Cedric Benson Quotations

It never really was difficult for me not starting because I understood the circumstances.

I don’t think I’ve said this on camera, (but Ricky Williams) is the largest part of why I chose to come play for UT

I got it all down, ... I think just being off, it fades away a little bit. But it all comes back.

I can only control what I do and my preparation for the game. I can't control who they want, so I have really made a point of not getting emotionally involved in the situation.

I think Vince helped us out a lot. The defense has to be very leery of his attacking ability. When he was in the game, it seemed like the defense played a little loose.

Maybe I'm motivating him. My motivation is entirely coming from being a rookie and being hungry to be out there and be the guy and stuff. I think my game and my presence are motivating him quite a bit, and he's stepped his game up a lot because he looked good today.

That would be huge, having two skill-position players out there like that, an extra set of (receiving) hands, almost like having another receiver in the backfield or out wide,

That was spontaneous. I thought I'd take one last go-round, get a good look at everything. It was my last game.

We haven't won the games we wanted to win. I thought maybe if I put baseball aside and focus on football, I can get us a step closer to where we want to be.

We kind of came to the conclusion that we were going to practice this week and see how we felt at the end of this week, on Friday, Saturday, something like that.

Thomas was running the ball well. I didn't get much of a chance.

Um, I don't know. I just hope I can help us go get our first win of the season. I don't think it matters who we're playing.

I've been following what those guys are doing. My time will come.

As a competitor, you want to be out there, making something happen, especially when the team is losing. But my time will come.

You never know, man, ... I really don't know. And I don't even really want to get involved to find out, you know what I mean?

It was fun. I had a good time in there and learned a lot about myself and where I'm at.

It was definitely a goal of mine to win the championship when I was going there. Some of the guys were there when I was there, so they know the feeling. I wouldn't be able to sit still.

It's a knee, for one. I'm a running back, two. You have to be smart, three.

It's another hurdle, another adventure life has presented me, and I'm going to take it in stride.

It kind of sets the stage for the next season.

They just keep saying I need to know the playbook, but if I'm never out there it would be hard to know how much I do know, ... My time is going to come. They're going to throw me out there in the fire and I've got to perform.

I'm going to stay positive and get better,

I knew my time was going to come, I just had to be ready when it came. It does say something for the coaches and what they think of me.

I kind of knew I wasn't going to get in there in the first half, ... I was glad I did finally get in there. Toward the end I was getting a little nervous ? 'Oh, I hope I get a chance to work these kinks out.'

I'm kind of glad I got the fumble thing out of the way. Hopefully, that won't come back up the rest of the season.

I'll see what kind of feedback I get, but after the first two plays of contact, I forgot about it. It isn't 100 percent completely healed, but it's not bad enough to slow me down. I should be a lot further along in a couple of weeks, come playoff time.

I'll give him a run for his money,

I don't really know what to expect. I'm going to be ready as if I was starting. I'm going to prepare myself for that, and whatever the coaches see best for me, make it happen.

I don't know. I guess it wasn't my day. I'm not making the calls. The coaches are. Just stay positive and leave it in their hands.

I definitely want to be a starter. I have no desire to sit with the coaches on the sidelines. So I'm going to be working toward making that happen,

I don't think this team realized how good we are, ... I think we are one of the top three teams in the country, I really do.

The end came off the edge and I missed an assignment there. I didn't get my guy.