BearTalk

Here are some quotes from some of the players I’ve talked over the past couple of days (that I haven’t printed already):

JAHVID BEST:

–On Kevin Riley’s demeanor: “He’s just more confident and he has more poise in the huddle. He’s leading the team better than he was last year. He’s definitely the leader of our team now. It’s something you just feel. You come out to practice and he steps in the huddle, everybody just stops talking and listens to him. He just has that control over people.”

–On running backs coach Ron Gould: “He expects perfection from everybody. Freshmen come in on the first day and he’s hounding them. I’m like, ‘C’mon Coach G, give them a break.’ But he expects perfection out of everybody. It was tough at first. Some days you don’t even like him. You just have to trust he’s doing everything to make you a better player.”

KEVIN RILEY:

–If he has changed at all since being named the starter: “I wouldn’t say it has. It definitely added to the confidence I was already building. I believe every day that I’ve been practicing better and throwing the ball better since I was named the starter.”

–On the difficulties of being a leader last year while sharing time with Nate Longshore: “It was kind of a difficult situation. You want to step up and be a leader, but at the same time I didn’t want to cross over because Nate was a leader as well and he had done a lot of good things. It was a hard situation. We both wanted to play, of course. At times it was tough. It was hard, but I think we both handled it well. We just wanted to win.”

VINCE D’AMATO:

–On being named starting field goal kicker: “It’s exciting. It’s awesome. I put a lot of hard work into it.”

–On the most pressure-packed kick he’s had: “Probably the first game I ever kicked, sophomore year (of high school). It was kind of exciting (a short 20-yarder to win the game).”

–Any point in camp you felt like you had a good shot: “Actually, after camp. It was more like I was getting tired during camp so the leg started coming through a lot slower. Then we had a day off, and hte next day it felt good again.”

SYD’QUAN THOMPSON:

–Revenge vs. Maryland?: “It’s a game we felt got away from us real early in the game. If we had a couple more minutes on the clock, we feel like we could have pulled out a win last year. But we’re looking forward to the challenge again. We get a chance to redeem ourselves and start the season right.”

–If the time change was a factor last year: “I don’t really want to use excuses. I don’t like excuses. Whether it was an earlier game or a later game, we just had to come out and be prepared to play a game. It was a little warmer than we usually play in, but I don’t think that’s an excuse for us losing the game. It just took awhile for us to execute the game plan. It came back and bit us in the end.”

–Thoughts on Maryland QB Chris Turner: “He knows what he wants to do before he snaps the ball. He’s really consistent in knowing where he wants to go. I think that’s the type of leadership you need from a quarterback.”

–Stepping up as a leader?: “Before, I normally led by example. But now that we’ve lost a lot of key vocal leaders, I think my role is to step in and be a little more vocal. Not overly talk, but whenever I feel like the team is in need of it. If we’re not playing to our highest potential, or we’re playing a little sluggishly, be able to step in and give the team some encouraging words to step it up.”

–Does 2007 meltdown help prepare for expectations better?: “It’s more about keeping the team together. I think in ’07 it was kind of a team breakdown a little bit in certain areas. Coming into this season we just want to let everybody know that no matter what happens, we still have to stick together as a team. Put last week behind us and move forward.”

–7 p.m. a factor? “I really don’t think it’s going to affect anything. It’s a home game. We’re used to this weather. I think it will be good for us. We get to show off what we put together over the spring and summer, to everybody in the nation.”

–Looking forward to returning punts again? “That’s my opportunity as a DB to really get my hands on the ball and make something happen for our team. Obviously, our coaches have a lot of confidence in me handling the ball back there. I’m going to try to return balls and put our offense in position to score.”

MARVIN JONES:

–Expect teams to focus on stopping the run?: “That could be reasonable. Obviously, we have Jahvid and everyone is going to key on him. They’re going to be challenging us, but we’re expecting everything. We’re ready to compete.”

–How does playing against Syd’Quan Thompson and Darian Hagan help you?: “That gives us a confidence boost, gives us a feeling of how the top cornerbacks in the country play. So going against them every day better prepares us for the good corners out there.”

–What makes Thompson so good?: “He just competes. He doesn’t like to lose in anything, one-on-ones or anything. Whatever he does, he wants to be the best. That’s what i admire about him most.”

–How has Kevin Riley changed since being named starter?: “He’s embraced it well. Obviously, he’s been a leader ever since last season ended, but you can see the change, you can see he’s ready and wants to lead this team to victory. It’s evident when you look at him every practice, how he wants to get better.”