ChantRant

Lonnie Pryor: The Unsung Hero of FSU

Most running backs who amass over 2,000 yards, 20 touchdowns, and a four star ranking as a high school senior don’t expect to amass maybe a quarter of those stats during their entire college career. Heck, most students would have transferred after one year for not being involved. For FSU FB Lonnie Pryor, however, he has embraced his ability to contribute to the well-oiled offense that is FSU.

With the pass first offense being the primary choice of teams, fullbacks are pushed aside for extra blocking and receiving tight ends. Most teams don’t even employ a true fullback. Coach Jimbo Fisher saw something different in Pryor, and since day one, has given him an opportunity his fellow signing class members did not have.

While Pryor may not get the ball as often as the other running backs, there is no doubt he is used on almost every play. Pryor has played in every single game since joining FSU, and has a knack for finding the end zone. He has amassed 14 career touchdowns in three seasons, including 5 receiving touchdowns, which gives him a quality not found in many running backs, let alone fullbacks.

Since becoming named the starting fullback in 2010, Pryor has busted his butt to become the best fullback in FSU history, and the accolades are piling up. He has earned the Skill Blocker Award and Offensive MVP at the end of Spring Practice 2011.

Teams are starting to prepare against him, but when FSU lines up in the I-formation, nobody wants a piece of No. 24 when he gets a full head of steam. Every team will have their big name stars that make the covers of magazines, but championships are won on the backs of the workhorses, and Lonnie Pryor is clearing the way for them all.

What's the next challenge for FSU? You're looking at him

Boston College tailback Rolandan “Deuce” Finch was third on the Eagles depth chart. But after Montel Harris and Andre Williams went down, he was B.C.'s only hope Saturday at Maryland. Snow showers, a muddy field and chilly winds made it a perfect day for an Energizer Bunny-style running back. Thirty-nine carries later, Finch was in the Boston College record books with the third best all-time single game numbers.

Here's how Boston College Coach Frank Spaziani describes the durable 5 ft.-10", 209 lb. Finch.

"“He is not a bowling ball, but he is a semi bowling ball...He is compact and he’s got some power and he’s got some vision. The more he plays, the more confidence he’ll get. Deuce has good speed. I wouldn’t say blazing speed, but good speed."

He gained confidence, all right -- to the tune of 243 yards and two touchdowns, the best day for a running back this season in the ACC.

Where did this no-name, instant record breaker come from? A sophomore from Louisville, Finch was a Rivals 3-Star out of high school. Just the kind of under-the-radar kid that Boston College loves to find and develop.

Now that Finch is no longer a no-name bench warmer, the obvious question becomes: If B.C.'s "Deuce" can punch out 243 yards on a mucky field, what the Doug Flutie will he be able to do on a dry field Thursday night?

Ambiguously Random and Diabolically Meaningless Thoughts

1. Other than the offense, defense, and special teams it's just a dadgum shame we didn't play very well on Saturday afternoon.

2. I don't know about the rest of you but I much prefer this version of Glennon at QB to Russell Wilson. I mean muuuuuuuuuuuuuuch prefer. Did I say muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch?

3. I see the Florida State defense was part of a new Occupy (insert your favorite city, street, or park here) movement. I believe it was called Occupy the Wolfpack backfield.

4. Seeing his offense struggle mightily and putting up zippo points against the FSU defense, NC State offensive coordinator Dana Bible was probably consulting one along about the middle of the fourth quarter.

5. The Master of the Obvious Award (MOTOA) goes to Gene Deckerhoff. Noting the paltry amount of rushing yards at the half by NCS, with paltry in this case being 30, Deckerhoff said, "they'd like to do better than that." NO WAY!!!!! Really??? You don't mean Tom O'Brien's game plan was something like "OK men, our goal today for on the ground is 5 yards."

6. Runner up for the MOTOA .... Mrs. BFT who, noting the note of Deckerhoff asked, "I wonder if NCS will throw the ball to get back into the game?"

7. And speaking of rushing, memo to Coach O'Brien who has not once in the last 14 years as a head coach had his FB carry the ball: This is Lonnie Pryor. He is a FB. He can carry the ball. Or in the case of his 8-yard TD, carry at least five defenders into the end zone with him. Just something to think about for the future of NC State football. Which at this rate may not be all that much longer.

8. Let's see, they've subtly sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid the ball forward. And now iiiiiiiiiinch the marker back towards the ball. I can hardly wait to see what inventive way the ACC referees devise to give an opponent of FSU a first down. It would not surprise me to see maybe something like a ref pointing away from the ball towards the sky and yelling "Hey look ...... it's Haley's Comet!!!" and then kicking the ball forward.

