Oct. 2, 2001

College Park, Md. -

Press conference audio

(On the upcoming game against Virginia)
"This is a big week for us. The fact that we are playing Virginia makes it a big game for us, but the fact that it is for sole possession of first place in the ACC probably makes it one of the bigger games we've had here in quite some time."

(On Virginia)
"Defensively, they are a very sound football team. They remind me a lot of teams I used to go against in the NFL-Bill Parcells and Al Groh were part of that. They played a 3-4 defense and they played good, sound, fundamental football. There are not a lot of things there that you can exploit. You just have to get down to the man on man element and hopefully be able to block them and execute against them to be successful. Offensively, they do a good job of throwing the football. That's their real strength. They have a good running game but when you break them down, they are making their big plays in the passing game."

(On his biggest game during his last coaching stint at Maryland)
"In this stadium, it was North Carolina because they were ranked second or third in the nation, and we beat them (October, 29, 1983)."

(On being ranked No. 25 in the nation)
"I haven't even mentioned the ranking to our players. I think it's nice that their achievements have been recognized. It helps us in recruiting, but I really don't think it means a lot until the end of the year. We have a lot of games to play yet. I'll be more excited about that at the end of the year than now."

(On running back Bruce Perry's improvement)
"He even got better last week. He had 157 yards when people were geared to stopping him. He's having a phenomenal year. He's doing everything a running back can do. Not only is he running real well, he pass protects, he catches passes out of the backfield. I particularly like the way that he is finishing runs off. He's not just letting people drag him down. You never see him getting knocked backwards. He fights for every yard he gets. He's doing everything and more than I thought he could do. I like his attitude. I like the way he's practicing. Bruce is making me very happy right now."

(On the Terps' early success)
"I don't know if I envisioned things going this well this soon, but I envisioned big games. That's what I love to coach: big games. It's going to be another opportunity for our players to cross a big hurdle. I talked to them a little about this last night. Every test they have faced, they have passed. Now they have the opportunity to play in a very big game that is going to reap very big benefits if they win."

(On increasing Maryland's tempo)
"I like to keep a fast pace. Sometimes, we are not as fast as I would like us in and out of the huddle. We need to get our plays called a little bit faster. I think we are a better team when we have a lot of tempo. We practice that way."

(On penalties committed last Saturday)
"One of the things we said we couldn't do was beat ourselves. Defensively we had five penalties. And three of the penalties led to points. I addressed it."

(On Maryland's defense)
"I've been pleasantly pleased with our defense. I don't think we really knew what we had coming into the season. We were concerned about our production from our defensive line. They've been able to do a good job. We knew we had good linebackers. All along, I felt we had a good secondary. They had been criticized, but from going against them in spring practice, I thought they were pretty good. It's been proven that they are a very good secondary. They are senior-laden. They have a lot of maturity and a lot of experience. They have adapted to Coach Blackney's schemes and they are playing with a lot of enthusiasm and confidence. We are playing against teams that run or throw. We should be able to stop both. It doesn't matter what they do. As long as we stop it, I'm happy."