Quotes From Coach Friedgen's Tuesday Press Conference
11/13/2001 7:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 13, 2001
College Park, Md. - The following are quotes which Maryland head football coach Ralph Friedgen made to the press today at his weekly conference.
(On the upcoming game against NC State)
"We are getting ready to play NC State, a very fine football team. I have been very impressed with them on tape. I think they are very well coached. They have a lot of impressive, skilled athletes. The quarterback is very accurate and very dangerous, they have a good running back in Ray Robinson, and defensively, I have been very impressed with Levar Fisher. I would like to see him and E.J. Henderson on the same team-that would be a pretty good inside-outside combination. We are really going to have our work cut out for us when we go down to Raleigh to play a very fine football team in a hostile environment."
"There will be a lot of similarities between last week's game and this week's game. The crowd will still be in red and white. They will be cheering, but they won't be cheering for us. That will be the major difference. It gets loud-I played there last year on a Thursday night. ... We are going into a snake pit. I know that."
(On NC State quarterback Philip Rivers)
"He is a young guy who is very mature for his age. For a true freshman to start-even though he went through spring practice-is pretty remarkable.... It is a phenomenon that this guy can come in so early and play. Mechanically he does not do things the typical way, but his results are not typical either. They are pretty good. He has an amazing ability to throw the ball and to see the field. He is a tough guy too. He is dangerous and we will have our hands full going against him.
(On being assured a bowl game)
"I am a little concerned that our team has never been in this position before. They are going to a bowl game, but the season is not over. We have to understand the opportunity that we have, we have to forget about everybody telling us how great things are and focus in on playing another football game. This might be our biggest test of the year. Every week we have needed to get back up for a game and I think this is one that we have to be ready to play if we are to be successful."
"There is a lot of bowl speculation. The players have a lot of concerns as far as making plans and the unknown of where we are going. My answer to them is that we will know more after this week. It will be a lot clearer if we win the football game. These are young kids that have never been in this situation before and if you know how hard they have worked since they have been here to get to a bowl game. Now they have the chance to go to a BCS bowl, it is kind of mind-boggling to them. I worry about them being content and they don't need to be content-not until after the season is over, after the bowl game is over."
"I have a concern about something I experienced at Georgia Tech when they hadn't gone to a bowl game in a while and we were going to the Citrus Bowl for the national championship. For a lot of the kids, it was their first Christmas away from home and we almost had a mutiny on Christmas Eve. We had a party and some of the parents could not go because the NCAA requires us to charge parents and they could not afford it. That is a difficult situation and I warned our kids to be prepared for it."
(On cornerback Domonique Foxworth)
"I knew he was ready to play seven weeks ago, that is why I asked him to play. He was playing behind a guy that was having a great year, but I could have used him on special teams. I told him that I thought he would end up playing before the season was out. I told him that if I needed him near the end of the year that I would play him. My vision came true and Domonique was ready to play. You have to understand that this is a kid who paid his way to come here last spring to be a part of this football team. We did not have any scholarships open. We signed him and he wanted to get to Maryland early. He graduated high school early and paid his way to come to spring practice. You don't see that very often. That paid off for him because he wasn't just like a true freshman. He had been working with Coach Blackney on the secondary the whole year and when his opportunity came he was ready. He will be ready this week too."
(On linebacker E.J. Henderson)
"There is not a question in my mind about E.J. Henderson. I have not seen anyone in this world who has played more consistently. I don't care if it is in practice or if it is on Saturday, this kid comes to play. When he puts those pads on, you better be ready to get hit. I couldn't ask more of E.J. than what he has done. I feel very fortunate to have had the chance to coach E.J."
(On last week's game against Clemson)
"We played pretty good offense and defense. I wasn't very happy with our special teams. Offensively, our percentage of error was 9.1. Defensively, there were only three goals that we did not meet, and those we just missed. On special teams, kickoff coverage is a real concern. We are not doing a good job out there at all. I am not very pleased with our kickoff returns either. Our punt returns are another area where we can be better. Our punt coverage is good, our PAT and field goal have been much improved, and our punting is good. Those other three areas concern me."
(On comparing Maryland to NC State)
"We are a lot alike. We are both blue collar type programs, we work hard. I have the utmost respect for Coach Chuck Amato and his staff. Their kids play hard. They are very well coached and well schooled in the fundamentals. They don't beat themselves. The thing Chuck was able to do in the first year was to teach his kids how to win. They never give up. In a lot of their early games, they came from behind to win which is very difficult to do. He gave them the confidence to be a very good football program. There are a lot of similarities and I take it as a compliment that people think so."
