RALEIGH— The most exciting player in college football was in Carter-Finley Stadium on Thursday night.
Indiana’s Antwaan Randle El walked off the field after his team’s loss still looking for his first chance of 2001 to prove it.
Randle El has been one of the most difficult players in the country to prepare for the last four years, and that is no different heading into this season.
Randle El has switched to play mostly wideout, but that move left N.C. State coach Chuck Amato feeling like he made only one error in matching up with the IU offense.
Amato wishes he would have used a defensive end instead of a defensive back to cover regular IU quarterback Tommy Jones when he switched and lined up at wideout in Randle El’s place.
“It’s a little easier when you line up and (Randle El) is at quarterback and (Jones) is at wide receiver,”Amato said. “We should have sent (defensive end) Terrance Chapman out to cover him.”
Jones didn’t make any impact as a wide receiver, but Randle El didn’t do much more as a quarterback.
Randle El played 15 snaps at quarterback and 47 at wideout on Thursday and found that added responsibility led to decreased production.
Randle El completed
1-of-2 passes for 7 yards and ran seven times for 37 yards.
Randle El had four catches for 30 yards as a receiver. He also returned three punts for 27 yards.
Last season, Randle El had a total of 321 yards from scrimmage against the Wolfpack.
“I have no doubts,” Randle El said about his new role. “Our gameplan and everything — we were well-prepared. We just didn’t execute.”
After last year’s game, Amato compared Randle El to former standout college quarterbacks Charlie Ward and Joe Hamilton.
Rowan County football fans might better understand just how good Randle El is by comparing him to one of its own: current North Rowan quarterback and former wideout Alfonzo Miller.
And Randle El is even more dangerous.
But the IU star didn’t show it Thursday, and he took a page out of the book of Cal Hayes Jr. by also serving as the Hoosiers punter after starter Ryan Hamre had two kicks blocked.
Randle El punted three times for an average of 35.0 a kick, but his job was to help keep the ball away from the Wolfpack offense.
Even when he played quarterback, Randle El wasn’t that big of a threat.
He took off down the line on options and quarterback sweeps on six of his seven carries, but the State defense was up to the task and didn’t let him break a run over 17 yards.
Randle El even fumbled on an option run to the left on his third carry of the game.
“Randle El is a great player, but we just did a great job of getting to the ball,” said State linebacker Levar Fisher, who tackled Randle El five times.
“Our defensive line got so much push up the field that it was hard for him to get that downhill force that he always gets.”
Randle El showed good instincts as a receiver. He found open spaces in the Wolfpack zone for two catches. With Jones scrambling right on one play, Randle El continued toward the same sideline to give his quarterback a target. Four of the five incomplete passes that Jones threw to Randle El were off target.
Nine different NFL teams had representatives in the press box to watch Thursday’s game.
But those men didn’t get to see the same Randle El who came into the contest needing 195 yards passing and 69 rushing to become the first Division I player to have 6,000 yards passing and 3,000 rushing in his career.
“That young man is the most prolific offensive player in Big Ten history,”Amato said. “I’m glad he didn’t break the record against us.”
Randle El didn’t even come close.
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