Sept. 28, 2002

Recap| Final Stats| Notes| Photo Gallery

Head Coach Ralph Friedgen

On the overall performance during tonight's 37-8 victory: "I thought we had a good win tonight. Wofford is a very scrappy, tough team. They played very hard. I knew they were well-coached. I thought our defense played exceptionally, especially in the first half. We gave them the one long drive, but other than that, I thought we did a very good job defensively. Offensively, we had some good spots and some bad [spots], but overall I was pleased. Wofford was doing a lot of things that we really hadn't practiced against. They showed us a lot of new defenses. They were slanting and stunting and I thought our kids adapted well to it and finally got some good drives going."

On running back Josh Allen: "There's no question that he will be an impact player. I think he's a [fine] running back and I'm impressed with him as a kid, also. I have tremendous expectations for Josh."

On running back Chris Downs: "I was told he had over 100 yards in the first half rushing. The guy has waited for his opportunity and has made the most of it. Every game he comes in, he's very consistent, and doesn't turn the ball over. He's running hard and he has a burst. It's an enjoyment for a coach to see a kid who has been in your program for such a long time and not got a lot of playing time, and then comes in and excels. It's a feel-good story."

On the offense's performance: "I thought we were fairly effective running the ball...I think we still have to get better in our passing game. They were doing some things to hurt our passing game - dropping eight guys and playing a lot of screwy coverages, but we were able to make some big plays there, which I thought was a positive."

On defending the option: "We didn't use any of our dime packages, because the option responsibilities get a little complicated. I thought with the second quarterback, they used more option. I thought we defensed the option pretty well against the first guy, and then broke down a few times with the second guy in there. Overall, I don't know what they had in total offense, but I thought our defense played pretty well."

On going on the road to play West Virginia next week: "I told them today [that] Morgantown is a tough place to play, but so is Virginia, so is Chapel Hill, so is Death Valley. If we're going to be a good football team, we've got to find a way to win on the road. We were able to do that last year, and that's why we had a good season. I think this is another chapter in our season and we're going to find out a little more about our football team this week."

E.J. Henderson

On Maryland's confidence: "We put some points on the board and we got our third win. I thought we had a good showing at home so I think we got our confidence back."

"We have a tough schedule coming up and as we get closer as a team, it's time to elevate our play, especially coming into conference play."

On achieving the TFL record: "I wasn't really thinking about it but it felt good to get my name in the record books, especially at Maryland."

On Maryland's defensive performance: "I think we had a good game. [Wofford's] wingbone offense was hard to stop especially with all the options. They had about 50 rushes...we contained them enough to get the job done."

Madieu Williams

On Maryland's defensive performance: "We tried to play physical when we had a chance. Every time we had the chance to come up and make a tackle regardless of who it was, we would just accelerate our feet; we want to transfer what we are doing in practice to game days."

"We expected Wofford to come out and run the ball and throw it some, but there was not a play there that we did not expect.

On handling Wofford's option: "Our coaching staff did a great job of preparing us for the option. This week we had a couple drills where we would go forward without the ball to get us prepared to make sure everyone knew their responsibilities."

On going on the road after four home games: "It's going to be a big test for us going to Morgantown. It is a tough place to play, a tough atmosphere. We just have to make sure we come out with our 'A' game and execute like we've been doing."

C.J. Feldheim

On Wofford's offense: "[Wofford] tried to surprise us early and it started to work, but then we buckled down. We covered the run pretty well and pretty much shut them down."

On the performance of the defensive backs: "[Madieu Williams] had a great hit. A guy who was bigger than him was running down the sideline full steam ahead and Madieu was coming from the opposite direction full speed. He won the collision there. All year the defensive backs have been making great hits. It brings character to your defense when backs aren't actually afraid to step up and hit somebody."