Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
"He’s going to do some damage” — Peasant leads MTSU running game in 2022
8/31/2022 5:34:00 PM | Football
Former high school linebacker is a versatile, and bruising, weapon for the Blue Raider offense
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Frank Peasant's favorite play in his two seasons as a Blue Raider isn't a surprise, if you hear how he describes it.
"I don't know if you've seen this one, but it's from WKU," Peasant said. "When I ran him over."
Finding that play in question in the game is a little bit trickier. Peasant ran the ball 18 times against the Hilltoppers in 2021, but the play description in the play-by-play makes things a little easier.
Peasant, Frank rush for 8 yards to the MTSU40, 1ST DOWN MTSU (SHIPP, D.).
Peasant had taken a handoff from Nicholas Vattiato, and a WKU defender stepped in the hole to meet him. The defender lowered his head, Peasant lowered his shoulder, but the helmets made contact first. Peasant moved up the field to get the first down. The defender had to be helped off.
"If he's got that ball in his hand and he lowers his shoulder, he's going to do some damage," teammate Jaylin Lane said.
And while the injury is something no one wants to see, Peasant prides himself on his physical running style and doesn't apologize for it.
"I plan on doing that a lot more this year," said Peasant of running over opponents. The sophomore opens the 2022 season as the starting running back for MTSU after starting in one game for MTSU a season ago.
Given that, you'd be forgiven for looking at Peasant as just a bruiser, a running back that drives through players for more yards and relishes hitting them on a blitz pick up. But the Pensacola, Fla. native is so much more than a "power back", says MTSU offensive coordinator Mitch Stewart.
"I kind of laugh when you say that and call him (a power back), because he's probably one of the best athletes we have," Stewart said. "He's a guy where if you need him to catch, he can catch, and he's a smooth receiver. You need him to throw? He can throw and he looks pretty good doing it. If you need him to run, he can run."
Peasant was listed as an "athlete", not a running back, when he signed with MTSU in 2020, a product of playing both linebacker and running back at Escambia High School. When then defensive line coach Dustin Royston first started scouting Peasant, it was as a potential linebacker, not a running back.
"He didn't play linebacker his senior year," Royston said, jumping into an interview with Peasant. He turned to the back, "What were you, 2000 (yards) your senior year?"
Peasant smiled and nodded. The current linebackers coach responded in kind.
"I saw him play baseball in the spring," Royston said. "I saw him play Pine Forest, where he went off. And when we were in a contact period, he played in the state championship against Miami Northwestern. It was a hard one, I had to work for that one."
Arriving at MTSU in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peasant stood out early amid crowded running back rooms in his first two seasons as a Blue Raider, appearing in nine games with one start as a true freshman and in 12 games with one start in his second freshman season in 2021.
He had to compete for playing time with a plethora of veterans, Brad Anderson, Chaton Mobley, and eventually transfers Martell Pettaway and Amir Rasul. But from that group, Peasant learned what it took to get on the field.
"I learned to take advantage of every opportunity," Peasant said. "Even at the end of the games, where nobody really cared, but if they put me in, I'm going to do my best at all times. I learned that from Brad Anderson. He taught me to stay down and grind at practice, how to get through practice."
With the graduation or departure of every one of those veterans, the sophomore quickly found himself as the most experienced back in the room. Sure, folks like Darius Bracy, A'Varius Sparrow, Joe Ervin, they all transferred into the program with experience at the FBS level. They brought in things for Peasant to learn from too. But Peasant was suddenly having to lead a room through his actions, and it took him some time to feel stable in that role.
He found a way to lead by example, figuring that if the guys saw how hard he worked, they'd want to work just as hard as him. Particularly in the dirty parts of being a running back, the chip blocks, the blitz pickups, that the former linebacker thrived in.
"Everybody was starting to hit the linebacker like I hit the linebacker," Peasant said. "I personally think they picked that up from me, because in the beginning, the spring, they weren't doing it. But in fall camp, I saw it more and more, even down the depth chart."
Give credit to running backs coach Jeff Beckles too, of course, who highlighted improving those little things this camp as a point of emphasis, but Peasant's point is well taken. It is a little different when you have someone with his mentality leading the way.
Stewart notes that a downhill runner like Peasant works well in his air raid offense, where running the ball is often based on a numbers game of guys in the box. If the Blue Raiders can keep guys out of the box for Peasant, it'll make that downhill momentum all that much easier for the young back to find. It's a responsibility Peasant doesn't take lightly at the top of the depth chart heading into MTSU's opener at James Madison this Saturday.
"Them looking at me, it gives me something to look forward to," Peasant said. "I've got to provide leadership; I've got to show up."
A lot is on Peasant's shoulders, as MTSU looks to improve a running game that's been tepid at best most of his time in Murfreesboro, at least out of the running back room. But the changes he's seen on campus in that time, and in the program since he's been here, have him optimistic.
"From 2020 to 2022, the whole school is changing," Peasant said, recalling the pandemic that affected so much of his early college career. "I'm seeing more people on campus. More events on campus, there's more college life now. When I first got here, it was like a desert. I was like 'Is this college? Or is it just the college I picked?'
