Aug. 13, 2009
#41 Jeremy Boone, 5th Yr./Sr. P
On having aggressive players on special teams
I love to have aggressive gunners like Knowledge Timmons on special teams. They are the most important in point coverage. They're the ones that force the return to be fair caught or force the returner right or left. I love to have Knowledge over there because he's experienced, he's done it quite a bit, and he can handle the situation that we're dealing with.
On Chaz Powell as a punt returner
He is one of those fast return guys that you want your coverage team to face. In the Big Ten, we have some pretty fast and elusive guys that we're going to be facing. You want to face the best. That's what Coach Johnson instills with us in meetings and on the practice field. We hope to carry that when we play in the games.
Excitement for this season
You can jus tell [that there's excitement]. With Sean Lee back, he's getting everyone riled up. No matter what practice or what meeting he's in, he's always getting in people's faces, getting them ready, getting them motivated. He made a great point that football can be taken away from you at any given moment. He's living every play and every practice like it's his last one. That's how we're all trying to work out. We've been able to build some team camaraderie which is really nice. We're just excited to get started.
#36 Collin Wagner, Sr./Jr. K
On the pressures as a kicker
I can't really envision it until I get into the game. I've been in a few games in essentially mop up duty, but until you get in there in the third quarter when you need a big kick, it's tough to envision what it's going to be like.
On learning under Kevin Kelly
He was a mentor to me for the three years we were both here. He taught me that if you kick a bad ball, just forget about it. You need to have a short memory as a kicker.
On expectations for the upcoming season
I think we're going to be good. This is the fastest team I've been around since I've been here. The freshmen are really fast and all the upper classmen have gotten faster.
On the kicking competition in camp
Right now in camp, it's me and the freshman Anthony Fera. He's a good kicker, so I've got to keep improving myself as much as he's improving. I need to keep instilling confidence in myself that I can do it. Competition brings the best from you, especially when you go into camp expected to be the number one guy. You really raise the bar for yourself.
#40 Andrew Pitz, 5th Yr./Sr. LS
On the experience as a walk on
I was an invited walk on. In the fall, they don't usually take too many kids; it's pretty rare. Occasionally they do, so last year they took a kid named Stephen Joseph who is a defensive back here. They look more for kids in the spring. That way the seniors have graduated and moved on and they can look to see if anyone could help the program. I've never really done the walk on tryout. They do individual drills, catch and runs - stuff like that. I was invited out of high school, so I didn't do that.
On when he became a long snapper
I was always just a snapper, strictly a snapper. I became a long snapper freshman year. They lined up 10 kids and I snapped it back one-handed. I guess I got lucky; it hit the punter right in the chest. Coach said, "ok you're the best one, you go out and do it." The very next one was right on the ground. He started yelling at me, kicked me out and came over asking if anyone taught me how to do it before. I said no, I haven't. He showed me and that's when I learned. I figured that I was never that great at football since I was always a baseball player. If I wanted to play football at all or have a chance, I'd have to do something smart and try to make myself into a long snapper. That's what got me from here.