"He would want us to keep smiling, or at least try to and that's what we're going to do," said Dre Long, a captain and defensive back who is a graduate student. "He redshirted last season and he was looking forward to his first game. He was really excited about it and we were, too. … We can only double that now and magnify it and go out there and try to play our hardest. Not just for us, but for him."