Trestman: Florida State Is 'Explosive'

NC State offensive coordinator Marc Trestman fielded questions today during his weekly teleconference and here is a sampler of what he had to say.

Were you surprised by the production Andre Brown had against Southern Mississippi?
I wasn't surprised at his ability to run the football. He's shown that throughout the summer and the fall. He made the most of his opportunity.

Leroy Harris talked about a new running play that you used against USM.  Can you describe that play?
We've got a selection of plays in our book that most teams have.   The power play was one of the plays that we ran during the game.

It is basically the tight end blocking back the linemen, whether it was John Ritcher, Anthony Hill or Octavius Darby.

Anthony Hill is receiving more snaps.  Can you talk about the versatility that he adds to the offense?
I am really excited about what Anthony brings to the table.  He's a smart guy.  He's quiet but very smart.  He plays very hard and very nasty. He's a nasty blocker... he's a very physical blocker.  He brings a lot to the table.  He's continuing to improve and get better week in and week out. He is an exciting player to know that you will have around for a few more years.

Overall thoughts on Marcus Stone in his first start:
It wasn't the kind of start we would want him to have, certainly in the first half.  I think you saw some mental toughness there and ability to compose himself because he was very, very shaky in the first half and was very unlike himself.  He came around in the second half, and he completed some passes and protected the football.  I thought that he finished very strong and hopefully that will catapult him through the next month of the season and he can continue to improve and play at a higher level.

What do you think of Florida State?
Obviously, they are a very explosive football team on defense.  Their guys run very well ,and they are explosive players. They've got guys who can make plays both in the front seven and on the perimeter. They will give us a great challenge, probably as good as any we've had all season.

Go through the final offensive play on the game-winning drive and your decision to let Marcus throw for the touchdown:
You don't like to leave the redzone without the opportunity to throw it into the endzone. We had a number of plays that we could run, and we had a play that had a chance to score and at the same time allowed us to protect the football by throwing it to the outside where it should have been to give us a chance to make a play.  The guys did a great job up front protecting, Brian ran a good route, Marcus made a good throw, and we were able to score.