I'm not focused on anything else. He's a football player with high expectations, not just for himself but for his whole team. Last year's 3-8 record left him eager to make amends this season. I just want to win. Last season was not much fun.
Peppers is rated the nation's ninth-best defensive lineman entering the season.
He is expected to be the stalwart of a defense that didn't allow a point for the final 10 quarters of 1999, when victories over rivals N.C. State and Duke saved Torbush from being fired. Playing two sports took its toll on Peppers late in the basketball season, when he said all he would do is go to practice, study and sleep. But now, he says, he's rejuvenated and ready to start fresh. A good season could make him a high-enough NFL draft pick to consider leaving school early to jump to the pros.