It’s been a long time coming for junior running back Ricky Person Jr., but sometimes it takes a while to put it all together. Person was a highly touted recruit coming to NC State out of high school: a composite high four star, ranked the second best running back in his year by 247sports.
With lofty accolades came lofty expectations for the hometown kid, and many assumed Person would be the next NFL-bound NC State running back, carrying on the recent tradition of Matt Dayes, Jaylen Samuels and Nyheim Hines. Entering year four in Raleigh, though, many seemed taken away with the dazzling talent of sophomore running back Zonovan “Bam” Knight — and that was for good reason.
Knight and Person formed a dangerous tandem but the youngster was often the “1” in their 1-2 combo, showing off burst and balance that almost no one else in the country could match, while Person often dealt with nagging injuries. Whether it was the wrist injury he had in high school, or the torn labrum he suffered in his freshman year, Person never consistently seemed 100%. But blessings come in weird ways sometimes, and for a player that tries to play through pain, the greatest gift they can get is a forced vacation.
“I feel like the COVID year actually helped me, allowed my body to bounce back and get the treatment that I needed to get for my body,” said Person during fall camp. “That comes from the best training staff that we have. They just helped me get my body right. In the weight room, coach Thunder day in and day out, so honestly, you just start stacking up good days like that and now you start seeing what happened last year.”
What happened last year was a great opening day, with Person rushing for 99 yards and accounting for three touchdowns, but that ended up being his best performance of the year as he never came close to 100 yards rushing for the rest of the season. Later we learned Person had a shoulder injury which required surgery after the 2020 season, and which forced him out of spring ball.
That meant another forced hiatus from taking damage, and this one precipitated an explosion: his best college performance in a complete performance versus USF. Nineteen touches, 148 total yards and three touchdowns — all of those scores coming in the first half — as Person willed NC State to dominance in the Wolfpack’s running of the Bulls.
Whether it was catching wheel routes, taking snaps in the wildcat or boring, standard, rush attempts, success followed behind the Heritage product even as the run game struggled to begin the contest.
“He ran really hard, did some good things inside the tackles and outside of tackles and has a nose for the goal line for sure,” said head coach Dave Doeren postgame. “Him and Zonovan are each other’s biggest fans and also competitive. I think they want to out-rush each other and out-gain each other and all these different things. I think there’s been a lot of talk, in the offseason, about Bam and I know Ricky wants to prove how good he is as well.”
Message received loud and clear. Person and Knight looked less like a 1-2 combo and more like different flavors of death, running roughshod over USF’s defense. The high aspirations NC State has for its season began with an emphatic day from Person, who apparently loves the opening-day lights a bit more than the rest.
The true test, now, is for this performance to become the standard and not a flash of potential. Person said he’s approaching this year like it’s his last at NC State, and he might make that true. Though he was emotional after the game, he didn’t sound like someone amazed at the product he put on the field. If there’s more where that came from, the veteran’s in the right headspace to keep it coming.
“I’ve been here long enough, I mean, it’s just another game,” Person said. “We gotta get back to it tomorrow and go back and watch the tape tomorrow and see what we need to fix and what we need to capitalize on.”
