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Reid finally finds paydirt for Noles

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By COREY CLARK

The Tallahassee Democrat

Published: November 14, 2009

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Greg Reid had come close before.

He had a 63-yard punt return against South Florida. He had a 42-yarder last week against Clemson.

He was ranked 18th in the nation in yards per return heading into the game against Wake Forest, but he had never taken one all the way back in his brief college career.

That changed on Saturday, with a remarkable 68-yard runback late in the second quarter against the Demon Deacons.

"I mean it felt real good," Reid said. "Especially in an away game and being able to help the defense out a lot. That's really what I was trying to do - help out the defense and help out my team."
He accomplished both.

The punt bounced to the true freshman near the left sideline at his own 32. When he caught it, he froze for a brief moment and then took off toward midfield.

Two cuts later he was out in the open. He then criss-crossed down the field until he found himself in the black paint of the Wake Forest end zone.

"It wasn't designed like that," Reid said of standing motionless. "It's just kind of common sense a little bit. You've got to kind of wait for the punt coverage team to get in alignment and try to get a block or whatever. So that's kind of what I did."

It was the first punt return for a touchdown for Florida State since Tony Carter ran one back 68 yards in the 2008 season opener against Western Carolina.

With Reid being just a freshman, there's likely to be a few more punt return touchdowns in the coming years.

"He's a very gifted athlete," head coach Bobby Bowden said.

"He is a magical, magical guy" said offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, who recruited Reid to Tallahassee out of Lowndes High School (Ga.). "He's going to be a special player."

It was a magical return, that's for sure.

It might have reminded some FSU fans of Terrell Buckley's punt return against Syracuse in 1989 in which the Pascagoula, Miss. native caught the ball, froze like it was a fair catch and then sprinted past a confused punt coverage team.

Reid said he's familiar with the play, but he wasn't necessarily recreating it on Saturday.

"Yeah, I've seen it," he said with a laugh. "I wasn't trying that, though. I wasn't trying that."

The Valdosta native was just one aspect of a very good special-teams performance by the Seminoles on Saturday.

Senior cornerback Patrick Robinson averaged 25 yards on three kick returns, Shawn Powell boomed two punts for an average of 54.5 yards and freshman kicker Dustin Hopkins was a perfect 2 of 2 on field goal attempts.

He also had four touchbacks - and all four were blasted seven or eight yards deep.

"I was definitely trying to drive it a little more (and not worry about hang-time) after I got the feel for it," Hopkins said.

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