Johnny Frasier gearing up for return to football action

You could excuse NC State redshirt freshman running back Johnny Frasier if he did not remember the exact date he played a competitive football game.

It was the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Impressively, Frasier did remember the date: Jan. 3, 2015.

It will be 607 days between that All-American game and NCSU’s season opener Sept. 1, when the nation's No. 24 running back as a high school senior is hoping to get back into the action for the first time since he suited up for the East squad in the Army Bowl. On that day, he was still technically a Florida State commitment after finishing up his senior season at Princeton (N.C.) High.

After a ballyhooed recruitment that saw him switch to the Wolfpack weeks before National Signing Day, Frasier had high expectations placed upon him. But even the best recruits have adjustments to college. For Frasier, no longer able to simply be a man among boys at the 1-A level, he had to learn a whole new level of football.

“I feel a whole lot better,” Frasier said. “I am more acclimated to the way college football is being played and getting ready for it. … It’s hard. I should have had the mindset that it was going to be harder than what I had been going through. I didn’t have that mindset when I came here, but now I do.”

As he redshirted last season, Frasier admitted he was disappointed about not playing, but there was one valuable lesson he gleaned out of it. This was not football at small-town Princeton.

“It’s a lot harder,” he stated. “When I was on the scout team, though, I realized I can play with these guys.”

Frasier is hoping that he can show that to the locals against William & Mary in the opener. He suspected that the whole town of Princeton could come to watch.

“I know it’s going to be insane,” he said.

One of the learned lessons he might show them is running with newfound respect for his power at 5-10, 224 pounds.

“When I get that mindset of how to use my body in ways college football will want, I think I will be a great aspect to the team that can contribute a lot,” he said.

Whether his time to contribute to that extent among a crowded backfield comes Sept. 1 remains to be seen, but the thought of it is enough to excite him.

“As soon as I lay down at night, the thought hits me that we play in [eight] days,” Frasier said. “It’s been a long time coming.”

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