Sept. 10, 2005

Recap |  Final Stats

Maryland Head Coach Ralph Friedgen
On the game:
"It was a tough loss to a very good team. We had the game in hand and we have to give credit to Clemson. They did a great job of coming back. Really, I thought they took it to us in the fourth quarter which greatly disappoints me. On a brighter side, we played our younger kids in critical situations and I think that should help them grow. We had too many penalties. We had two timeouts that we had to use because people were not paying attention to substitution. We had 14 points that were probably given up on penalties. We are not a team that can give a ranked team 14 points and expect to win. I thought we did some good things. I thought we continued to throw the ball well. We have to be able to finish. We didn't finish and we have to be able to pull the trigger."

On the penalties and fouls:
"I have to look at the film. I think sometimes there is too much talking out there among players and I'm not for that. Our guys are doing it and so are their players. We have to be better and we can't be doing that. We had a penalty late in the game out of frustration. I can't condone that at all. I have to put my trust in the officials. I can't see that."

On the running game:
"I'm very disappointed on how we ran the ball. If we could have run the ball, we could have won the game. A good team takes that ball and runs it 80 yards when you know they can run. I hope we get there someday, but we aren't there yet. But they have a good football team too."

On the defense:
"I thought our defense did a pretty good job outside of the first drive. Hopefully they can learn from it."

On the team:
"I'll be very disappointed if they don't respond to this game. I think they are hurting right now. And I think they thought they could have a number two win. They ignored an opportunity that they had sitting right there for them. I told them last night that they could win against a ranked team."

Maryland Linebacker David Holloway
On the game:
"We felt like the game was right in our hands. We were up, and it was on the defense to close the game out. That is something we take pride in and it is disappointing to let the game slip away like that."

On the penalties:
"The penalties were huge. That is something that we cannot have because we are beating ourselves like that. With us giving them 30 yards on that one drive, we just beat ourselves with the penalties. It is real disappointing because we had the game. We were a little too aggressive and we did not use our heads all the way."

Maryland Quarterback Sam Hollenbach
On the game:
"I thought we really should have had a win out there today. It is just starting to sink in right now. It kind of feels like being on Navy's end like last week, the game was right down to the last second and we couldn't get it done. You have to hand it to Clemson, they played us tough. I know we are going to see a lot of mistakes that we made on the film."

On his performance:
"Personally I am upset with the way I played. I know there were plays that I should have made that I didn't. Those plays could have been the difference between winning and losing."

On Vernon Davis:
"He reads the defense really well. We are on the same page. He reads the zone, gets behind the defense and gets himself open. The great thing about him is that when he catches the ball he doesn't want to go down. He thinks he is getting a touchdown every time he touches the ball. For a quarterback you want to throw it to a guy like that."

Maryland Wide Receiver Danny Melendez
On the game:
"It is just bitter right now. We did what were supposed to do and the game just slipped right from our hands. It is very frustrating. We had an opportunity to win the game and we did not do it. You have to give credit to Clemson."

On his relationship with Sam Hollenbach:
"We have been together since our official visit. We have been together for four years, he has been my roommate all throughout college. We have had confidence in each other all for all four years. It is just finally starting to generate on the field."

Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden
On the 38-yard touchdown on 3rd down:
"I was telling [Offensive Coordinator] Rob [Spence] I thought we would go for it on 4th down anyway. You have two downs to run it, so don't feel like you have to get it all in this shot. If it had been 4th and 4, we were going to go for it anyway."

On the decision to run on 3rd and 7 on Merriweather's touchdown:
"I just told Rob you have two downs, do whatever you want. I gave him the flexibility to run or pass if he wanted to. He talks to all the guys and he made the decision."

On the offense playing better late in the game:
"We've done that a good bit over the course of the last year. I think it says something about the strength of conference. I'm glad that we're getting used to these types of games, because if you're in this conference, you're going to be in a lot of them. I think there are going to be dry spells for both offenses and defenses on a week-to-week basis based on what I've seen. There are a lot of people who are going to come up here and struggle offensively and defensively."

On coming from behind to win in back-to-back weeks:
"I think the team has the mentality that if we play hard for 60 minutes, something can happen to swing it our way. I'm very fortunate. That's a hard thing to instill in a team. I think this team has that type of personality."

On racking up 72 4th quarter rushing yards:
"I think the fact that we continued to run the ball made the passing game that much easier. The defense allowed us to be close enough that we could be patient and continue to run the ball."

Clemson Quarterback Charlie Whitehurst
On the game:
"We made the plays when we had to, and the defense made the plays when they had to. It was good to come in here and beat these guys; we have the utmost respect for Maryland."

On the fourth quarter strategy:
"We pulled a little trickery out on that deep touchdown pass to Baham. Other than that, we stuck with the gameplan and tried to wear them down. By the fourth quarter, their defense was tired. We had run the ball a lot, even though it was not very successfully, but we had a big one there at the end."

Clemson Tailback James Davis
On the game and the comeback:
"A game like this, we just wanted to keep it close. Coach [Bowden] has a lot of plays up his sleeve, and we had to use one when Baham scored. We've got some plays that can really open up this offense. [Maryland is] a great team, so we just had to come out and keep playing hard."

On his performance:
"I know teams watch a lot of film, and I want teams to think of me as the impact player. I want them to be waiting for me to do something every time I touch the ball. I was just trying to go as it came to me out there today. "