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Through struggles, Rix still endures

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida State quarterback Chris Rix is tough.

During Saturday's 28-17 win over Georgia Tech, the redshirt freshman endured two hard hits, both of which he was slow getting up from, to pass for 219 yards and two touchdowns and rush for a career-high 60 yards and one touchdown.

With the 279 yards of total offense, Rix set an Atlantic Coast Conference record for yardage by a freshman in a season with 3,123. The mark of 2,969 yards was set last season by North Carolina State quarterback Phillip Rivers.

"I could not have anticipated (Rix) having this great a year," coach Bobby Bowden said. "I thought there was no way he could surpass the year N.C. State's quarterback had last year because I thought he was terrific."

Rix dedicated his season to his coaches, who contemplated benching the turnover-prone freshman midway through the season in favor of true freshman Adrian McPherson.

"The individual stuff is good, but I give all credit to my coaches and teammates really, especially the coaches for staying with me and keeping the confidence and basically just believing in me in the middle of the season," Rix said.

If Rix showed his mental toughness by rebounding from the controversy, he displayed his physical toughness during Saturday's hard-hitting game.

With 9:06 left and FSU trailing 10-7, Rix darted down the left side for the end zone. He spun around one defender at the 2, got hit by another, then had his facemask turned completely around by safety Jeremy Muyres.

Rix scored but remained on the ground for several minutes while he was attended to by team trainers. His helmet had to be pried off.

"I just tried to get into that end zone any way I could," Rix said. "I'm just thankful that I got in there, we got the six points, and I wasn't seriously injured."

In the beginning of the fourth quarter, Rix was forced by a referee to leave the game after sustaining a hard hit from defensive ends Hobie Holiday and Tony Hargrove during a 1-yard run. He returned a play later to lead FSU to another touchdown.

Rix's 389 yards rushing this season are 50 more than Charlie Ward gained during his Heisman-winning campaign in 1993.

"Toughness is a very good description of him," Bowden said of Rix. "We know he's a good athlete, but on top of that, he's tough."

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