Croom: On Cat Stevens, Video Boards & Kick Returns

And much, much more of course. Here are some press conference excerpts from coach Sylvester Croom, who came off the podium singing Cat Stevens‘ “Peace Train.” I’ll post some player quotes later, and if I can figure it out, I’ll have some player audio. Now, Croom:

• On his musical tastes while studying film: “I’ve got a lot of CDs, most of it’s old stuff, from the ’60s, ’70s, gospel, rhythm and blues, jazz, a little bit if everything. A little Cat Stevens. I was introduced to Cat Stevens in 1971. My roommate liked Cat Stevens, and I love Cat Stevens. ‘Peace Train.’”

• On something more germain to this week’s matchup with Kentucky – the Wildcats’ frosh QB, Randall Cobb: “The guy’s a very good athlete, he throws the ball well, reminds me a lot of our Chris Relf. Probably a little further advanced, but his ability to pull the ball down and run is extremely scary.”

• On his team’s tackling woes of late: “It wasn’t up front. Our linebackers tackled very well. We didn’t use our techniques in the secondary. … We practice tackling every day, even when we’re in shorts. The bottom line is, those guys have got to do what they’re taught to do and get it done.”

• On preparing for teams that are unsettled at QB: “The responsibility of the players is to understand what they emphasize when that quarterback is in the ballgame. The whole thing you try to do defensively is, it’s almost like you’ve got a computer in your brain, you try to narrow the possibilities before the snap in your own mind.”

• On RB Arnil Stallworth: “With Stallworth in there, that gives you an added dimension, and still be able to run your two-back game. The flexibility to break formations, send him in motion, send (Anthony) Dixon in motion, and put a little bit more pressure on the defense.”

• On FS/KR Derek Pegues‘ injured thumb: “I’m expecting him to play and not wear anything extra, no more than what he wore last week.”

• On breaking a kickoff return for a TD: “Kickoff returns, the job of the returns’ front-line guys (is to) redirect the guys coming down, and then the wedge blow up the guy who we’re centering on. Everything else is up to the return guy. How good you are on kickoff returns – and I’ve always believed this – is up to the returner. Basically you get to the point, you’ve got to beat one guy. We’ve had some good returns, but we haven’t beat that last guy. One of them was the kicker.”

• On the giant video board due for completion this week (latest word is that it will be fully operational for Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. kickoff): “I would think it will have a true wow factor to it, just the size of it. Any time I go over there, I look at it and try to imagine what it was going to look like, and I still can’t. I hope it’ll help us see the officials’ calls a lot better.”