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Syd'Quan Thompson interception return at Oregon State,  |
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PRONUNCIATION: SID-quan
NATIONAL HONORS CANDIDATE
CAL CAREER: Starting at cornerback for the fourth consecutive season for the Golden Bears ... a versatile and exciting athlete that has established himself as one of the nation's top cornerbacks and also serves as one of Cal's punt returners ... has started all 47 games possible in his first three seasons at Cal ... the Golden Bears' active career leader in tackles (239), interceptions (7), passes defended (37), pass breakups (32), punt returns (35) and punt return yardage (383), including one that he returned 73 yards for a touchdown vs. Colorado State in 2008 ... has a total of 602 career all-purpose yards, adding one kick return for 15 yards to his punt and interception return totals.
2009:Has started all eight games with 31 tackles, 1.0 TFL and six PBU and 1 INT, along with seven punt returns for 39 yards ... on the watch list for the Lott Trophy, awarded annually to the college football Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year ... first-team preseason All-American by Athlon, Lindy's and NationalChamps.net, while checking in as a second-team selection of Sporting News and a third-team choice by Phil Steele ... rates as highly as the nation's No. 2 cornerback (Lindy's) and No. 4 national punt returner (Phil Steele) ... also has earned first-team preseason All-Pac-10 recognition on defense by Athlon, Lindy's, Phil Steele and Sporting News, and as a punt returner from Athlon and Phil Steele ... other rankings include the No. 6 defensive back by Rivals.com and No. 8 cornerback by Phil Steele.
Individual Game-By-Game: vs. Maryland: 2 tackles and 2 PBU • vs. EWU: 3 solo stops and returned 2 punts for 21 yards • at Minnesota: led team with 8 tackles, adding 1 TFL (-1), 1 PBU and 2 punt returns for 10 yards • at Oregon: 6 tackles, had 1 PBU and returned a punt 7 yards • vs. USC: 5 tackles, 1 PBU and 2 punt returns for 1 yard• at UCLA: 2 tackles• vs. WSU: 2 solo tackles • at ASU: 3 solo tackles, 1 INT (38-yard return), 1 PBU
2008: Played in and started all 13 games ... earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors after recording 70 tackles (No. 35 Pac-10), 7.5 TFL, a team-high four interceptions (No. 6-T Pac-10, No. 53-T NCAA) that he returned for 128 yards and a school record-tying 18 passes defended (No. 3-T Pac-10, No. 5-T NCAA) ... also ranked fourth in the Pac-10 and was No. 21 nationally in punt returns, averaging 12.3 yards per return by bringing back 28 punts for 344 yards, which included a 73-yard return for a touchdown vs. Colorado State ... received Cal's Andy Smith Award for having the most Big C playing time and also the Most Valuable Defensive Back Award ... picked off a pass at the Cal five-yard line with just 0:14 remaining before halftime to preserve a 17-7 lead at the intermission vs. Michigan State ... set a single-game school record with a Pac-10 season-high 108 interception return yards off a Pac-10 single-game season-high-tying two picks at Washington State with one of them a 90-yard return that set up a Cal score and ranked as the second-longest return in the Pac-10 in 2008 and tied for the fifth-longest return in school history ... recorded his fourth and final pick of the season at Oregon State in a game in which he also recorded a season-high 2.0 TFL ... posted his first career sack against Maryland and then picked up another in the next game vs. Colorado State when he was also named Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week thanks to five punt returns for a Pac-10 season-high 131 return yards, including the 73-yarder for a TD ... recorded a season-best 10 tackles vs. UCLA (0.5 TFL), tallied nine against Colorado State, eight more vs. Oregon (including 1.0 TFL) and seven against Washington (1.0 TFL) ... broke up a career-best four passes vs. Arizona State and had three in the regular season opener vs. Michigan State ... had his 15-yard kick return vs. Oregon.
2007: Played in and started all 13 games ... finished the season fourth on the team with a career-high 78 tackles, to go along with 6.0 TFL (third on team), one interception that he returned 38 yards, one forced fumble and a team-high 10 pass breakups ... tallied a career-best 12 stops and forced a fumble in a win over Arizona ... notched six solo tackles, including a career-high 3.0 TFL, in the Armed Forces Bowl victory over Air Force ... recorded his lone interception vs. Washington State and returned it 38 yards, while adding four tackles and two pass breakups ... posted seven stops (six solo) in the Big Game at Stanford ... recorded nine tackles (all solo) at UCLA ... added eight more takedowns at Oregon ... tallied six tackles, including 1.5 TFL, and a pass breakup against Tennessee ... had six tackles and a season-best three pass breakups against Oregon State, while also notching six stops at Colorado State and Arizona State.
2006: Sporting News Pac-10 All-Freshman selection after starting and playing in all 13 games ... honored as the team's Most Valuable Freshman, finishing the season sixth on the club with 60 tackles, while adding an interception, two fumble recoveries (No. 9-T Pac-10) and two pass breakups ... became a starter after Tim Mixon went down with a knee injury in the preseason ... recorded five tackles in his college debut at Tennessee ... had his first TFL (0.5) in his first home game vs. Minnesota and his first career pick (along with six tackles) two weeks later vs. Arizona State ... picked up his first fumble recovery the next week at Oregon State and another 0.5 TFL against Oregon ... matched the six tackles (all solo) and recorded his first career pass breakup at Washington State, recorded seven tackles vs. UCLA and then registered a season-high eight against USC ... collected a tackle behind the line of scrimmage and a pass breakup against Arizona ... returned a fumble 15 yards for a touchdown during the second quarter of his first Big Game against Stanford to give the Golden Bears their first touchdown.
2005: Redshirted.
HIGH SCHOOL: Earned All-America honors from PrepStar and SuperPrep, and rated as the No. 11 corner in the nation by ESPN.com ... PrepStar placed the three-time All-State performer on its Dream Team Top-100, while SuperPrep ranked him the No. 17 defensive back in the country and the No. 13 overall player in California ... Rivals.com slotted him at No. 13 among the best athletes in the nation and the No. 21 overall player in the state of California ... Scout.com listed him as the No. 5 overall player on its West Hot 100 ... recorded 70-plus tackles and two interceptions on defense, while also rushing for 1,136 yards and 13 touchdowns and recording 10 catches for 46 yards as a senior ... led team to a playoff berth and a 9-2 overall record while earning second-team All-Metro honors from the Sacramento Bee as a senior ... invited to play in the CaliFlorida Bowl ... voted California's Junior "Mr. Football Award" in 2003 and was picked as the top junior in the state by Rivals.com ... earned first-team All-Metro League and All-State as a junior, when he rushed for 950 yards and 18 touchdowns, caught 15 passes for 360 yards and four TDs, and reeled off 79 tackles and five interceptions on defense ... also returned five punts and one kickoff for a TD as a junior.
PERSONAL: Full name is Syd'Quan Tramele Thompson ... born February 7, 1987 ... parents are David and Patty Thompson ... major is Social Welfare.
LAST UPDATED: November 6, 2009
