Last week the producers and cast of Friday Night Lights took part in a Q&A for their acclaimed series. While some of the content was similar to another discussion they'd done a couple of months ago, there was one big difference: this time everyone knew they were definitely coming back for a second season, as the show was officially renewed last month. Executive Producers Jason Katims and Peter Berg were pretty tight lipped on details about Season 2, though Berg said he was incredibly excited about what Katims had told him were his plans for Episodes 1 - 8. The one detail Katims gave was that Season 2 would pick up eight months after Season 1 and immediately deal with the pregnancy of Tami Taylor (Connie Britton), which was revealed in the Season 1 finale.

Before the event began I was able to speak to many of the Friday Night Lights cast for exclusive interviews with IGN. Those I spoke to included Kyle Chandler ("Coach Eric Taylor"), Adrianne Palacki ("Tyra Collete"), Gaius Charles ("Brian 'Smash' Williams"), Aimee Teegarden ("Julie Taylor"), Minka Kelly ("Lyla Garrity"), Zach Gilford ("Matt Saracen"), and Connie Britton ("Tami Taylor").

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Like the accidental quarterback he plays on "Friday Night Lights," Zach Gilford probably shouldn't be where he is today.

The 25-year-old thesp was beyond unknown before the series began. His pre-"Lights" resume includes an episode of "Law & Order: SVU," small roles in a couple indie pics ... and that's it.

"I auditioned in New York in 2005, and then went in to audition in L.A. six or seven times," Gilford says. "After I got the role, (creator) Peter Berg said, 'Dude, I didn't even know who you were.' He said they had this one person they really wanted, and I was just 'that kid' they kept around."

It helped that the casting director for the pilot went to Northwestern, the same school Gilford attended. Berg and NBC execs ultimately warmed to Gilford and decided to offer him the role of Matt Saracen, the shy teen who ends up playing QB for the Dillon Panthers after the team's star is paralyzed.

"Lights" ended its first season this spring as among the most critically praised new series. Even as part of a stellar cast, Gilford stood out by injecting Saracen with a sort of realism seldom seen on the small screen. Whether fighting with his soldier father or finding the courage to ask the coach's daughter out on a date, Gilford brilliantly channeled the angst and awkwardness that is adolesence.

Gilford says viewers identify with Saracen because he's an underdog.

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Even those of us with dream jobs have our eyes on other dream jobs.

Take actor Zach Gilford. He's got a pretty good gig as high school quarterback Matt Saracen on ABC's critically acclaimed "Friday Night Lights." But growing up in Evanston, all he wanted was to be a starting guard for the Chicago Bulls. Gilford even has a self-made "Pip 33" tattoo on his calf. "My buddy and I tattooed each other when we were 13," Gilford told us from Los Angeles on Friday.

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