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Sept. 30, 2008

WR QUAN COSBY
On Cody Johnson: Cody’s a strong guy, real smart. He loves to run the ball, try to run over people. He just adds a little more to our backfield. We have really good backs and he’s just a great addition to it.

On Fozzy Whittaker: Real good, real good. He’s really quick, great moves. Like I said, all our backs are great assets to our team.

On Colt McCoy: I look at him as a playmaker. Whatever you have to do to be positive for our offense whether it’s throwing it or running it, both of them he does very well, just making plays depending on what the defense offers. He’s great at it. He’s a quarterback, and whatever he can he does it.

On if anything changes for the team now that conference play has started: As far as trying to get a conference championship, definitely. These games mean more. As far as us, we’re just going to continue to try and go out there and get better, play well, play together and have fun.

On what he’s seen from Colorado’s defense: Really fast, aggressive, a little bit different. They played a lot more quarters (coverage) back in the day. They’re playing a lot more man and (cover) two, so the scheme is definitely different from when we played them in ’05. Again, they look really good, really impressive.

On if he has seen anything on film the offense can take advantage of: That’s kind of a game day thing. You never know. As much as we watch film, things may change before we get there. Hopefully there are some things that we can take advantage of that day. Hopefully we’ll exploit them.

On the return game: I think we’re real close. Guys are out there working really, really hard. Like always, I have the easy part – just running the ball. Sometimes I don’t hit it right quite where I should. Those guys are going to continue to work and eventually, hopefully we’re able to get one in the (end) zone.

On today’s practice: Everybody’s out there working hard, the defense is flying all over the place, offense is continuing to work and get better. It’s just a real good day of practice, a promising start for the weekend.

On Chykie Brown and Aaron Williams: Long arms, very similar to Cedric Griffin who was here a few years back. They’re young so they don’t use them as much as him, but they’re starting to use them a lot more and that’s why they’re making a lot more plays. They’re going to continue to grow and I’ll look for them to have a real good year also.

RB CHRIS OGBONNAYA
On the versatility of the running back group: I think it’s a good thing. We have a lot of guys that can play a lot of different positions. Cody can do both (running back and fullback) and I can do both, as well as Antwan (Cobb). We lost Luke (Tiemann) but a lot of guys have got to step up. We’re a tight-knit group. We’re learning on the fly and I think a lot of the guys are starting to buy into what we need to get into and we’re getting into the thick of our schedule, so we’re definitely excited.

On opening Big 12 play at Colorado: Big 12, it’s a tough conference this year. We’re all aware of that. We have Colorado first. We want to just take it one game at a time and focus on playing Colorado. It’ll be a great atmosphere. It’ll be a great test for us on the road.

On Fozzy Whittaker’s excitement to get back on the field: He’s excited. He’s worked hard. Today we were lifting weights and he’s lifting with me and he wants to get out there and do his thing, so we’ll see what happens.

On Cody Johnson: Cody just loves the game. He’s very passionate about it. He wants to do really well and he works hard at what he does. I think that he saw how I had lost weight and how it’s helped me a little bit and he wants to do the same thing. I think that he’s taken that full stride. He’s tried to get away from eating the bad things and he’s always asking me questions. It just shows how excited he is about what he’s doing and where he can be and where he wants to get. For Cody it’s great; he’s a young guy. He has a lot of time, so we’ll see what happens with him, but I am definitely excited to see where he ends up.

On what Fozzy Whittaker brings to the offense: Just consistency. Everybody, I think, our group has remained consistent. We have our mistakes, but you can’t ever play a perfect game and so Fozzy can bring the same thing to the table that Vondrell (McGee) or Cody (Johnson) can bring – downhill running when he needs to, speed when he needs to. He’s shifty, he can break tackles, and he can do it all, really.

On if Cody Johnson will lose power as he loses weight: I don’t think so. I think that he gains a little speed with his power. I think that his power is obviously something that is one of his strengths but I think that Cody has a little bit of deceptive speed that people don’t get to see all the time.

On the team’s running back by committee system: I think that this day in age, the system is changed to where you have two backs. I think that you can see that anywhere across the country. I think our room is just a testament to how much talent there is in there, a lot of great talent among the young guys. We’ve just got to keep working at it. I think that it’s probably to our advantage, especially the way we run our offense. We can have a guy in there that can do everything so you don’t really have a drop off. We just need to remain consistent.

RB Cody Johnson
On what he is doing to lose weight: Well, coach wants me at 235 pounds, so if I want to play more, I have to get to 235.  That’s the bottom line.  Right now, they have me on a really strict diet with many cardio workouts.  I work out twice a day and I have to eat more times a day.  I used to eat only once when I had all of the weight on me, and now I eat four or five times a day,

On how it feels to be involved with the running back mix: It feels good.  I just waited my turn and it finally showed.  It feels really great.

On his running style: I would say that I’m a power back with me being bigger.  I feel like I’m not as quick as Fozzy [Whittaker] and those guys, but I have some speed, and being big, I can punish the defense and then let (the other running backs) run by them.  I can tire them down more.

On his personality: I just try to stay happy.  If you’re happy at practice, then it makes it a great practice.  If you’re down, nobody else wants to be down around you.  If you’re happy, everybody else will be happy.  I like to crack jokes and I like to make everybody laugh.  I like to have fun.

On the biggest thing he’s learned so far this year: Patience.  That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned.  You have to just wait your turn and have patience on the field to be able to read and press the right hole to run through.  You just have to wait for your turn to get in to do your thing and be recognized.

On if he feels like he snuck up on some people this season: I wouldn’t say snuck up, but I feel like I’ve showed my abilities.  I think people knew, but they were thinking I was somewhat big and that would affect my performance.  I feel like it was a little bit of a surprise, but not really that much.

On who he models his game after: Well, if I were 6-4 and 265, I would be like [New York Giants running back] Brandon Jacobs.  He’s my favorite player right now at the running back spot.

On if he would like to be a go-to guy: I wouldn’t mind, but I do like what we are doing right now with the steady rotation.  It keeps everybody’s legs fresh.  If we keep our legs fresh, it would be harder for other people to stop us.  If you have one guy that’s getting 30 or more carries a game, he’s going to be really tired.  If we get 10 apiece, I think that will give us good production right there.