2011 SEASON IN REVIEW
sonality of the team is generally going to be dif- ferent. But overall there are a lot of similarities between last year's team and this one. "We get along well, and we play efficiently to-
gether. The chemistry that we had this year was as good as or better than last year. And that's a big reason why we had so much success. "It was pretty evident, too, after the first few
days of practice that Russell was a special player. Obviously he had to compete and earn the start- ing job and he did that convincingly." Wilson left a positive first — and lasting — im- pression on everyone. "I remember when Russell got here," Ball said, "and I saw how hard he worked and how well he threw the ball, I thought to myself, 'We can be pretty good this year."' Defensive tackle Patrick Butrym was im- pressed by the early signs.
24 » VARSITY DECEMBER 22, 2011
"It was pretty evident after the first few days of practice that Russell was a special player," Nick Toon said. "Obviously he had to com- pete and earn the starting job and he did that convincingly."
"Throughout the summer we had great chem- istry and worked extremely hard," he said. But there was one moment during training camp that shed more light on Wilson. This was a defining moment, at least in Bu- trym's eyes. "We were scrimmaging and really compet- ing," he still remembered vividly. "It was going
