The Orange pulled off one of the ugliest wins in recent memory against an FCS team that was just hoping to keep up. The team made an endless amount of mistakes and didn’t capitalize on open opportunities, but there was a bright spot in that mess of a game.
After the game, Broyld didn’t have much to say about his individual performance. He gave a lot of credit to his offensive line. But he did speak about the importance of his first touchdown.
“It felt like I belong there, I wasn’t too surprised, too excited, I was just waiting for it to happen,” he said. “Today, I was fortunate enough for it to happen.”
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Broyld has been waiting for his time for a while now. Marrone said after the game that Broyld was upset after the season opener because he thought he should be playing more.
Marrone agreed, but since Broyld is included in such complex packages, the head coach wanted to be sure he was ready before throwing him into the game.
“He’s a very, very good athlete,” Marrone said. “But in order to play more, you have to know the ins and outs of everything that you’re doing.”
Broyld is on pace to be a key piece of the offense by the end of the season. Marrone said he loves the versatile athlete’s work ethic.
“He has been getting better and better,” Marrone said. “We have been getting him more involved, and we have been getting him more carries and that’s the direction we want to go.”
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Ryan Nassib is excited to have another threat in the offense. Not only is Broyld dangerous on the ground, but he’s a threat in the air, too. He grabbed two passes from Nassib and went for 20 yards.
“Ashton’s a really talented kid,” he said. “He’s got the potential to really break out at any point.”
The team may have looked awful today, but the performance of Ashton Broyld should put Orange fans at ease. He’s going to be making an impact by the end of this season and he’ll be this team’s offensive leader a couple years down the road.
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