9. Predicting Thursday night's score against Boston College. Let's see here. We have two games with scores of 41-16, two with 34-0, and two with scores of 35-30 (although we don't like to think about those very much). Soooooooo, we have available to choose from
   A. 23-13 (we won't think too long about that one either)
   B. 62-10 (I could live with that although BC might not)
   C. The game called on account of snow

10. Catching highlights of the Yale/Columbia game where weather conditions were somewhat less than balmy, you could not help but notice the three male shirtless students in the stands cheering on their team (I am going to assume whichever team wears blue because that was probably the color those guys were at the end of the game). So, what's it cost per year to attend either one of those schools ..... $30,000, $40,000? For their parents, that was money ......... spent.

FSU-NC State Game Gallery: The defense

FSU-NC State Game Gallery: The offense

More great shots by Chris Holder. This week's special: Check out the blocking by the offensive line.

A Seminole Shutout edition of Postgame Pluses and Minuses

• Brick wall greets the Wolfpack. Not only was it the second shutout of the season, FSU held the Pack to 166 total yards of offense.

• Lonnnnnnie! The offensive unsung hero got his chance and showed what a stud fullback can do on that won't-be-denied, opponent-dragging TD run.

• Pass catching by committee. Eight Nole WRs made the stats with Kenny Shaw (7 for 57 yards) topping the list.

• Making a senior year statement. Jermaine Thomas' return to relevance continues with a career best 5 catches for 53 yards. He also led all rushers with 42 yards.

• Hang in there Greg Reid. Yet another punt return TD called back. If it weren’t for a sidestep out of bounds today...

• Give yourselves a hand. 80,849 official attendance. Way to show up for a game that in recent years could've meant empty seats.

• Noles dodge a weather bullet. FSU heads to Boston for that obligatory Thursday night game. It's snowing today in Beantown, but the gameday forecast is perfect fall weather with a high of 58. Kickoff should be dry with temps in the 40s.

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• 2nd half cruise control. For the second week in a row, FSU’s hot and cold offense lost focus and intensity after the half. The entire third quarter was an opportunity to put the game away and rest starters for the short week game at B.C. Instead, mistakes, punts, and a missed FG.

• Offensive coma continues into the fourth quarter. Even a turnover deep in Wolfpack territory yielded only a field goal after the Noles couldn’t manage a first down. The long dry spell finally ended with less than 5 minutes to go as E.J. threads the needle to Greg Dent.

• ACC ref outrage of the week. A piece of paper determines a first down for N.C. State!? At least the zebras didn't try sneakily moving up the ball again.

Sniffing up the Wolfpack trail with James from Riddick and Reynolds

Check out their site after reading James' responses to our questions.

The Wolfpack was devastated by injuries early in the season. How many starters are back and healthy?

A: Not to be snarky, but "not enough." Or perhaps "not as many as we thought after the bye." We lost a ton of folks in the first half of the year and anticipated getting some of those guys back into the lineup coming out of the break at the midway point. But somehow we found a way to rest the roster 14 straight days without anyone actually healing. Anticipated 1st-string tailback Mustafa Greene is shut down for the year, there are guys like fullback Taylor Gentry that could possibly be done for the year...it's as bad as any of the other injury plagued seasons we've seen under O'Brien to this point.

N.C. State leads the ACC in interceptions with 15 on the season. Has the secondary has become the strength of the defense?

A: Yes, and more specifically, David Amerson has become the star of the defense. Amerson is cashing in on one of the main tenants of the zone defense: generating turnovers by reading and reacting to the action of the quarterback. As one of my podcast mates, Austin Johnson, said the other day, what Amerson lacks in terms of one-on-one coverage skills, he more than makes up for in anticipation and instincts.

Who's afraid of the big bad Wolfpack?

Afraid? Naw. Concerned, no doubt. One guy E.J. needs to watch out for is cornerback David Amerson. The soph CB leads the ACC in interceptions with eight, including two last week against Virginia -- one for the clinching TD. The building buzz on Amerson helped put him on the Bednarik Watch list.

In other news from our Wolfpack watch:

• N.C. State looked to be down for the count, what with a MASH unit list of injuries, but the win over UVA has put the growl back in the Pack.

• Wolfpack QB Mike Glennon and E.J. Manuel are old pals.

• N.C. State hasn't won a division road game in 11 tries during O'Brien's five-season tenure.

• N.C. State is the ACC’s best in avoiding penalties with an average of 34.9 ypg. FSU is averaging 74.1 ypg.

• Other than allowing a 60-yard touchdown pass at the end of the third quarter, N.C. State's defense held Virginia to less than 2.5 yards per play on first down.

• One Raleigh sports writer believes the Russell Wilson debacle will eventually get Tom O'Brien fired.

• FSU is 21 - 10 all time against N.C. State.

• But wait, there's more! Watch the latest Tom O’Brien Coach’s show here (Caution: May be sleep-inducing).

