OCTOBER 8, 2009 ISSUE
Too Quick To Block
ASU Footballs Aims to Keep Winning
ASU wide receiver Brian Quick averaged 29.3 yards per catch in last week’s win against The Citadel. Last year against Furman, Quick went high in the air to make this great catch. Photo by Bill Sheffield/ASU Athletics
Brian Quick isn’t on the field each time an opponent attempts a field goal against the Mountaineers.
But when he is there, kickers better find him.
Then aim away from him.
The sophomore from Ridge View High School in Columbia, S.C., blocked a last-second field goal by The Citadel’s Sam Keeler last week that sent the game into overtime, where ASU won 30-27 on its own field goal minutes later.
Quick and the No. 9 Mountaineers (2-2 overall, 2-0 SoCon) host N.C. Central (0-5) in their homecoming game at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 10 at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
“I told the defense we had to get a block and to get me a good push,” Quick said. “We went in there with the mindset that we were going to block the kick. I told them I’d do my best and I knew they’d do their best.”
His best meant that he’d stand behind the defensive line, time his jump perfectly and then knock down the ball.
Quick, who was able to dunk as a high school freshman, was hit in the chest by the kicked ball.
That will happen when you’re 6-foot-5 and lanky, have a 42-inch vertical jump (Quick says it’s probably just 38 inches in pads) and know that a 53-yard kick attempt will have a low trajectory.
The blocked kick kept the score tied 27-27 and sent the game into overtime. There, the Mountaineers stopped The Citadel and then ASU’s Jason Vitaris booted a 30-yard field goal for the win.
“[Quick] has great leaping ability,” ASU coach Jerry Moore said. “He works at [blocking kicks] every day, timing the jump and that was a great play by him.”
This wasn’t the first time Quick had blocked a field goal for the Mountaineers, as he blocked one in the shocking upset at Michigan.
No, not that field goal.
Not the blocked field goal that clinched the victory, but one earlier in the quarter that gave ASU the ball back and led to the game-winning score.
“He blocked one against Michigan that no one even remembers because the other one was so dramatic,” Moore said.
Quick said that the blocked kick against the Bulldogs was bigger than the one against the Wolverines, because it helped the Mountaineers remain unbeaten in Southern Conference play.
“That was the best experience of my life blocking that kick,” he said. “I’m a receiver and I’m going to catch balls and make plays. Being on special teams and blocking a field goal is bigger.”
And he certainly caught passes last week. He grabbed four receptions for 117 yards and moved ahead of CoCo Hillary for the team’s lead in receiving yards (218 to 194).
“The thing I liked about Brian on Saturday is that we’d throw him a 12-yard comeback and he’d gain three more yards,” Moore said. “He must have had three or four plays where he’d fight through and break a tackle or it would take two or three guys to bring him down (after the catch).”
Last season, Quick caught 23 passes for 496 yards, was named to the Southern Conference’s all-freshman team and set an ASU freshman record with seven touchdown receptions.
This Saturday
ASU Mountaineers (2-2 overall, 2-0 SoCon) vs. N.C. Central Eagles
Date: Saturday, October 10
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Location: Kidd Brewer Stadium
Homecoming Game: Watch & Listen
If you can’t make it to the game on Saturday, October 10, you still have several options for viewing or listening to the Mountaineers take on the N.C. Central Eagles at 3:30 p.m.
Radio: WKBC 97.3 FM, WATA 1450 AM
Audio/Video: www.GoASU.com
TV: Replays on MTN 18 at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday
Did You Know?
ASU Wide receiver Brian Quick played only one season of high school football at Ridge View (Columbia, S.C.), but made a big impression. He had 885 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior and was named to the South Carolina Shrine Bowl team.
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