Oct. 19, 1999

COLLEGE PARK, MD.-- Maryland head football coach Ron Vanderlinden met with the media to discuss the Terps' upcoming game against North Carolina.

On this week's game against North Carolina:

"North Carolina is talented. They played Georgia Tech very tough two weeks ago. They have recruited very well and have been to seven straight bowl games. I am not looking at their current record as a way of telling how good they are."

"They (North Carolina) can spread out the ball very well. They have gone to a no-back attack and are capable of moving the ball like Clemson did last week. They have two good quarterbacks and I expect them to both play this week. They have a whole stable of running backs and talented receivers. We will have to play better this week than we did against Clemson."

On last week's game against Clemson:

"We didn't make some of the plays we needed to make defensively. We need to get back to playing Maryland football."

"I was very encouraged by the way our offense played. Our offensive line and our offense as a whole keep getting better. Our offensive line played the best it has since I've been here."

On the Terps' special teams:

"You can tell a lot about the character of a team by the way they play special teams. Our punt team, kickoff team and field goal team have all been playing well. Our kickoff return team is first in the nation and Brian Kopka is nine of 12 on field goals"

On the Terps' offense:

"We are young offensively, but we are a very balanced team. We are just going to keep getting better."

On LaMont Jordan:

"LaMont had another outstanding game against Clemson. He continues to make a lot of progress. He has speed, power and the ability to make people miss. I have been impressed this season by his work habits, enthusiasm and excitement."

On the Terps' ability to bounce back from the Clemson game:

"I like the mindset of our team. We have the ability to put the Clemson game behind us. We have been focused all year and have been learning as a team."