Oct. 21, 2007

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Postgame Quotes

Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen
On tonight's game:
"It was definitely a tough loss. On that last drive it just seemed like things didn't go our way. We faced some more adversity. The kids are giving it everything they've got."

On the reviews in Virginia's last drive:
"I actually had a pretty good view. I saw the ball come out on the goal line. I saw it and I don't think he had possession. You really don't see anyone overrule too many calls anymore. I watched the replay on the Jumbotron and the receiver looked to be out of bounds to me on the fourth-down play. I know they are professionals up in the booth reviewing, so I'm sure they're doing the right things."

On the defense against Virginia:
"I thought for the most part when we were able to double-up on them we were okay. You just can't double every guy, every play. Virginia made some adjustments, too and did some good things. You're not going to win every play."

On sophomore quarterback Chris Turner:
"He got some balls batted down. They bat down a lot of balls, but that's happened to other people that just Chris. I think he played okay. I don't think he played as well as he did before, but he played well enough for us to win."

Maryland Players
Senior Tailback Keon Lattimore
On bouncing back next week :
"It's a devastating loss. It's Homecoming and a rivalry game. The seniors have to step up. We've been in this situation before. You can go one of two ways -- you can go down the drain or you can keep fighting and turn this into a positive thing, a learning experience."

On the Virginia offensive line:
"I take my hat off to their team. They played hard and they played well. It's definitely hard to run against them, especially when you play them year in and year out. They know what to expect and what to plan for. I felt we did a good job in the first half but they changed some things up at the half and came out focused."

Sophomore Quarterback Chris Turner
On Virginia's winning touchdown:
"It wasn't a good feeling. I was just crossing my fingers and hoping the defense would make a stand. That's the way it goes. They played us lights out the whole game and we didn't get many breaks."

On the loss:
"We've been through this before. It's not something we can't recover from. Like I said before, it doesn't feel good. No loss feels good, but it's a long season. We're about halfway through and we can come back for sure."

Junior Center Edwin Williams
On the injury to OL Jaimie Thomas:
"It was a little disheartening when Jamie went down, but at the same time we've got to roll with it. I think we didn't skip a beat whatsoever. Jack Griffin stepped in at right guard and we just kept rolling as an offensive line. Hopefully, Jamie can get healthy and get ready to go next week."

On Virginia's final scoring drive:
"All I could do was just cheer on our defense and let them know I'm there to support them. I can't blame the loss on the defense whatsoever. Offensively, we made some mistakes and it's not about pointing the finger. You just really try and get rid of the memory of this game and get ready for Clemson next week."

Virginia Coach Al Groh
On the team's play:
"It was an inspiring effort. These players have a lot of heart. This is another example of the team power they have worked so hard to build -- the confidence they have in each other and the way everyone has everyone else's back. Guys had to step up in and make plays. We believe that if one guy makes a play, we all make a play; if one guy has a hard time, we all have a hard time. There was great confidence on the sidelines, especially in the latter part of the game. The players had great confidence and faith in themselves. Obviously, there were some great calls upstairs that [the game] came down to. There were some pretty gutsy calls and some pretty gutsy execution when the game was on the line. Once again, we're showing that this is a team that isn't going to crack."

On players stepping up to fill positions:
"Not only did Mikell [Simpson] step up, but on the first play of the game we lost one of our best players. The attitude on the sidelines was that it was time for the next man up. Maybe it was just players at that position, or maybe it was players stepping up at other positions. Whatever it was, we had enough to win this game. We are humble to win a game like this, and we're still hungry to win more. This was a real good win for this team. We have a tough road ahead. The road isn't straight, it still has a lot of curves in it. Certainly when Monday comes and it's time to prepare again, we will be well focused."

On Simpson's fourth-quarter play:
"He really stepped up and showed what he can do today. I really want to highlight Mikell for what he did for his team today. But without subtracting anything from what he did, a lot of other kids did the exact same thing. It just wasn't as visible. We had a little bit of a tough go early on defense, and a lot of guys had to step up and change what they did. We had some lulls on offense, but when we really needed it, between our quarterback, our protection and Mikell, we came through. We needed a contribution from all three phases of our team today and we got a contribution from all three."

On winning another game on the final drive:
"We believe that however the game presents itself, our job is to find a way to win. We have confidence in being able to do that. There are new challenges every week and just because we excelled in one circumstance doesn't mean we will in another. We have the confidence that whatever we're presented with, we'll be able to cope."

Virginia Players
Sophomore Tailback Mikell Simpson
On Virginia's second half comeback:
"The second half was a display of us not giving up on the game. We knew we would not crack no matter what the situation was. The game was tight and just stepped up in the second half like we have been doing the whole season."

On his play:
"I stepped into the role this week due to the injury to Andrew Pearman. I went back to running back this week and worked hard. It showed in the game. The linemen and receivers played well tonight in the running and passing game. It was just me running off of those guys."

On getting a chance to contribute:
"I have been waiting for this opportunity ever since I left high school. I came to Virginia thinking I can do the same thing I did in high school. Tonight, the opportunity presented itself and I took full advantage of it."

Senior Defensive End Chris Long
On the defense:
"We knew Maryland's capabilities coming into the game. They have great running backs and a physical offensive line. We were not making plays in the first half. We made some adjustments in the second half. Coach (Groh) made some great calls and things went in our favor."

Sophomore Quarterback Jameel Sewell
On the game:
"We did not want to have any setbacks tonight in our stride to be the best team in the conference. We made sure we played with all of our heart and brought our team power with us.