Coach Higgins on 2011 Captains…
"The captains this year are Tolu Akindele, Rickey Anderson, Ben Dupree and Derek Douglas. Ben Dupree; our true sophomore quarterback was selected by his teammates and Derek Douglas, a red shift sophomore, defensive lineman was also selected. It was interesting to see how the team voted. Both of those guys, of course, I feel are outstanding leaders and will do a good job for us. I'm happy to have all four of those guys at the helm."
Coach Higgins on camp…
"One good thing is that we are as healthy as we are, going into camp. We had a couple of bumps and bruises, but our guys came out of it healthy. I thought camp went extremely well. We got a lot of work in from a physical standpoint. Our defense is going against the spread this week, so we had our number ones and twos run a lot of spread, which will hopefully benefit them. We also were able to go live quite a bit against our defense, running the triple options, even though we are not playing against the option for a several weeks."
"I've had numerous people say to me we look a lot bigger than in the past. I would say that is true. Donnell Boucher, head Strength and Conditioning Coach, has done a great job with our players in the offseason."
Coach Higgins on the depth chart…
"We have more depth than usual in positions, such as, running backs. We will have six running backs that will be playing for us Saturday against Jacksonville. All six of those guys are capable of handling the football and making plays. From a linebacker standpoint, we have five senior linebackers that have been in our program. That obviously gives us a lot of experience as well."
Coach Higgins on offensive depth…
"I think our offensive line has improved by being more physical and understanding their assignments. Keith Carter has made a difference on defense. Neal Strange has gotten better at left tackle. The right guards Jimmy Knowles and Robert Finke are both capable and have made strides throughout camp. Our center, Mike Sellers, has a chance to be special. He still has a long way to go in terms of maturation and understanding the position, but he is a talented guy."
Coach Higgins on quarterbacks…
"Ben continues to grow. He has made progress this camp. Matt Thompson has had progress as well and Aaron Miller, our freshman quarterback, has really done some nice things during camp. We planned he would redshirt, however he stepped up and I am not sure you can get by with just having two quarterbacks during the season. So that is the challenge as a coach."
Coach Higgins on Aaron Miller as quarterback…
"Hopefully we don't have to play Aaron, but if we needed to, I think he is going to be ready. We would scale down the package, but he is still a work in progress. You
have to keep in mind for any freshman that they have to go through this knob year and we have to evaluate and see how guys are going handle that part of it, but Aaron Miller is going to be a good player."
Coach Higgins on the wide receivers…
"Luke Caldwell and Kevin Hardy are two guys that are talented. You hope every game when you run the triple option that you are going to have two or three opportunities for big plays. Dominic Jones is a back up wide receiver and is going to be a great player. Greg Adams is also a guy with the ball in his hands and he can be effective as well. Douglas German has stepped up at this position, including Preston Bailey. We will probably see all six of those guys in the line up."
Coach Higgins on tight ends…
Cullen Brown has grown into an outstanding tight end. The one freshman that would get out in the field probably quicker than anyone else would be Alex Glover from Wando High School. It will depend on how much tight end package we use. That will determine how much he will be in the game."
Coach Higgins on defense…
"Derek Douglas has been playing extremely well, as well as, Chris Billingslea. Those two guys have made tremendous strides. Jeremy Buncum is going to be starting in the defensive end position. We are going with Buncum, Douglas, Demarrio Sims, and Chris Billingslea for the game this Saturday. Those are our four down guys. Our linebackers, of course will be Tolu and DeAandre Smith. Rob Harland will be playing outside linebacker."
Coach Higgins on the secondary…
"Corner, McCladdie, has earned the starting corner back position, as well as Keith Gamble. At the safeties it's Boateng and both Boyles. On the outside, Sadath Jean-Pierre and Jamal Allen are both capable corners"
Coach Higgins on the kickers…
"Ryan Sellers really performed well the last week and a half. He is been kicking extremely well which we need for him to be able to do. Cass Couey has been a consistent punter especially the last three weeks of camp… Thomas Oswald has stepped up as our long snapper. He has been consistent. He gets the ball back very accurately and we anticipate he will do a nice job for us on Saturday night."
Coach Higgins on Jacksonville…
"Jacksonville has a very prolific offense. They were ranked number one in the country last year. Quarterback Josh McGregor is a special one. He can throw the ball very well. They also have several very good receivers. They remind me of us during our first couple of years here. They do a great job at spreading the ball around and create space."
Tolu Akindele on opening the season against Jacksonville…
"Yesterday, Coach mentioned being able to start the season off against a great opponent is what we need, so we can get off to a good start. It is definitely a different feeling going against a team that is capable of beating you."
Tolu Akindele on the adjustments of the defensive…
"We haven't made many adjustments, as far as the schemes. It's pretty much the same. We have a couple of different players here and there. This season we are working on being faster, being more physical and causing more turnovers. We strive to make tackles and have been working on improving on missed assignments."
Coach Higgins in this response to Ben being the quarterback..
"Ben is fully set as our quarterback. He has separated him self from Matt in several ways. He has the ability to make things happen with the ball in his hands and understands the package."
Coach Higgins comment on Jacksonville's offense...
"They are very good at understanding the passing game. They spread the field and try to create space. They try to get match ups with their wide receivers on your linebackers. They have a very solid passing game and they have been executing now with the same quarterback for 3 years."
Tolu Akindele's response on the team's motto…
"Act as if… If you want to become a champion, you have to do necessary things to become one. You have to act like one before you become a champion. You have to think as a champion. You have to think as a leader. We always believe if you act like you're a champion and work towards this goals you become one."
Rickey Anderson's response on the team's motto…
"Hustle hard.. It is a general statement. In everything you do you must hustle hard. We went through the grime and we went through turmoil. If we continue to work hard, good things will come to us. "
