Oct. 16, 2004

Maryland Head Coach Ralph Friedgen
Opening comments:
"Another poor showing for us today, particularly offensively. I thought our defense played good except on third down and the one last [NC State] drive. We just got a lot of problems that are not being solved ... It's very embarrassing to not play better than that offensively."

On NC State's defense:
"They're a very good defense. They [have] very good skill people and we really had trouble getting people open. They played a very aggressive man-to-man defense."

On the Maryland offense:
"I thought Joel [Statham] made some plays on the first drive. I'd like to see us kick that field goal ... I thought he made a couple of pressure throws on third down. We were running the ball pretty good. They gave us a pick-up problem that we adjusted to"

"We're just kind of out there running through the motions ... I didn't see us compete offensively. We sort of went out there, run the patterns, run the plays. [When] they're playing against you man-to-man, you've got to work your tail off to get open, work to sustain your blocks. If you make a throw, you have to make the catch."

On the penalty that negated Maryland's field goal on the first drive:
"...We've been lining up like that all year. The calls definitely didn't go our way this week. That's three plays they took off - on the fumble for the touchdown, [the referees] said there was a facemask penalty and then they said [NC State] called timeout on the safety. That's 12 points right there -- it's 13-12. It just wasn't our night."

On positive Terrapin performances:
"I thought Shawne Merriman played an unbelievable game. He seemed to be everywhere. They tried to run around him on reverses, he was there. They went up in tight, he was there. I don't know how many tackles he had, but it had to be an awful lot. I thought D'Qwell Jackson played well on the line. He played hard. I thought up front, we controlled the line of scrimmage and they've got a very good offensive line, they've got a very good set of running backs. Third down was the toughest situation. They did a good job of converting on third down. They have got a lot of speed. They isolate you one-on-one ... Another guy that I think had an excellent game was [punter] Adam Podlesh."

Sophomore Quarterback Joel Statham
On his play:
"I felt like this past week in practice I rose to the challenge. I made good reads in practice. I just have to come out on Saturday and do the same thing, and so does everybody else."

On NC State's defense:
"Most of the time when they blitzed, we had people to pick it up. When they were able to get to us, we probably should have made a different read than we were supposed to or took off running with the ball."

Junior Linebacker D'Qwell Jackson
On the team:
"Right now we are 3-3 and 1-2 in the conference. I believe we still have a chance. We just have to go back and continue to fix things. Things just did not go our way tonight. It is a very long season ahead and we have a lot of work to do."

On the rest of the season:
"We feel in our hearts that we are not out of the conference race. We know we are still in the hunt. We can't go on looking at games ahead. We have to focus on one game at a time and one practice at a time."

Senior Center Kyle Schmitt
On the struggles of the offense:
"It's a lot of frustration. There are breakdowns everywhere. The offensive line, the quarterback, the running backs and the receivers. It's not one guy or one position - it's everybody."

On not being able to find the end zone:
"It's frustrating because our defense is playing their hearts out. Those guys are playing as hard as they can."

NC State Head Coach Chuck Amato
On the win:
"Needless to say, this was a big one for us. An ACC win, a team we haven't beaten in four years, and a team that, in the fourth quarter for four years, I think we were ahead. When it was 13 - 0 at the end of the third quarter, I was concerned. It was a good Atlantic Coast Conference win, I can tell you that right now."

On the NC State defense:
"Our defense played their tails off. I think it was eight straight times in the second and third quarter that were three and outs. We held them to two for 18 on third down conversions and 0 for their last 14."

On the possibility of a Maryland comeback:
"You have to give credit to their team too. The game wasn't over in the fourth period. We had field position, and we lost it. Our kids fought their brains ought, without our center, who is a captain, our left tackle, our tailback, who ran the ball just one time for nine yards, and Maddox, who is a defensive leader playing only in nickel situations."

On NC State's next opponent:
"We go to Raleigh and play Miami, how about that? With all of the hurricanes that have come through the state of North Carolina, there's another one coming."

Sophomore Defensive End Mario Williams
On the win:
"That's just a team win. The offense knew what they had to do. They put points on the board. The defense knew what we had to do. We had to stop them....We were just getting after them, putting pressure, trying to be physical."

On Maryland's play:
"They were still executing. It's just that we really studied and planned this week, and we came out and knew what we had to do....We really got to them. That's where it all starts and that's where it all finishes, is at the line, the trenches. We came out and were real physical, real intense."

Junior Quarterback Jay Davis
On the rivalry:
"It was a typical Maryland-N.C. State game, especially when we fumbled the punt return. I was like, `Oh, man, here we go again.' But our defense really had a good night. They only gave up a field goal. We were able to move the ball a little bit offensively....Both sides and special teams really played well today."

On Maryland's defense:
"They really were [keeping the Terps in the game]. We were very conservative running the football, not trying to do too much, and just letting our defense go out there and play the game."

Junior Free Safety Marcus Hudson
On the rivalry:
"We came into the game with a chip on our shoulders. The loss last week that we felt like we didn't deserve, and also the past four years how we lost to Maryland in the last two minutes, all coming down to the last play, so we came in with something on our shoulders....It feels good, but we can only celebrate for the night. We have to get focused on next weekend."