Blanks sneaking up CCU receiving charts

It wasn’t until after the game last Saturday night that Tyrell Blanks realized where he ranked in the program record book, learning he had just moved into third place in Coastal Carolina history in both receptions and receiving yards.

“I didn’t find out until my brother told me after the game. He said the commentators had said it after I made the catch. I was amazed actually,” Blanks said this week.

And if the senior slot receiver was surprised by his feat, he’s probably not alone.

A steady contributor since his freshman season in 2012, Blanks has often been overshadowed while playing with five All-Big South receivers during his time in Conway, but all the while, he’s simply been a constant for the program since head coach Joe Moglia and offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude arrived.

As the numbers show.

After catching four passes for 43 yards in the No. 1/2-ranked Chanticleers’ 31-17 win over Bryant last Saturday, Blanks had climbed to No. 3 on the program’s career receptions list with 117 and also third with 1,453 receiving yards, trailing only NFL players Matt Hazel (183 catches for 2,553 yards) and Jerome Simpson (161-2,720).

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Blanks said. “It means a lot. I just hope that I can keep improving and keep moving up the charts.”

It will be hard to catch those two guys, but Patenaude, after offering his own “Wow” when asked about Blanks’ lofty place in the program record book, said those numbers say a lot about the 5-foot-11 senior from Fort Myers, Fla.

“He’s been a guy that’s been pivotal in everything that we’ve done since he was a freshman,” Patenaude said. “The tribute to him is that he was able to learn the stuff early enough to be able to help us as a freshman and his maturation in our pass game and understanding of what’s going on has really allowed him to be on the field in all types of formations and sets and personnel groupings. So he really never leaves the field.”

Blanks set a Chants’ freshman record with 29 receptions while totaling 318 yards in 2012, and last year, he ranked second on the team with 52 catches while tallying 646 yards and four scores.

And again, he has collected those stats while playing alongside five receivers who garnered first- or second-team All-Big South honors – initially Hazel, DeMario Bennett and Niccolo Mastromatteo and now junior Bruce Mapp and senior John Israel. Blanks and Mastromatteo shared time in the slot his first two years.

While he says he feels pride in his performance since joining the program, he thinks he could have accomplished even more to this point, but part of playing on a loaded offense is sharing the football.

“As a receiver you would want to get the ball as much as you can, but it’s a process that everybody has to go through,” he said.

The 2015 Chants are as flush as ever with talent in the receiving corps, including big-play veterans Mapp and Israel (who is likely out Saturday night against Alabama A&M with turf toe) and another emerging playmaker in sophomore Chris Jones, among others.

Blanks managed to leave his mark on the win last week, though, picking up 33 yards on a completion in the third quarter that moved the Chants across midfield and help set up the go-ahead touchdown.

“I think his route running is really a positive that he brings to the table,” senior quarterback Alex Ross said. “He’s very smooth with his routes and he knows how to work defenders in a way to manipulate them into the routes he wants to run. He’s really good at weaving in and out and being able to turn the safety’s hips out to be able to come under him or vice versa.”

While Blanks’ share of the offensive pie has been limited through the first four games – he’s third on the team with 13 catches for 140 yards – he isn’t lowering his goals for the season, saying he wants to catch at least 70 passes for at least 700 yards and seven touchdowns.

As he showed last season with back-to-back games of five catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns at Gardner-Webb and 10 catches for 105 yards at Charlotte, he’s capable of piling up big plays in bunches when the opportunities come.

“It’s being patient and waiting your turn,” he said.

Which has more or less been his situation for each of his four seasons in Conway, and as the numbers illustrate, he’s done a pretty good job of it.

“I think being a prideful guy and a competitive guy you always want to have a game where you get eight or nine catches,” Patenaude said. “But I think they understand that we’ve got some pretty good players out there and they’re happy sharing the ball as long as we’re winning.”

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 8:10 PM with the headline "Blanks sneaking up CCU receiving charts."