"But now, I'm starting to love it. I hope the fans come out and we get everything rolling."
"I don't know if you've seen this one, but it's from WKU," Peasant said. "When I ran him over."
Finding that play in question in the game is a little bit trickier. Peasant ran the ball 18 times against the Hilltoppers in 2021, but the play description in the play-by-play makes things a little easier.
Peasant, Frank rush for 8 yards to the MTSU40, 1ST DOWN MTSU (SHIPP, D.).
Peasant had taken a handoff from Nicholas Vattiato, and a WKU defender stepped in the hole to meet him. The defender lowered his head, Peasant lowered his shoulder, but the helmets made contact first. Peasant moved up the field to get the first down. The defender had to be helped off.
"If he's got that ball in his hand and he lowers his shoulder, he's going to do some damage," teammate Jaylin Lane said.
And while the injury is something no one wants to see, Peasant prides himself on his physical running style and doesn't apologize for it.
"I plan on doing that a lot more this year," said Peasant of running over opponents. The sophomore opens the 2022 season as the starting running back for MTSU after starting in one game for MTSU a season ago.
Given that, you'd be forgiven for looking at Peasant as just a bruiser, a running back that drives through players for more yards and relishes hitting them on a blitz pick up. But the Pensacola, Fla. native is so much more than a "power back", says MTSU offensive coordinator Mitch Stewart.
"I kind of laugh when you say that and call him (a power back), because he's probably one of the best athletes we have," Stewart said. "He's a guy where if you need him to catch, he can catch, and he's a smooth receiver. You need him to throw? He can throw and he looks pretty good doing it. If you need him to run, he can run."
Peasant was listed as an "athlete", not a running back, when he signed with MTSU in 2020, a product of playing both linebacker and running back at Escambia High School. When then defensive line coach Dustin Royston first started scouting Peasant, it was as a potential linebacker, not a running back.
"He didn't play linebacker his senior year," Royston said, jumping into an interview with Peasant. He turned to the back, "What were you, 2000 (yards) your senior year?"
Peasant smiled and nodded. The current linebackers coach responded in kind.
"I saw him play baseball in the spring," Royston said. "I saw him play Pine Forest, where he went off. And when we were in a contact period, he played in the state championship against Miami Northwestern. It was a hard one, I had to work for that one."
Arriving at MTSU in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peasant stood out early amid crowded running back rooms in his first two seasons as a Blue Raider, appearing in nine games with one start as a true freshman and in 12 games with one start in his second freshman season in 2021.
He had to compete for playing time with a plethora of veterans, Brad Anderson, Chaton Mobley, and eventually transfers Martell Pettaway and Amir Rasul. But from that group, Peasant learned what it took to get on the field.
"I learned to take advantage of every opportunity," Peasant said. "Even at the end of the games, where nobody really cared, but if they put me in, I'm going to do my best at all times. I learned that from Brad Anderson. He taught me to stay down and grind at practice, how to get through practice."
With the graduation or departure of every one of those veterans, the sophomore quickly found himself as the most experienced back in the room. Sure, folks like Darius Bracy, A'Varius Sparrow, Joe Ervin, they all transferred into the program with experience at the FBS level. They brought in things for Peasant to learn from too. But Peasant was suddenly having to lead a room through his actions, and it took him some time to feel stable in that role.
He found a way to lead by example, figuring that if the guys saw how hard he worked, they'd want to work just as hard as him. Particularly in the dirty parts of being a running back, the chip blocks, the blitz pickups, that the former linebacker thrived in.
"Everybody was starting to hit the linebacker like I hit the linebacker," Peasant said. "I personally think they picked that up from me, because in the beginning, the spring, they weren't doing it. But in fall camp, I saw it more and more, even down the depth chart."
Give credit to running backs coach Jeff Beckles too, of course, who highlighted improving those little things this camp as a point of emphasis, but Peasant's point is well taken. It is a little different when you have someone with his mentality leading the way.
Stewart notes that a downhill runner like Peasant works well in his air raid offense, where running the ball is often based on a numbers game of guys in the box. If the Blue Raiders can keep guys out of the box for Peasant, it'll make that downhill momentum all that much easier for the young back to find. It's a responsibility Peasant doesn't take lightly at the top of the depth chart heading into MTSU's opener at James Madison this Saturday.
"Them looking at me, it gives me something to look forward to," Peasant said. "I've got to provide leadership; I've got to show up."
A lot is on Peasant's shoulders, as MTSU looks to improve a running game that's been tepid at best most of his time in Murfreesboro, at least out of the running back room. But the changes he's seen on campus in that time, and in the program since he's been here, have him optimistic.
"From 2020 to 2022, the whole school is changing," Peasant said, recalling the pandemic that affected so much of his early college career. "I'm seeing more people on campus. More events on campus, there's more college life now. When I first got here, it was like a desert. I was like 'Is this college? Or is it just the college I picked?'
"But now, I'm starting to love it. I hope the fans come out and we get everything rolling."
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