"I've been a member of Leadership Council since I got on campus here. We get binders every year. Being able to keep those; it's a lot of valuable information that we've been able to learn from Coach Fleck. In those Leadership Council meetings every Thursday morning to be better leaders now as well as in the future -- it will not only help the team but also help elevate you in life."

"Dr. Justin (Anderson) is a great guy, phenomenal human being, very smart. He does labs with us in Leadership Council, taking what we learned into effect and how is it going to be able to help our team now? He's worked with a lot of people in his career and being able to help us is an elite asset that we have."

"(Outside zone) starts with the guys upfront. They were blocking at an elite level... and then the blocking outside with the receivers. People don't realize that you can have the front seven all blocked but it doesn't matter if you leave a corner unblocked."

"Everything goes back to one week championship season... We put a lot of pressure on ourselves in January, spring ball, fall camp to be able to prepare ourselves for these."

"Sam's (Schlueter) doing an elite job for us, really leading that group. It all starts back with how hard Sam works, the attitude he brings -- from the offensive line meeting room to practice every single day. Going back to spring ball and training camp and all that, he brings it with his attitude every single day. He makes guys better."

"The pocket's been a lot cleaner the past couple weeks than the first couple weeks. It's a tribute to the guys up front."

"We mentioned (top 20 ranking) in the team meeting. But we can't listen to it; we focus on our four walls."

"I knew (Kamal Martin) was going to bounce back (from the suspension). It shown now on the field that he worked his butt off this offseason, showing not only to us but himself that his stock for the NFL is his to achieve. Not only for him but for us as an LB room, it's a big help."

"(Kamal Martin) settled into the WILL role... He took it, he owned it, he worked his butt off in the film room. On the field, off the field, he made sure he knew (the position)."

"(The improved defense) started on Tuesday and Wednesday practices. We're practicing harder. We emphasized how we missed too many tackles in that Purdue game. With the way we've been practicing, it's just been unreal. It's been a tackle period like every practice we've had."

"The defensive tackles have been playing their tails off. I could name them all guys. They've all been working their tails off... Panagos has them working their tails off in practice."

"(Sam Renner) was Blake Cashman's old roommate. Sam is the most detail-oriented guy on our team. If you look at his technique, his fundamentals, he's always in the right spot, credit to him. And then he just plays incredibly hard."

"No matter what, Kamal will always be my best friend. I knew where his heart was, no matter what he was going through (suspension-related), so he knew (Barber and his roommates) already had his back. He did everything in the offseason to earn that trust back from the team."