• Finally, if you've missed hearing the velvet vocalizations of former N.C. State coach, and long time Nole assistant, Chuck Amato, listen to this week's Riddick & Reynolds Wolfpack podcast here.

Stepping Up

All summer long, one of the more popular discussions on the message boards was in regards to the veteran leadership. Who would be the guys that took this team on their back and willed them to victory? Juniors and Seniors are usually looked upon in these roles, and recently, with FSU climbing out of the hole they dug themselves, we are seeing the guys expected to lead the team, take charge.

QB EJ Manuel was undoubtedly expected to be the biggest show of veteran leadership, and despite his injury, since his return against Wake Forest, he has taken that responsibility with a full head of steam. The Junior has thrown for 1455 yards and 11 touchdowns, while also contributing 132 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground. I think he experienced some jitters being “the man”, but has now finally settled into a groove, as evidenced by the hot starts against Duke and NC State the past two weekends.

RB Jermaine Thomas has been sandwiched between a ton of quality running backs during his time at Florida State. Despite that, the Senior RB has had moments of greatness, none more recently than the past two weeks. On only 24 carries, Thomas is second on the team in rushing yards (156), and leads all backs with a 6.5 yards per carry average. With the injury to Chris Thompson, Thomas will need to continue to show consistency, and give the Seminoles another leader on the offense.

If I had a nickel for every dumb mistake LB Nigel Bradham made, I’d have a bit of change. The Senior LB made some critical mistakes against Oklahoma and Clemson, but has moved forward from them. His 41 tackles lead the team, and his two sacks and one interception show the range that he possesses. Bradham has been hyped up for quite some time, and needs to keep a level head and make smart plays if we expect to see him on Sundays.

Junior Brandon Jenkins came in with a ton of preseason hype, and he has shown why it was warranted. The DE is a menace, getting past lineman for 3.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss on the season. Many teams have resorted to double teaming him, leaving plenty of room for the rest of the defensive line to show their faces to opposing quarterbacks.

While the veterans have the experience, the talent and passion of the freshmen and sophomores cannot be overlooked. Contributions from DE Bjoern Werner, WR Rashard Greene, QB Clint Trickett, RB Devonta Freeman, and DB LaMarcus Joyner are what gives this FSU squad its identity.

The Seminoles are not a one-stud team. They all rely on each other, allowing each player to have his role on the squad, contributing to wins and championships. This nucleus of players will only continue to improve as the season goes on.

Tomahawk Stickers from last week go to:
RBs Devonta Freeman and Jermaine Thomas: The two teamed up for 187 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Both had over 9 yards per carry. Coach Fisher loves a balanced running and passing attack, and these performances make that possible.

LB Telvin Smith: With 2 sacks and 2 tackles for loss, Smith was a nightmare for the Terrapins last weekend.

Will FSU play that rare “Lights Out” game before the season’s over?

There’s still time. Still time for the Noles to burst from the tunnel with steam blasting out of their ears. Time to take no prisoners, from kickoff to final horn. Still time for that close-to-perfect game that, if we’re lucky, comes once a season.

Remember, there was one last year. From the moment FSU hit the field at Sun Life Stadium, there was no doubt the Noles had found that elusive fifth gear. And it didn’t take long for the Canes to sense their opponents that night were on fire. For the guys with the U on their helmets, resistance was futile. Nothing they could do was going to match the intensity of their long time rivals from North Florida.

Final score 45 - 17, though it looked more like a zillion to zip. It was one helluva birthday present for Jimbo Fisher (his 45th that very day).

There was one more last year that almost qualified as a “Lights Out” game. FSU’s long overdue 31 - 7 gigging of the gators was a thing of beauty. In the great scheme of things, it probably meant more to FSU faithful than that UM body slam. But unlike the game at Sun Life, the gator beatdown was actually in doubt until the second quarter.

In 2009, what Nole fan could forget their team turning out the lights on Brigham Young. Especially because it was about as expected as a blizzard hitting the Big Bend in August. FSU had lost an opener to those Canes, then struggled to escape an upset by Jacksonville State. Game three at Provo looked close to unwinnable. Maybe even a Mormon massacre.

The thin mountain air was supposed to leave the Noles gasping. Instead, the Cougars looked like the oxygen-deprived flatlanders, as FSU ran circles around them for 60 minutes. The 54-28 final was so convincing, much of the Nole Nation heralded it as the beginning of Dynasty II. Oh, well.

Interesting thing about those last two “Lights Out” games, though. They were both on the road. If that trend continues, this year’s “L.O.” opponent lashing could come Nov. 3 at Boston. OR Thanksgiving weekend at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Florida Field in the shadow of the Urban Meyer Esophageal Spasms Clinic.

Yep, there’s still time.