense in the ACC, had difficulty containing Virginia’s backs last season, when they ceded 226 rushing yards in a 55-48 victory. Given Duke’s offensive inconsistency this season, they will almost certainly need to do a better job of containing Jones and Co. to pick up a victory in Charlottesville.

Wilson leads Hokie rushing attack into Wallace Wade

Posted on by
Leave a reply

Virginia Tech junior David Wilson has already surpassed 1,000 yards rushing this season.

Virginia Tech may be best known for head coach Frank Beamer’s emphasis on special teams execution, but the Hokies’ success this year has relied primarily on an explosive running game anchored by junior David Wilson.

The junior, who is quietly having a Heisman-worthy season, has already amassed 1,037 rushing yards, a mark that leads the nation, and seven touchdowns in just eight games for Virginia Tech. Harris has rushed for more than 100 yards in all but one of the Hokies’ contests this year and accumulated more than 123 yards on the ground in each of his ACC contests.

If he continues on his current pace, Wilson could break Ryan Williams’ school record for rushing yards in a season of 1,655 set in 2009.

Wilson isn’t the only weapon in the Hokie backfield, though. Logan Thomas and Josh Oglesby have accounted for a combined 11 touchdowns and 467 yards  behind Williams, although their combined 3.5 yard per carry average pales in comparison to Williams’ stellar 6.3 yard average.

One area in which Wilson has seeming regressed, though, is in catching the ball out of the backfield—while his 15 receptions this season match his total from a year ago, he has accumulated 138 less receiving yards and only scored one touchdown through the air compared to four last season.

 

Givens attacking Wake Forest record books

Posted on by
Leave a reply

Having been crushed by the Seminole aerial attack this past Saturday, the Blue Devils need to watch junior wide receiver Chris Givens Saturday in their contest against Wake Forest.

Entering his junior season, Givens finds himself with an impressive 80 career receptions for a total of 1.143 yards and 12 touchdowns. Givens has led the Demon Deacons in all-purpose yards for the past two seasons, and is undoubtedly looking to make this his third. Givens also finds himself tied for ninth in career TD passes out of all players in Wake Forest history.

Givens has already earned ACC Player of the Week Honors twice this season—the most recent for his performance against Florida State, the other against Boston College.

In the Demon Deacons’ contest against the Seminoles two weeks ago, Givens made several game winning, explosive plays. Having caught a 22 yard pass for a touch down late in the second quarter, Givens secured Wake Forest the lead at the half.  And in the second half, Givens racked up three receptions for 86 yards. Givens was able to keep the Wake Forest offense on the field as four of his six catches marked first down for the Demon Deacons.

Freshman Greene powers potent Seminole passing game

Posted on by
Leave a reply

The Duke defense needs to be particularly wary of the Florida State aerial attack this Saturday, and should keep a close eye on freshman wide receiver Rashad Greene.

Entering his collegiate career as the 20th ranked receiver by ESPN, Greene is off to a record laden start with the Seminoles.

Greene is the first freshman at FSU to catch touchdowns of 50-plus yards in back-to-back games since 1976, and is the first Seminole of any year to accomplish this feat since 1998.  Greene is also the first Florida State player to score touchdowns in four consecutive games since Anquan Boldin in 2002.

Additionally, if Greene can record another 153 yards this season, he will find himself among the top five most receiving yards recorded by a freshmen in Florida State history.

Entering this week’s contest, Greene finds himself ranked second on the team with 14 receptions and leads the team with five touchdown catches. Each of those scoring catches have come off a pass from backup quarterback Clint Trickett, proving Greene has the maturity to bring success to a young quarterback.

With quarterback EJ Manuel, a Heisman contender, out with a shoulder injury since Sept. 17th, Greene has been essential to the team’s success with Trickett thus far.

“Obviously Clint made good decisions and threw great passes but at the same time, those guys were still catching the ball,” Manuel told seminoles.com of Greene and the other young Seminole receivers.

Trickett struggled against Wake Forest this past Saturday, forcing head coach Fisher to reluctantly play Manuel prematurely. Despite the injury, Manuel was able to connect with Greene on a 46-yard touchdown pass, but it was not enough to secure a win for FSU.

Greene’s success with both quarterbacks has and will prove vital to the Seminoles, as Manuel’s future with the team is evidently in doubt.

Should Manuel should suffer further injury, Greene’s chemistry with Trickett will be essential to the Florida State’s success this season. However, if Manuel should return to play and remain uninjured, he will find continued success with Greene, his “money man.”

 

Transfer Carroll spearheads Golden Panthers’ passing attack

Posted on by
Leave a reply

As the Blue Devils prepare for Saturday’s contest against Florida International, their defense will be sure to hone in on senior quarterback Wesley Carroll. Transferring from SEC staple Mississippi State after his sophomore year, Carroll has spearheaded the Golden Panthers’ surprising rise to prominence in the Sun Belt Conference.

Playing as a redshirt junior in 2010, Carroll set program records by notching 2,263 passing yards and 16 passing touchdowns.  After Florida International scuffled to an 0-4 start, he propelled his squad to a 6-2 record over its final eight regular season games. The strong finish assured the Golden Panthers of their first postseason game in school history, where they edged out Toledo in the Little Casears Bowl, 34-32. Carroll was a linchpin in the effort, completing 16 of 27 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown.

This season, Carroll’s steady play has driven Florida International to a 3-1 start. He was tremendous in the team’s surprise 24-17 victory over Louisville, completing 14 of 21 passes for a season high 248 yards and two touchdowns. And Carroll’s performance against a strong non-conference opponent should not come as too big a surprise. He threw for 355 yards and two touchdowns against Maryland, and completed 23 of 38 passes for 238 yards against the Pittsburgh. While the Golden Panthers dropped both games, Carroll certainly raised eyebrows with his performances.

He heads into Saturday’s matchup as the Sun Belt’s leader in passer rating, but if the Blue Devils can pressure Carroll into making mistakes—he has yet to throw an interception this season—their chances of improving to 3-2 on the season will improve greatly.

Carroll left last weekend’s game against Louisiana-Lafayette in the first quarter with an ankle injury, a game the Golden Panthers ultimately lost 36-31. While he is expected to start on Saturday without limitations, his health will certainly be something to monitor.

Experienced Griffin leads Tulane offense into Wallace Wade

Posted on by
Leave a reply

Coming into this Saturday’s contest against Tulane, redshirt junior quarterback Ryan Griffin is the one to watch for the Green Wave.

Entering his third season, Griffin has played in 20 games with 17 starts for his career.  Griffin currently finds himself at the top of the Tulane career record books with a completion percentage of 61.3%.

Despite Tulane’s 2-1 record this season and crushing loss to Tulsa, Griffin is off to a remarkable start in his third year.

In last week’s contest against UAB, Griffin was awarded the Conference USA Co-Offensive Player of the Week after throwing for 281 yards for three touchdowns to secure Tulane’s 49-10 victory over the Blazers.  Griffin was an essential contributor to what is now Tulane’s largest ever victory margin.

The UAB game marks the sixth game in which Griffin has tied his career high three touchdowns in a single game. In the Green Wave’s season opener against Southeastern Louisiana, Griffin posted three touchdowns as well. The feat occurred twice last season and twice in his first season as a redshirt-freshman.

One of Griffin’s greatest assets is his ability to put the ball where it needs to go, wherever that may be.  In just the three games of this season, Griffin has been able to throw receptions to 16 different Tulane players, proving his success is not dependent on the work of any one receiver.