Quotes From Sunday's Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Press Conference
12/29/2002 7:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 29, 2002
On Sunday, Maryland defensive coordinator Gary Blackney, offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe along with senior punter Brooks Barnard and senior wide receiver Scooter Monroe spoke with the media about the upcoming Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m.
Coach Gary Blackney on the overall Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl event: I would like to thank the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl for this wonderful opportunity for our players, our coaches and our families. The hospitality is just unequaled. I have been fortunate to have been to several bowls and this bowl certainly ranks with the best of them. We are very pleased to be here and look forward to a great competitive challenge from a great program in Tennessee.
Coach Charlie Taaffe on Scooter Monroe: He is one of the stories of great success that has turned our program around. Of course being a senior he was involved in the program when they weren't having the success to be getting ready to play in a couple of days. Aside from the great leadership which Coach Friedgen brought to the program, I think the personal commitment by guys like Scooter. Players checked their egos at the door when we started the program - it was all about winning. All the personal agendas and individual statistics were put on the back burner. The commitment was to winning. We started very early in the morning in the off-season and established an attitude.
Scooter has been one of the steady guys in the two years we have been here. This year, of course, he has been and outstanding performer, our leading receiver, our most consistent player with passing game. He's a very unselfish player, who does a great job with blocking - which you might not really notice as an observer. But as a coach you really appreciate the things Scooter does.
Blackney on Brooks Barnard: Brooks is our All-ACC, All-American punter. As a defensive coach, he's one of my favorite players. He has a very strong leg. He has been very consistent and been an All-ACC performer the last two years. Although I'm not an expert at the next level, I feel he has a chance to play at the next level (in the NFL).
From a defensive coach's point of view, Brooks forces our opponents to go the long field. The longer an opponent, the more success a defense can have. Brooks has pinned a lot of our opponents down inside the 10-yard line and believe me, it's a lot easier to make those calls when a team in backed than when they are in four-down territory. Brooks has been a great weapon for us. A lot of people think he's an offensive weapon, I happen to think he's a defensive weapon. His booming punts have been a source of joy for me, not only because of his success, but it allows us operate with a lot more efficiency in terms of vertical field position.
Taaffe on facing another SEC team in a bowl after playing Florida last year: One thing about the SEC teams when you watch them on tape, they all look the same on defense, the uniforms just change. Speed is the one thing you see, that just stands out and Tennessee is no exception to that. It seems they have great team speed and quickness at every position. They have outstanding linebackers. Their corners are the best we have seen all year without question, which allows them to play man-to-man coverage. We expect to see a lot of press coverage, where they will get right in your face and challenge you to go wide. They will line up and say, 'let's go.' There are two ways to beat that; running down the field vertically and crossing routes.
You have to run some misdirection against them to take advantage of their team speed - try to get them to move the other way and hopefully misdirect them and be able to run some counter plays. Then, the one thing we have, that not a lot of their opponents run, is the option. That always helps against man-to-man coverage because the DB's turn their back and run down the field with our receivers, you have a chance to get a soft corner. The option helps us and presents another problem with them.
Summing up the question, Tennessee and Florida play very similar defenses. Obviously the statistics are there, they are seventh or eighth in the country in total defense, so this is without a doubt, the top defensive team we have played this season.
