“There’s always room for improvement, no matter what,” Dolincheck said. “I feel like I’m mediocre, at best.”

Dolincheck didn’t have many bad throws in his first year as the starting quarterback. Last year, Dolincheck was 295-for-433 and had 49 touchdowns in the national championship season.

He had just 12 interceptions and led the nation with 4,303 yards.

Ryan has seen more confidence in Dolincheck so far in the preseason. The Mustangs quarterback isn’t afraid to make passes in traffic and go for the tougher passes.

Dolincheck completed 68.1 percent of his passes last season.

“I think he’s reading defenses a lot better,” Ryan said. “I think he’s choosing to test his throws a little bit more.”

Arnijae “AP” Ponder has accomplished several of his goals during his time as the Morningside star running back.

He’s still raising the bar on himself and challenging himself for high goals. Ponder, who ran for 1,928 yards last season, has the same expectations.

“My expectations are to win the GPAC, to go No. 1 and be the No. 1 running back and be the No. 1 team in the nation,” Ponder said. “My overall goals are to win Player of the Year. I didn’t get it last year, so I’m going to push harder to get that.”