The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1059287
26 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER N C State's offensive line received a few national honors after a stellar 2018 season. Center Garrett Bradbury and left guard Terronne Prescod — both of whom are fifth-year seniors — were tabbed as All- Americans by Pro Football Focus (PFF) Dec. 3, with Prescod being named to the first team and Bradbury listed on the sec- ond team. "Prescod finished the 2018 regular sea- son with the highest overall grade (85.7) among all offensive linemen as he allowed just six hurries on 342 blocking snaps," PFF noted. "His 86.2 blocking grade was 4.1 points higher than the next closest of- fensive lineman. "Bradbury finished with the confer- ence's second-highest run-blocking grade of all linemen at 82.1 while also impress- ing in pass protection," PFF added. "On 496 pass-blocking snaps, he allowed just 11 pressures." The two came to NC State with different recruiting credentials. Prescod was a well- regarded offensive guard prospect, rated as the No. 28 player at his position nation- ally and the No. 64 prospect in talent-rich Georgia by Rivals.com. He was diligently pursued by Auburn even after his commit- ment to the Wolfpack and had nine other offers from Power Five schools. Bradbury was a two-star signing who did not rank among the best players in the state of North Carolina coming out of Charlotte Christian, according to Ri- vals.com. His only other offers when he picked the Wolfpack were Charlotte and Colorado State, and he was picking up interest from Appalachian State. Brad- bury signed with the Pack as a tight end, moved to defensive tackle and finally settled in on the offensive line. The last NC State offensive lineman to be named an All-American was Joe Thuney in 2015. He was tabbed as a first-team per- former by USA Today and was a third-team selection by the Associated Press. Thuney is in his third season as a starting guard for the New England Patriots. Both Bradbury and Prescod were named first-team All-ACC by PFF as well, along with redshirt junior wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and fifth-year senior linebacker Germaine Pratt. Fifth-year senior left tackle Tyler Jones, sixth-year senior quarterback Ryan Finley and junior wide receiver Kel- vin Harmon were second-team all-league selections. Bradbury, who is NC State's first all- conference center since Chuck Massaro in 1987, also was picked for one of three finalists for the Rimington Award given to college football's top center. The other two in contention are Alabama's Ross Pierschbacher and Notre Dame's Sam Mustipher. The winner was announced Dec. 6 in Atlanta. NC State has not had an offensive line- man win a national award since Jim Ritcher was named the Outland Trophy winner in 1979. Pack Well Represented On All-ACC Teams A league-high six NC State players were picked for the official All-ACC first team, the most for the Pack since 1992. For the past five years, the league and its sportswriters released separate all-con- ference selections, with the ACC's ver- sion considered the official one. NC State did have seven first-team selections in last season's Atlantic Coast Sports Media As- sociation (ACSMA) version. The ACSMA is not releasing an All-ACC squad this year. Quarterback Ryan Finley, a sixth-year senior, highlights the first-team choices. The last first-team quarterback for the Pack was Russell Wilson in 2008. Finley also was runner-up for ACC Offensive Player of the Year. Finley led the conference in passing yards per game (315.8), 300-yard passing games (eight) and completion percentage (67.9). Through 11 games, he has thrown for 3,789 yards with 24 touchdowns and nine WOLFPACK FOOTBALL Pack Offensive Linemen Earn National Honors 2018 Schedule Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 1 James Madison W, 24-13 Sept. 8 Georgia State W, 41-7 Sept. 15 West Virginia Cancelled Sept. 22 at Marshall W, 37-20 Sept. 29 Virginia W, 35-21 Oct. 6 Boston College W, 28-23 Oct. 20 at Clemson L, 41-7 Oct. 27 at Syracuse L, 51-41 Nov. 3 Florida State W, 47-28 Nov. 8 Wake Forest L, 27-23 Nov. 17 at Louisville W, 52-10 Nov. 24 at North Carolina W, 34-28 Dec. 1 East Carolina W, 58-3 Dec. 31 vs. Texas A&M* (ESPN) 7:30 p.m. * TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at Jacksonville, Fla. Fifth-year senior left guard Terronne Prescod (left) was named a first-team All-American by Pro Football Focus, while fifth-year senior center Garrett Bradbury (right) was tabbed as a second-team selection. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN