Florida State’s freshmen receivers are leaving other teams green with envy.
The Seminoles are successfully taking advantage of the speed of Rashad Greene and Christian Green, sending them deep for quarterback E.J. Manuel and backup Clint Trickett.
Greene and Green have responded with a combined 40 catches for 758 yards and six touchdowns, all of which have been scored by Greene.
“There’s a different guy who can go get it and make a play and go do that,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. “Nothing against anybody [else], but those young guys have a ton of ability.”
Greene is a freshman from Albany who played at Westover High School for two years before transferring to powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale.
He leads the Seminoles with 26 catches for 457 yards and has caught a touchdown pass in all five career games. Greene missed Saturday’s victory over Duke with an ankle injury, which provided more opportunities for Green, Rodney Smith and Kenny Shaw.
In the first quarter alone, Green, a redshirt freshman, caught a 59-yard pass, Smith had a 50-yard touchdown reception and Shaw came down with a 51-yard catch.
Big plays through the air have become the norm for the Seminoles, who use them to make up for a ground game that is 10th in the ACC at 111.7 yards a game.
Green has averaged 21.5 yards per catch. Greene is at 17.6 and Shaw has averaged 17.5 as FSU has 12 pass plays of more than 40 yards in six games, including seven touchdown passes of at least 45 yards.
The Seminoles had only 11 pass plays of 40-plus yards in 2009 and ’10 combined.
“I just feel like we have more opportunities now,” Manuel told nolesports.com. “The line has been giving me time and we’ve had opportunities to take a shot, and we’ve taken advantage of it.”
Burning question
Is C.J. Brown the answer at quarterback for Maryland?
Danny O’Brien, the ACC’s rookie of the year in 2010, has been inconsistent after the opening victory over Miami, prompting the Terrapins to turn to the mobile Brown.
He had 22 carries for 162 yards and threw three touchdown passes in his first start, a 56-45 loss to Clemson on Saturday.
That snapped O’Brien’s streak of 15 consecutive starts, but coach Randy Edsall needed to energize an offense that was dismal against Temple, struggled against Towson and started poorly against Georgia Tech.
“Having played the position myself and having coached on defense a number of years, when you have to face a guy who has the ability to throw the ball and run the ball, it does create a lot of problems for the defense,” Edsall said this week.
He said Brown will start against FSU on Saturday.
“C.J. Brown can fly,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “He did a fantastic job taking advantage of us being undisciplined in some areas. He just beat us sometimes.”
In focus
Most of the attention on Clemson has focused on outstanding freshman receiver Sammy Watkins and quarterback Tajh Boyd, but defensive end Andre Branch leads the ACC with eight sacks and 12 tackles for loss.
He also leads Clemson with 43 tackles and is on his way to becoming the first lineman to lead the Tigers in tackles since William “The Refrigerator” Perry in 1984.
Branch was particularly devastating in a victory over Virginia Tech on Oct. 2. He tied the school record with four sacks and six tackles for loss in the 23-3 win, adding 11 tackles in the process.
“He was a man on a mission,” Swinney said after the game.
Etc.
Juwan Thompson (Woodward Academy) leads Duke with 283 yards rushing and five TDs. ... North Carolina linebacker Ebele Okakpu (Roswell), who had 14 tackles this season, was dismissed this week for “conduct detrimental to the team.” ... FSU defensive tackle Anthony McCloud (Thomas County Central) has 14 tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks. ... Guard Zach Allen (Tift County) and center Camden Wentz (Lassiter) have each started 19 consecutive games for North Carolina State. ... Tar Heels quarterback Bryn Renner has not thrown an interception in four of the past five games, going 81 consecutive passes without a pick.
By the numbers
59 Touchdowns scored by ACC freshmen and redshirt freshmen this season, which leads all conferences.
344 Combined catches by Duke receivers Donovan Varner and Conner Vernon, the highest active total in the ACC and the fourth highest in conference history.
Quotable
“He looks like Spider-Man. The ball just sticks to his hands. He has great hands and attacks the football better than anyone I’ve ever seen. He has great body control, and when you put that with his type of mentality and the fact that he has gifted hands, you have a fantastic player. When he gets his grip on it, it’s over. He’s special.” — Swinney on Watkins
“I wasn’t enamored with our practices the week of Florida State, but we played really well. Last week I thought our practices were pretty good preparing for Virginia Tech, but we came out and didn’t play very well. So they’ve got me confused.” — Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe on his team
Saturday’s schedule
North Carolina at Clemson, noon (ESPN)
Wake Forest at Duke, 12:30 p.m. (WUPA)
Boston College at Virginia Tech, 3 p.m. (FSSO)
Maryland at Florida State, 3:30 p.m. (ABC)
Georgia Tech at Miami, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
North Carolina State at Virginia, 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
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