Q: How much of a luxury is it for this team to have two quarterbacks capable of playing at a high level?
A: Russell is coming off being the best quarterback in the ACC, so to have him – that’s already good enough. But its always important to have a second guy that can come in and keep things going if something were to go wrong. With the quarterback position you need to have depth, because you never know what is going to happen over the course of a game. It is always important to have two good quarterbacks and I think Russell and I bring that combination together. We both have our strengths and weaknesses, but together, we make a pretty good duo.
Q: How confident are you in your ability to step in and lead this team if necessary?
A: I think I’m ready to go. I have a year of being in college, a year under my belt. I think if something were to happen to Russell, I think I could step in and I don’t think our offense would really miss a beat.
Q: What do you feel are your strengths and weaknesses, and what would you say are Russell’s strengths and weaknesses?
A: Obviously Russell is a better athlete than me and he could make more plays if something were to break down, but I think I do a pretty good job of getting the ball out to the playmakers and letting them make the plays. My arm’s pretty good, but I feel I have a long way to go learning about college defenses and about the whole college game compared to high school.
Q: How excited are you and Russell to have so much talent and experience returning at the skill positions, wide receiver and running back?
A: I think, all around, we are going to have a pretty strong offense. Our receivers, with Owen [Spencer] and Jarvis [Williams], T.J. [Graham], all of them, and hopefully Donald Bowens will be back, and all of them will be ready to go. With Jamelle [Eugene], Toney [Baker], Curtis [Underwood], and Brandon [Barnes] [at running back], we are pretty strong at the skill positions. I think we definitely have the playmakers to win some games this year.
Q: There is arguably as much excitement surrounding this season as there has been for any season in recent memory. How excited are you and your teammates?
A: I think everyone’s ready to get the season going because we have big plans to do some big things this year. We have the expectation that we can come in and beat any team that we play, with or without Nate [Irving.] Obviously that’s a big loss, but we still feel like we have the players to win every game this year.
Q: How beneficial do you feel your redshirt freshman season was for you in terms of learning the offense and acclimating to college football?
A: I think it was definitely useful. A year ago today I didn’t know much and right now I have a lot more confidence in myself that I could go out there and play. Last year I was just kind of getting a feel for things, but my confidence has risen a lot. I think that to have four more years instead of three more years left is a big help for me.
