(Editor's note: Georgia Tech's Joe Hamilton will share a weekly diary with ESPN.com throughout the season. This week's feature includes excerpts from two Q&A sessions with the quarterback.)
ESPN.com: Is there much talk about the Heisman hype among your teammates?
Hamilton: There's no discussion. Teammates will joke around, but it's just fun and games. The guys understand that everyone's here to play as a team and work hard. I'm proud of that relationship with my team.
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| Hamilton passed for 2,166 yards in 1998, leading Tech to a 10-2 record. |
ESPN.com: Do you think that the Heisman hype has put any pressure on you?
Hamilton: No, I don't think so. I think that I have been able to come here and get a relationship with my teammates and they understand that I that I'm just here to work hard and do what it takes to win a ball game. It's all about us and how we do and how we're going to do.
I just think that you have to go out there and play and believe in your teammates and let everything fall where it may. I still say it's a team goal, and only you and your team can win that goal. I think that we have to go through our season playing to the best of our abilities, and then after the season we can count up what we've accomplished as a team. The individual goals come afterwards.
ESPN.com: What aspects of your game did you focus on over the summer?
Hamilton: Reading coverages. Defenses try to disguise so many things, and they try to make it look like one thing, but they're in something else once you snap the ball. You've got to make sure you get a read after you snap the ball. You've got to sit down and study film and know some tendencies.
ESPN.com: Having played four years, how have you prepared for your final season and how would you define your progress and transformation since coming in as a freshman?
Hamilton: My first year I was nervous, preparing not to make mistakes and just going out there hoping I did well and hoping we'd win. But now, I prepare to win, so let's get out there and get this job done and do everything well. I study the films and tendencies, and put my time in to develop as a quarterback instead of hoping for a coach to guide me through everything.
ESPN.com: Quarterbacks talk about the game slowing down. How do you feel about this?
Hamilton: It has. The game has slowed down tremendously. But it doesn't really slow down as far as the speed of the defense, it slows down in your head. It's knowing the reads and knowing what the defense will do so you're not so much in a rush. You're not so much panicking back there, hoping this happens, hoping that happens. You just kind of foresee things happening now.
ESPN.com: What are your impressions of this year's Florida State squad?
Hamilton: First of all, Florida State is well-coached. The Seminoles have a lot of athletes, a lot of speed and can score quickly. Their defensive line is exceptional. They are just so fast and they stay low. They're relentless. They can run a play down from the backside and never give up. You just have to be prepared and hopefully not make too many mistakes. You have to be satisfied with some three or four yard gains and then hopefully make some big plays.
ESPN.com: When you go back home, are you treated like a Heisman hopeful?
Hamilton: Alvin, S.C., is just a family. I can go back home and go to the barber shop or go anywhere and it will just be like old times. From the bottom of my heart I feel that the guys back home think that they're in my position. Because I'm there, they're there. They say, 'Hey, you're playing good, we're all doing good.' That's how I feel. When I go back to Alvin, I'm just home, so let's do the same things. Lets talk about good times, have a bite to eat, shoot a little basketball. At home, I'm a regular person.
