New London — A year ago, there was Derek Victory, who set nearly every passing record while playing quarterback for the Coast Guard Academy football team. Following Victory's graduation, then came Ethan Goldcamp, Victory's successor.

Now, the Bears are minus Goldcamp, too, who has yet to be cleared after suffering a concussion in a Week 4 victory at Norwich.

The Coast Guard quarterback: sophomore Ryan Jones, a 6-foot, 210-pound native of Punxsutawney, Pa., originally recruited to Coast Guard as a defensive back.

Jones, a member of last year's scout team, in charge of running the opposing offense against the first team defense each week, has been hailed by coach Bill George as one of the toughest players he's seen. George describes him as running over defenders in Saturday's 34-16 loss at Maine Maritime. Jones, perhaps in accordance with being a student at a military academy, is a leader, more well-spoken, more confident than a normal sophomore.

"This place definitely helps you grow up a lot faster," Jones said.

But his strengths are not necessarily Victory's strengths. Or Goldcamp's. And so the Bears, 3-4 overall, 1-3 in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference headed into Saturday's Homecoming Weekend game against MIT, continue to adapt.

"He can't sit back and know how to read a defense the way Derek Victory could; he's not a big, gangly dropback guy like Ethan. He's a different human being. There's a different person in those cleats," George said at Wednesday's weekly team media luncheon.

"His No. 1 quality is he's tougher than hell. He's tough as nails. He's a hard runner. He's a leader. He's a very tough, hardnosed kid. He doesn't complain. He doesn't point fingers. ... I think he'll get better each day. I thought his best day I've seen him as a football player was (Tuesday) in practice."

Jones, making his fourth career start, is 46-for-99 for 421 yards with two touchdowns and eight interceptions. He's also run for two touchdowns, although the sacks against him have left him with negative net rushing yardage.

He is looking for his first victory, something he takes personally following each game, George said.

"It's like he doesn't let the game catch up to him until it's over, until suddenly there's no more time," the coach said.

But it hasn't affected Jones' confidence. If there's one thing he saw Victory do over and over in his Coast Guard career, it was get back up after he got knocked down or respond following a mistake.

Jones said it was the Sunday after the Norwich game, when it was known Goldcamp would be out indefinitely, that seniors Cody Bain and Geremy Kendrick approached him and made sure he knew he had the team's confidence.

"They said, 'We have total faith in you,'" Jones said. "I don't think you would get that at any other place. I wasn't prepared for the total trust instilled in me.

"If you convince yourself you can do it, that's the majority of the battle. That way, you can walk in with your shoulders high," Jones said. "... Mistakes happen. Nobody's ever recorded a perfect passer rating. The last play is the last play. In high school, I let (mistakes) affect me more. I let it drag down the rest of my performance. I'm glad I've gotten rid of it."

Jones knows he needs to have more of a presence in the pocket and learn to make the correct reads to see who's open. Someone whom George refers to as a "sharp kid," Jones works through things each practice to make himself better.

"The last year was to just kind of be a sponge," said Jones, who was also accepted at the Naval Academy — where his dad, Jamie, is a graduate — but chose to attend Coast Guard in part to play football. "The role that football plays in your life (as a freshman at the academy) is kind of an escape.

"I definitely feel comfortable now. Absolutely, football is one of my favorite things in the world; it will be until they yank me off the field by force. ... After a loss, a lot of things go through your mind. It's better to look ahead, not back."

v.fulkerson@theday.com