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Hokies Game Gave Ponder A Chance

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By STEVE ELLIS

Tallahassee Democrat

Published: October 23, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - With Florida State trainers attending to a woozy Drew Weatherford and a graduate assistant yelling at Christian Ponder to get ready, offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher wasn't sure what to expect from his untested redshirt freshman quarterback on a November night in 2007 in Blacksburg, Va.

FSU trailed 20-6 when Ponder was rushed in to take over for Weatherford, who was on the wrong end of a helmet-to-helmet collision with Virginia Tech's Brandon Flowers.

"When we played Virginia Tech last year you didn't really know what you had," Fisher said of Ponder. "You knew you had some guy with potential and you felt very good about his instincts and ability."

Ponder, in FSU's 40-21 loss to Virginia Tech, flashed the promise of a mobile quarterback with a good arm and the ability to lead under duress. Ponder, in his first collegiate action, rallied FSU to a 21-20 advantage in the third quarter before his three turnovers ruined any chances of an upset of a ranked team.

"I did see a lot of potential," Fisher said. "There were a lot of things and characteristics I saw in that game that I felt very comfortable about and knew that he had chance to be a very good player in the future."

They were the qualities that led to Fisher picking Ponder over the veteran Weatherford as his starter this season and ones he has learned to count on. Ponder has turned to them to help FSU bounce back from a turnover-plagued effort against Wake Forest to direct FSU on critical drives in wins against Colorado, Miami and N.C. State.

"His progress, I've been pleased with it this year," Fisher said. "Taken a couple of steps back at times but not making a lot of the same mistakes, which I always thought was one of his great characteristics."

For Ponder, the highlights and lowlights of that Virginia Tech game were vital to the building process. He learned in a big-time environment that it was important to not let mistakes get to him.

"I think the biggest thing is not letting those things affect me," Ponder said. "Once I had that first fumble in that Virginia Tech game it carried over and affected the rest of the game and I came out and threw two straight picks. So that's something I really improved on.

"The success in scrambling gave me a lot of confidence. I think one thing that helped in that game is Virginia Tech didn't know I could run the ball. They were surprised when it happened. I think they are going to do a lot better job now preparing for me and try to stop that aspect."

Fisher recalled that Ponder in that game "didn't have a ton of success right off the bat." But against a solid Virginia Tech defense on its home turf, Ponder rallied FSU before the turnovers got him into trouble.

"You saw a guy who was competitive, not scared to take chances that his team responded to and has the ability to win games with his mind, with his arm and with his legs," Fisher said.

But what stood out for Ponder as he watched film from that game almost weekly during the summer was something bigger than a single play.

"It gave me a lot of confidence after that game to go into this season for that starting job," he said, "and really gave me a lot of confidence in myself."

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