Ponder's stock on the rise after impressive Senior Bowl

By foxsports
Published

By SCOTT REYNOLDS
FOXSportsFlorida.com Contributor
Jan. 29, 2011


Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder was hoping to show NFL scouts at the 2011 Under Armor Senior Bowl that his injury-riddled collegiate career was behind him.

Mission accomplished.

After a good week of practice, which earned him the starting nod for the Senior Bowl, Ponder put on a show Saturday afternoon in Mobile, Ala. and was named the game's MVP after helping the South squad get out to an early 10-0 lead in his team's 24-10 victory.

Ponder didn't wait around to make an impression. He threw a 49-yard bomb into the wind to Miami wide receiver Leonard Hankerson on his first pass of the game.

On the same drive, Ponder scrambled for eight yards and a first down, then picked up three yards and another first down on a QB sneak on third-and-1 down to the North 2-yard line. But after two incompletions, the South had to settle for a field goal to go up 3-0 with 9:57 left in the first quarter.

On his second series in the first quarter, Ponder threw an 18-yard touchdown to Hankerson, perfectly placing the ball on his outside shoulder to put the South up 10-0. Ponder completed 5-of-9 passes for 94 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions in the first half.

In the second half, Ponder threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to TCU wide receiver Jeremy Kerley off a pump fake to push the South's lead to 24-10 with three minutes left in regulation. He finished the Senior Bowl 7-of-13 passing for 132 yards with two TDs and no interceptions. He also had four carries for 17 yards.

"Obviously, I didn't have the senior year that I wanted, and there are a lot of questions surrounding me," Ponder said. "It's just a heck of an opportunity for me. It's something where I couldn't shy away [from playing in the Senior Bowl]."





















The questions surrounding Ponder actually first arose more than a year ago.

Ponder was having a very good junior season in 2009, completing 68.8 percent of his passes for 2,717 yards with 14 TDs and seven INTs over his first eight games. But then a promising season