Brent Rausch adjusting to the starting QB job

About making his 10-meter dive during pool day, Brent said:
"No big deal." (HA)

"I'm not special. It was just a little jump. It was cool with me." (HA)

About the starting QB role, with Chang and Colt being the record-setting QBs before him, Brent said:
"I don't want to compare myself to either one of those great quarterbacks. I want to play my game, and see what I can do. I have to keep my head up." (HA)

About how Brent has to keep working hard, Rolo said:
"He still has a long way to go. He can't get complacent." (HA)

About how he beat out Chang for the starting spot in 2000 but lost the job to Chang after 2 games, Rolo said:
"I didn't do it right. I wasn't close to where I should have been. (Rausch) needs to enjoy it, but he still has to work." (HA)

HA Note: "Head coach Greg McMackin said Alexander and Funaki are the co-No. 2 quarterbacks. Alexander did not practice yesterday morning because of an in-grown toenail on his right foot and a tender left ankle. McMackin said Alexander's ailments are not considered to be serious."

Mack said that Brent needs:
"to keep improving because our (No. 2) guys are going to keep forcing him. It's like any other position. As you're competing, if you fall off, there's somebody else there to take your place. Our other quarterbacks are going to push him into greatness." (HA)

About how Brent took a 1-9 JC team and they went 9-1 and made the playoffs with him, Mack said:
"He's a winner." (HA)

About Brent's throwing motion, Rolo said:
"He's not really a double-clutcher. He comes over the top with it. He controls the nose (of the football). He knows where the ball is going. It's on that plane." (HA)

About Brent's competitive nature, Rolo said:
"He's a competitor. He's got some fire. He's responded when we put him in (difficult) situations." (HA)

About how he's used to hot weather after growing up in Palm Springs, Brent said:
"What? Does it sound like it's all palm trees? It's not like that. It's straight desert. It's hot. Sometimes it gets to 120. But I was cool with that. I had dirt bikes. I had an off-road truck. I could live with it. It was good." (HA)

About Hawaii's tradewinds, Brnet said:
"this is awesome. This is winter back in Palm Springs." (HA)

HA Note: "Rausch was told of his selection during a closed-door meeting Thursday with McMackin, Alexander and Funaki."

About how he called his parents right away but they had already learned from Internet reports, Brent said:
"My family found out before I did. My pops was crying. My mom was crying." (HA)

HA Note: "Rausch justified the coaches' decision with another dazzling performance yesterday morning. He was particularly sharp on red-zone drills. When the defense went to the Okie scheme — three linebackers, five defensive backs — to create a 5-on-8 matchup, Rausch still managed to find the open receiver."

About choosing Brent to be their starter, Mack said:
"We've evaluated him a lot, and it was a tough decision, but he knows we believe in him. We're going with him. The more positive reps he can get with the guys against the No. 1 defense, that helps him." (HA)

About practicing as the starting QB, Brent said:
"It was a lot different today. It was a lot of stress off my shoulders." (HSB)

Happy for how Brent and the offense are working, Ron Lee said:
"I'm just real happy with the way the guys are working, not just the QBs. Brent's really stepping it up and has a great feel for what we're doing." (HSB)

Remembering a comment by his JC teammate Queston Clement, Brent said:
"There was a running back on my team in JC who said, 'You're going there, watch.' I was like, 'Dude you're crazy. I wish I'd go there.' He gave me a call about a month ago and said, 'I told you.' He totally called it." (HSB)

About adjusting to being the starting QB, Brent said:
"It's pretty hard to believe." (HSB)

About selecting Brent, Mack said:
"We've evaluated them very closely and ... he's just been getting better and better. We started noticing that when other guys would go up then have a bad day, he never went backwards. To me a quarterback is just like any other position. We have guys competing at receiver, we have guys competing at all positions. The thing is, here we throw the ball so much that the quarterback position is a focus point. It is on most teams, but here it's really a focus point." (HSB)

About the selection of Brent as their starting QB, Aaron Bain said:
"I give it to Coach Mack and Coach Ron (Lee), that was probably a tough decision. The past couple of days (Rausch has) really been turning it up, it seems like he's really been catching up with the reads and the plays. I think we can start moving and make greater improvements now that we've got everything set." (HSB)

Crediting Inoke for teaching him learn the offense over the summer, Brent said:
"I can read (the playbook), but Inoke told me, 'The read's going to be there, or the read's going to here.' He taught me this offense." (HSB)

About how he's more confident and relaxed now that the QB competition is settled, Brent said:
"I had a little more confidence, more relaxed. I was making good throws, a lot better than I did yesterday." (HSB)

About how confidence is key to get the offense behind Brent, Bain said:
"I remember the first thing I told him. ... 'Once you get the confidence, everybody's going to follow you. You're the guy with the rock.' He's in control of the game so once he gets confidence in himself, it's going to spread to everybody else." (HSB)

HSB Note: "As for playing at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (capacity 88,548), Rausch said the biggest crowd he's played in front of was "10 grand in junior college." "

Praising Brent's poise, Mack said:
"The thing I like about Brent Rausch is he's not afraid of anything. I don't think he's going to be scared at all. I think he's going to go in there, be excited, playing the Heisman Trophy guy (Tim Tebow) across from him, playing in the Swamp against a top five team. He's that kind of a guy. He's got it." (HSB)