There's been some times where it's been rough. It's not the easiest thing to leave a situation where you're so comfortable at. I know I couldn't have gotten through that without my family and their support.

It's not the easiest situation for a quarterback to have his first start amidst all the things we've been through. I'd have liked for him to have more experience going into it, but that's the hand he was dealt.

He's so smart he knows that it's maybe more important here to run an extra 45 seconds off the clock rather than to get those two points and give them (the opponents) another possession. Mark's always been a guy that's been there for us. You won't find that on a lot of teams.

He's a special kid for us. You've got two Division I basketball players. You've got E.J. Jones getting all the attention in football and Joe is already getting the attention. Then there's Mark doing his job every day, coming in and just putting in the hard work just like everybody else and not really asking anything in return.

That's what Mark does. He hustles on every play and gets lost in the mix until he does something like score eight points in a row. That was big for us.

Spencer doesn't have to shoot and score to make plays for us. He's our leader. I've said that before and I didn't know he wasn't scoring because he does so many other things so well.