Quotes From Coach Ralph Friedgen's Tuesday Press Conference
11/11/2003 7:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 11, 2003
The following are excerpts from University of Maryland head football coach Ralph Friedgen's weekly gathering with local media. Friedgen and the Terrapins host Virginia Thursday.
On Thursday's game vs. Virginia:
"Matt Schaub is a very accurate thrower. They run a very interesting passing game, and they are throwing the ball now more than they have before. Schaub is very hard to get to. The ball comes out very quickly. He is an excellent quarterback. Their team is more developed than they were last year. They are relying more on the pass now than they did earlier in the year for whatever reason. Early in the year I thought they ran the ball pretty well. The last two games against NC State and Florida State they went more to the pass."
On the team's week off:
"There is intensity in our practices. They feel good about themselves right now after the way we played the last time out."
On last year's game vs. Virginia:
"It still bothers me today. The kids are more resilient than their coaches. I told you before that I put myself at blame for that game. I didn't listen to our players and I take full responsibility for how we played. We had early momentum and a couple things happened and Virginia did a good job taking advantage of that. They played better than we did and deserved to win."
On the game being televised nationally:
"Any time a game is on national television and because we are very competitive with Virginia, I would be kidding if I didn't say that this wasn't an important game for both teams. I know there are a lot of kids out there looking to see how we play and also how Virginia plays. The way the ACC is playing out, anybody could end up anywhere."
On Florida State's loss motivating the team:
"That could be [what is motivating them]. Ironically enough, everything the guys have goals for are still there with three games to go in the season. At the beginning of the season I was hoping that we would be peaking right about now, going into these last three games. The way college football is now, a lot of time it is the intangibles that make the difference - how we play as a team, how disciplined we are, how injury free the team stays and how we are able to handle adversity."
On quarterback Scott McBrien:
"What Scott has to do is go out and relax and play like he wants to play. He makes some incredible plays in practice. He is throwing the deep ball better than he has at anytime since he has been here. I hope that he can continue to do what he did against North Carolina because that adds a whole other dimension to our offense."
