Buttering up the Offensive Line With Syrup for Pancakes
A pancake just isn't a pancake without a little syrup on it.
That culinary fact that inspired NC State football coach and assistant John Garrison to come up with a unique way of acknowledging their offensive linemen for a job well done.
Anytime a lineman -- or anyone else on the offense, for that matter -- executes a pancake block in a Wolfpack win, he's rewarded with a bottle of maple syrup as a trophy at the next day's video review session.
It's a tradition that fits right in with a position group the majority of whose members tip the scales at better than 300 hundred pounds.
“Everytime you eat pancakes, you always have to have a bottle of syrup with them,” graduate guard Joe Sculthorpe said. “That’s no different on the football field. Every time you get a pancake, you’ve got to have your syrup to go with it. I think it’s a great thing. I really do like it."
A pancake block is the term used by offensive linemen and their coaches to describe a block that leaves a defensive player flat on his back, creating a gaping hole for a ballcarrier to run through.
State had more than its share of them in its season opening 45-42 win against Wake Forest last Saturday.
Combining their experience and chemistry with the pent up aggression built up over a disjointed preseason, Sculthorpe and his linemates Justin Witt, Tyrone Riley, Grant Gibson and Ickey Ekwonu -- along with backups Timothy McKay and Bryson Speas -- were a veritable wrecking crew that led the way to an impressive haul of 270 rushing yards.
Their performance was so dominating that they were rated as the third-best offensive line nationally behind only Notre Dame and BYU after Week 3 of the season by Pro Football Focus College.
"They played fast. I thought they communicated well," Doeren said. "Grant Gibson IDs a lot of things for us in the pass and run game and he was spot-on most of the game. I thought Joe played like you would expect Joe to play. He’s very consistent. He’s physical.
'It was good to see Justin Witt and Tyrone out there together. It was something we were hoping to have last year and didn’t because of Tyrone’s injury. It’s a good group. I think Ickey brings a lot of fire to that group. He’s trying to knock people on the ground and that’s what he does. He brings a lot of juice to that room."
Ekwonu, in addition to being named the ACC's co-Offensive Lineman of the Week, earned five bottles of syrup for his effort Saturday.
"It’s something the O-line takes a lot of pride in," Doeren said. "They sign the bottles and put them up on a shelf. So it’s just kind of a way to reward what we talk about here. We talk about being tough. We talk about winning the line of scrimmage, playing physical. So it’s a way for us in our Sunday meetings after a win to give those guys (some) love and the whole team goes nuts about it.'
Tight ends, backs and receivers are also eligible for the award. But when it comes to syrup on these pancakes, it's the linemen that do most of the eating -- even though it's the generic dollar store kind rather than a brand name.
"As an offense line, we don’t really have stats," Sculthorpe said. "The only stats we have are negatives -- sacks let up, tackles for losss, stuff like that. Whenever you get to have pancakes and knockdowns, it gives you a little bit of highlight. It feels really good. It always gets the team excited.
"It’s a great feeling to have a dominating block on another person down the field, driving them and just finishing it by burying them in the dirt. It’s a really good feeling. It’s definitely fun coming into the O-line room and seeing our shelf filled with bottles of syrup. I do like the syrup and hopefully we’ll get a lot more.”
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