Aug. 28, 2007
#89 – James Johnson, Junior, Receiver
On what he looking forward to on Saturday against Notre Dame:
“It is going to be tremendous. I have never been on that field before. Those first five minutes are going to be tense. It’s the first game of both our seasons; we are playing a pretty good team, with a great coach. We also have a great coach and a good team too. It’s going to be fun.”
On proving naysayer’s wrong:
“We just want to have a great season, we are not in the top 25 but that is alright. We plan to show everyone that we are supposed to be up there with this game, it’s good that we are playing a good team right at the beginning of the season.”
On playing Notre Dame two years in a row:
“This year is a little bit tougher, they do not have a starting quarterback right now and our defense has to figure that out. We do not totally know what type of defense they will be playing. It is really not the same; it is a different team with a lot of new starters, a lot of new players on the field that we have never seen before. It is like playing a new team with the same name of the team we played last season.”
#39 – Durant Brooks, Senior, Punter
On watching other punters:
“Not really in college but I do watch the NFL. See what guys I played against last year are doing. I try to compare myself to them to better myself to make it to the next level.
#22 – Tashard Choice, Senior, Running Back
On gaining confidence from last year:
“Last year we had a chance to win the game but we came up a little short. We knew that we could compete with anyone. This season we want to show people that we can go into a hostile environment and win games like that and do that for the course of the season.”
On the second half of last season’s Notre Dame game:
“We didn’t run the football as much, we didn’t convert on that many third downs. Our defense made the plays they had to but we just didn’t finish when we were supposed too.”
On “Four Quarters” idea:
“You have to play as a team, you have to fight the fight, you have to make a stand and you have to finish the game. It is combining all those things over four quarters to win the game.”
