Sept. 2, 2002

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The following comments were made during head coach Ralph Friedgen's media availability Sunday, Sept. 1:

On injury situation:
"DB Ty Stewart, who has a groin pull, is doubtful this week. SS Dennard Wilson had cramps but appears alright. WR Jafar Williams has a slight shoulder sprain but is probable, although he will be limited in practice. WR Steve Suter has a quad contusion but his groin pull appears to be better and he is probable."

On the QB situation:
"We made a lot of mistakes at quarterback. We definitely need to simplify and get [the offense to the level] they can handle. They did some positive things, but they did too many things in situations that we need to get corrected. I don't think there will be a change in [starting] quarterbacks from what I saw."

On QB's handling adversity:
"I have confidence in both quarterbacks handling adversity. You have to remember, these are guys who are new to this system and who haven't had a lot of experience playing in a big game like [the Kickoff Classic]. I'm sure we'll benefit from this experience."

Other offensive thoughts:
"I wasn't disappointed with the offensive line. For three quarters I thought the line played OK. When we got into the passing game in the fourth quarter, I don't know whether it was fatigue or what, we got a few more pressures on our quarterback. Assignment-wise, the running backs didn't make many errors, and in some regards played better than I anticipated. I was encouraged by it. We just made a lot of mistakes at receiver and quarterback. It isn't anything that can't be fixed. I think the receiver corps is one of the strengths of our team, but they just didn't have a good night. I thought we would be more exact on offense, especially with some of our older kids. For an offense to execute well, you have to be very exact. And there were times we weren't doing things exactly the way they should be done. On the one side I'm alarmed by it, but on the other side, I know we can do it, especially in the passing game. We should be further along than we are. But if you remember last year we were behind at this point also."

On true freshman linebacker D'Qwell Jackson (who had 12 tackles in his major college debut):
"He was a very pleasant surprise. He had 10 solo tackles in his first game as a freshman. I can verify a lot of those tackles were hard hits because I could hear them on the sideline. D'Qwell had an impact on our preseason because he played very, very well. He's very mature for a young linebacker. He has great instincts and can run to the ball very well. I think that is one of the positive things that came out of the game."

On the running game:
"We got out of our rhythm because we fell behind. Obviously we didn't do a good job of running the option. I think we have to do a better job of executing it. It was still there, I just didn't think we did a good job of executing it. In the running game, we have to be a little more north-south instead of east-west, we have to sustain our blocks a little bit more, and we have to put ourselves in the right place at the line of scrimmage."

On running backs' confidence level:
"I think when the backs see the film they will gain confidence from watching it. They did a better job in the game with some things than they had in practice. I think we got a little one-dimensional during the game, and that is my fault as much as anybody. I went to the two-minute offense early because I wanted to win the game. In hindsight, I would probably try to establish the run, and I think we could have done that. I'm not disappointed with the running backs, I thought they did a good job."

On regrouping after opening loss:
"I think our kids are very disappointed, as are the coaches. The one thing I felt very good about, I never saw a lack of effort. There may have been a lack of effort a little bit on our special teams. Beyond that I never saw lack of effort either offensively or defensively. And that's something that can happen when you're not playing well. I didn't see anything that can't get better. We have to be smart as coaches to see what we're asking our kids to do. If the players continue to give the effort, I think it can get fixed."

On the Terps' defense:
"I was very pleased with our defense. I thought the defense played very hard. CB Curome Cox [8 tackles] had a very good game, and DT Randy Starks [7 tackles] probably had his best game as a Terrapin. I thought SS Dennard Wilson played well before he cramped up. I'm not discouraged defensively. I thought they were on the field way too long, but they gave everything they had to give. We'll get better."

On youth of Terrapin team:
"I've said before this is a very young team. They've been under the gun now in a big situation, so hopefully they'll learn from that and we'll get better."

On expectations this week:
"When we cut [the offense] down, I expect to see improvement. If we don't, I think we have real problems. I expect a lot of improvement this week. As long as we make improvement, I'm happy. We knew going in this team was inexperienced. They just need to continue to grow. I'm not losing faith at all; I'm right there with them. We just have to get better than we were [Saturday night]."