Quotes From Ralph Friedgen's Tuesday Press Conference
10/5/2004 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 5, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Maryland head coach Ralph Friedgen:
On the bye week:
"It has been a good week off. We've gotten healthy and we've taken some time this week to work on some of the things we need to get better at. We've also been preparing for Georgia Tech. Last night we had a very good practice. The kids seem excited about the rest of our season, and this is a critical part of our season. It is a very big game in our season. Georgia Tech is a very good football team."
On Georgia Tech:
"Georgia Tech played a very tough team last week in Miami, and I was very impressed with them defensively. Essentially it is the same team we played last year except for the three outstanding linebackers that they have. Everybody else is bigger, faster and stronger than they were last year, and they did a very good job of stopping us last year.
Offensively, they have some threats. Calvin Johnson is a very, very good freshman wide receiver. I expect P.J. Daniels to be back, he's their top rusher, and one of the best running backs in the league.
[Georgia Tech quarterback] Reggie Ball is a very competitive kid. I was very impressed with him last year as a true freshman playing against us. He runs extremely hard and has a strong arm. Last year, the offense was kind of cut back for him and limited in ways, but he was still able to perform quite well. He's thrown some interceptions this year; we've had similar experiences to that. There are a lot of things that go into that.
I have a lot of respect for Georgia Tech. They play extremely hard. They have a very quick defense. I showed some clips to our players last night and we need to be very ready to play this football game. Their backs are to the wall and so are ours. It's going to be a very hard-fought game, I don't have any doubt about that."
On his team's youth:
"This team has a lot of potential. We're older now than we were. We're still young but we're a lot better than when we started. We have a little more confidence right now, and yet we still haven't played as well as we're capable of playing. I'm looking for this team to improve each week from here on out. We can win all the rest of our games or we can lose them."
On the secondary:
"I think [our secondary] is going to get really tested this week. I've been pleased with our defensive play, in particular our secondary, all year long. Chris Kelley has really played very, very well. So has Ray Custis and Gerrick McPhearson. We anticipate Domonique Foxworth playing well, so those three guys came on and really helped our football team."
On the atmosphere of Byrd Stadium:
"I hope we can keep it going. Our kids seem to play well at home. Our fans and our student body have been great. Our support seems to grow every time we play. They're a big part of our success. Hopefully we can maintain that over the next three out of four games."
On facing his former school, Georgia Tech:
"I'll have friends there for the rest of my life. I understand they're going to pull for Georgia Tech one day of the year and they'll root for me the rest. Georgia Tech will always be a special place for me, but when we play on Saturdays I'm a Terp."
