JUST TRY ME - Syd'Quan Thompson

In less time than it took for the Neyland Stadium scoreboard to count off five minutes of playing time, Cal cornerback Syd’Quan Thompson felt what it was like to hit rock bottom on the football field.

The jarring reality checks arrived at the hands of Tennessee wide receiver Robert Meachem.

The first time, Thompson lunged to make an interception and misjudged the ball with 3:13 left in the first half, leaving Meachem wide open to scamper into the end zone untouched for a 42-yard score.

The second time, before most fans even had time to digest the Volunteers’ 14-0 halftime lead over the Bears, Meachem caught a short pass off a curl, Thompson missed a tackle, and the 6-foot-4 receiver cruised to an 80-yard touchdown.

“Syd was aggressive and went after the ball, which you don’t second-guess him for,” says coach Jeff Tedford.

Tennessee sailed to a 35-18 victory and Thompson was left with an entire calendar year to think about a couple of miscues that are perfectly normal for redshirt freshmen starting against a nationally ranked opponent in his debut.

“It helped him grow as far as hitting rock bottom the first day and having nowhere to go but up,” says starting safety Thomas DeCoud. “He had a tough game, but it was a building point.”

Media and outsiders bore down on Thompson with unflinching, harsh words.

Never mind that Thompson was only thrust into the starting role because senior Tim Mixon went down with injury.

Never mind that Thompson was playing with an injured hand.

Never mind that Meachem would go on to decimate nearly every opposing cornerback he faced en route to solidifying a spot in the first round of the NFL draft.

“Just hearing what everyone had to say, there were a lot of negative comments,” says Thompson. “That game woke me up and let me know I had to take my game to another level.”

Thompson never once lashed out at anyone or made excuses for the missed execution. But there is one thing he wants to clear up.

“Everyone said you got burnt but I was like, ‘Did you watch the game? On one I just missed the ball, and on the other I couldn’t wrap up and tackle,’” he says.

Thompson will get a much-awaited shot at redemption today when No. 12 Cal takes on No. 15 Tennessee.

“I don’t want to make this game too personal,” he says. “We strive to do things as a team.”

Even though Thompson attempted to deflect the attention away from himself, some of his teammates claim they can tell that the 5-foot-10 Sacramento product has been thinking about the Tennessee debacle constantly throughout the offseason.

“He probably has more desire to redeem himself than any other individual on the team,” starting linebacker Anthony Felder says. “He’s been working really hard.”

Like Cal’s season, which Tedford said was overshadowed by the season-opening loss to Tennessee, Thompson’s solid freshman campaign seemed to be overshadowed by those two plays in Knoxville despite his marked improvements throughout. Thompson finished with 60 tackles, one interception and two fumble recoveries, making the transition from tentative freshman to confident leader.

With lock-down cornerback Daymeion Hughes graduated to the NFL, Thompson is now the Bears’ undisputed number one corner—and he’s ready to play the part.

Coaches Bob Gregory and R. Todd Littlejohn both spoke with Thompson in the offseason, stressing a need for him to take on a more vocal and instructive role.

“I played the most of all the corners we had, so that’s a role I gotta step up and take control of,” says Thompson. “I gotta help the younger guys, and I’m still learning from them.”

Thompson was still learning last season when Mixon went down in practice with a torn right anterior crucial ligament, abruptly ending his season—and Cal career. Mixon was the mentor and Thompson was the patient understudy, intent to observe seniors Mixon and Hughes and wait until he knew he was ready to shine.

The soft-spoken, untested cornerback was quickly forced to learn on the job, in front of tens of thousands of people.

“When Tim went down, it was shocking,” says Thompson. “I was watching and learning and when he went down I didn’t feel like I got everything I wanted from him. I was thrown into the fire.”

Thompson never doubted that he had the talent and technique to get the job done. But game experience is invaluable, especially at the cornerback position, where the defender is exposed and vulnerable out on an island in sometimes man-to-man coverage.

Instead of starting inexperienced defenders in Robert Peele or Darian Hagan opposite Thompson, Tedford moved last year’s starting rover Brandon Hampton over to corner to allow the Bears’ most experienced four members of the secondary to start.

Joining DeCoud at safety will be hard-hitting junior Bernard Hicks.

“Experience is just something that’s really key,” says Hampton. “Just preparing for the game and understanding what it’s going to take, that’s huge.”

Thompson now understands what it’s going to take.

There’s a clock above the door in the locker room that counts down the number of days, hours and minutes until kickoff. Through weight training, conditioning and preseason practices, Thompson prepared himself with the rematch against the Volunteers in the forefront of his mind.

“In the offseason I really just worked hard waiting for this game to come,” says Thompson. “I’ve thought about the game damn near every day.”

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