Quotes From Coach Ralph Friedgen's Tuesday Press Luncheon
9/30/2003 8:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 30, 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 Clemson on Saturday.
On last Saturday's game against Eastern Michigan:
"We feel fortunate to have come away with a win last week. We didn't play as well as we wanted to in the first half, but we came back in the second half and we played very well. We got something out of that game; we met some adversity and were able to overcome it. I'm hoping that's going to help us be a better team down the road."
On what stands out about Clemson:
"A lot of things stand out. They have speed - guys who can run. Their quarterback is playing extremely well. He's grown up, he's making very good decisions and he's very accurate. Defensively, to me, they're a typical Clemson defense - big, strong and fast. Justin Miller is a really good cornerback, he had a good game against us last year. (John) Leake is a very good linebacker. They have some good defensive ends. They've got a lot of talent."
On Saturday's game:
"This is it. Now we're in league play and seven games are going to determine our fate. This is a big one. Clemson is a team that is very talented, and we've been successful against them the last two years so they're hungry to beat us."
"We're looking forward to a third consecutive 50,000 plus crowd in Byrd Stadium, and I'm hoping they're going to be as excited and as enthusiastic as they were against West Virginia. The two best games we've played this season have been at home and I'm hoping we can continue the progress that I've seen in the team in the last three weeks."
"I can see (Clemson) improving week-by-week and I'm sure they're seeing the same in us. It's going to be a heck of a football game. Their kids are going to be really excited to play and ours will too. It's going to be what we've all dreamed of as far as what kind of excitement the crowd is going to bring to it."
On Comparing This Year's Game To The Clemson Game In 2001:
"When we won that game we were assured a share of the ACC championship, because Florida State had lost that day to NC State. Hopefully we'll have that kind of atmosphere with the fans again. The incentive was immediate at that time. The following week we went down and won at NC State. In that game, even when everything looked like it was going wrong, we still were able to come back and win the game. It would have been easy for that team to settle for a co-championship."
"I told our players a couple of weeks back, 'We got a ring last year for wining the Peach Bowl, but the ring I wear is the conference championship ring.' I have a national championship ring and an AFC championship ring, but I wear my Terrapin ACC championship ring because of the way they won it. They persevered. They never quit, and that's meaningful to me."
On The Team Going From 0-2 To 3-2:
"You're going to have ups and downs. One of the things I was pleased with last week was that we were able to turn it around, where in the two weeks that we lost, we were not. You're on that sideline and things aren't going well - it's easy to panic or be disheartened, or just feel like you can't get it done. When that happens, you usually lose, no matter who you're playing. Eastern Michigan was taking it to us, give them credit. Now that we were still able to win that football game and respond to that challenge, I don't see why we can't do it again."
