Syd'Quan Thompson has a goal: Win a Pac-10 title

Thompson is looking for a Pac-10 title.

While Jahvid Best is the most sought after player on the California Golden Bears' football team, on the field Syd'Quan Thompson is probably the most avoided.

That's what happens when you are arguably the best shutdown corner in all of college football. I only say 'arguably' because I haven't seen all 1,500 or so corners in college ball, but I have been fortunate enough to compare him to the best corner in the pro's--Nnamdi Asomugha.

While at the Raiders' training camp, I marveled at how difficult it was for receivers to get any separation from the Cal alum. When they zigged, so did Asomugha. When they zagged, he did too. When those speedy receivers put it into overdrive, he glided along without missing a beat.

Poetry in motion, right?

After thinking that it would be a while before seeing anyone as good as Asomugha, you can imagine my surprise when I found a performance equal to his right on the field of Memorial Stadium. I found that performance from Thompson.

I'm real happy. This has been a good camp, been a healthy camp for me. Last year, I got injured right before--a couple weeks before the first game. So, I'm happy I'm been able to stay healthy and set a good example for this team.
- Thompson on how happy he is with how camp went

During a session of one-on-one's with defensive backs covering receivers, I watched Thompson sit in the hip pocket of Verran Tucker--the same Tucker who won one of Cal's starting receiver jobs to start the season. Tucker streaked ten yards up field, cut on a dime towards the sidelines, then cut quickly again up the field. Thompson never let Tucker get farther away than a forearm's length, maybe less.

What made the battle so impressive wasn't just the fact that Thompson wasn't fooled on a double-move by the receiver. The coverage was so extraordinary because that double-move by Tucker was impressive and the receiver still looked like he was handcuffed to Thompson.

I think we're ahead of last year. Everybody seems to moving a little faster this year. We got a lot of healthy guys and defensively being into this 3-4 defense over a year, just allows us to come in and install more to the defense and be able to play faster. And the offense, they look pretty good adjusting to the new coordinator that came in, in the spring. Everything seems to be moving fast and real comfortable.
- Thompson on the difference between this year and last year's defensive unit.

There were many more situations that Thompson showed his talents, but nothing epitomizes the senior corner more than when he makes the best receivers look pedestrian. That sort of talent comes from hard work, which is what he did during the offseason. When Thompson wasn't working in team activities, he had plenty of other things to help improve his game. Thompson explained, "Being able to get out on the field and like work a little technique stuff by myself, getting in the weight room a little longer, and just really helping guys. You know, learning from other players at the same time."

Besides his ability to cover receivers, Thompson is also similar to Asomugha with how soft-spoken he is. Unlike the Deon Sanders-type of corners that often receive hype and create it, Thompson isn't trying to attract any attention off the field.

That doesn't mean that he's not aware of his responsibility as a senior star when it comes to taking an active leadership role on the team. When asked if he was doing just that, he responded adamantly with, "Yes sir." He went on to say, "We lost a lot of vocal leaders last year and this is my senior year, so I gotta' step up and play the role. Not overtalk, but know when to come in and play my part and give the team that, that spark that we need. If I feel like the team is not practicing at a high level or, or not moving as fast as we should be, just get in, and step in, and say a little words to get everybody going."

With these similarities with Asomugha, you'd think Thompson was getting advice from the older corner. He's not. In fact, the two have never spoken before. "Nah, I never got to speak to Nnamdi before," said Thompson. "The only time I was ever around him was like during one of our games. He was on the sideline a couple of times and I've seen him, but just like after practice or just around the stadium, I haven't really got to see him. I'm pretty sure if I did, I'm pretty sure he will stop and talk to me and say a little words to me. It would be nice to meet him though."

As curious as I am, you have to understand that I couldn't let this go when I was at Raiders camp. So, I brought it up to Asomugha the next chance I got. "No I haven't had a chance to talk with him, but I like the things that he's doing," he replied. "I'm hearing more and more about him so, you know I don't get a chance to study and follow every guy that plays at Cal, but it's still good what he's doing. I'll be there the season opener, so I'll get a chance to have a word with him."

The lack of communication between the two isn't why Thompson doesn't style his game after Asomugha. Size is the biggest factor. "Everybody kind of, you know, kind of compares me to him all the time, but I like his style," said Thompson. "He's a smaller corner like myself and he's real aggressive and he makes plays."

Asomugha agrees saying, "He's a smaller corner though, so he's probably not gonna' pattern his game after me or any bigger guys."

Despite the awards and accolades that are in store for Thompson, his goals are more team oriented in nature. When talking about his expectations, there is definitely no 'I' in his response. "Go into each week and win each game," said Thompson when asked what his expectation were for 2009. "I really want to win the Pac-10 this year, first off. Since I've been here, we tied with SC for co-champs and I don't really like that. There can only be one champ, so my goal is to win a Pac-10 championship this year, with this squad. Just make sure the team has the right mindset coming into every week, not looking too far ahead in our schedule. Just taking one week at a time, one team at a time."

We got a lot of guys that came back from last year. We got a lot of experienced guys at that. We lost a lot of key players at certain positions, but there's a lot of guys that got a lot of playing time within those positions. So it's like, we got people that got game experience, which makes the confidence of the team much higher. The competition level, we come out every day and compete every day to make each other, to make the other side of the ball better, the man across from you better. So just being able to come out here work every day, makes us feel like we got something special.
- Thompson on what makes him think this could be the year for Cal

In a sport that requires so many to act as one on every play, Bear Backers should be happy that one of their best players is so eager to be just a part of a bigger cause.