Told you I had a lot from the Receptionist:

On the team expecting this success:
“We’ve expected that since the beginning. We knew we had the capabilities to do big things. For it to come true, it’s kind of a reality to us. Were trying to build off of that it as a team and not rest on anything.”

On the hype surrounding the Stanford matchup”
“We take every game basically the same. We know every game is big, especially from here on out. The Pac-10 is very unpredictable – any team can beat another at any given time. But we put weight in the fact that you have to bring you’re A-game every week. With us being 3-0 and them 2-0 in Pac 10, of course it’s a big game. But we’re not putting extra weight on it.”

On the hype affecting younger players:
“It might cross their minds because they are young. With veterans like me, Reggie, Brian, even veterans like Logan, Ryan Moya, we’ll squash that in the locker room. Especially us being UCLA, we’ve gotta always have that chip and play hard. We’ll let them know to treat this like any other game.”

On the benefits of the bye week:
“It definitely allowed us to be able to go over some technical things. We’ve shown a lot of excellence, but we also have a lot of room for improvement. We have to iron that out, the penalties, the lack of concentration in a lot of areas.”
Continue reading “Eight for….Eight? With Alterraun Verner” »

On what it’s like for a senior starting school again with a bye week:
“This is just routine now; it’s the start of school, lot of excitement, lot of people fresh off of summer, and things are relatively easy going in. The freshmen have to learn from this week that time management. School is going to take a big portion on top of football. For me, it’s no big thing. I’m already kind of mentally ready for this bye.”

On how the start of school changes things:
With us not having school, we can be out doing things, having a lot of activities. In school, you have to be here, we can go and get some extra film, you’re already here on campus. It can refocus, but at the same time, it can take away focus – with the parties and everything. It kind of depends on the person you are.”

On why this week is important:
“Some people might need this week a lot more; me, I can always focus in on technique. Make sure I can refine it – that’s how you make plays, through technique. I try and work on those little edges.”