Sept. 30, 2007
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Postgame Quotes
On the game:
"It was a tremendous win and a tremendous display of character by our players. We had many hardships and a tough loss last week and last night (Junior OL) Jamie Thomas' dad was giving the devotion and he had a seizure and was hospitalized during our meetings. We were so concerned about his well-being and to come out today and get the lead and have our starting quarterback go down. It was a lot of ways these guys could have chucked it."
On what was said at the half:
"They went in at halftime they were down and I usually meet with the coaches first but I didn't. I said, wins don't come easily you have to work for them. It's a matter of will, who is more determined. I said stop sulking and worrying about it and play."
On the play of backup quarterback Chris Turner after injury to starter Jordan Steffy:
"Turner came in and he did what he does in scrimmages and a lot of guys made plays around him. The line blocked for him and some of our receivers started making some plays. Chris is to be commended for the poise he showed. He did a heck of a job. I have always said this kid has a chance to be a good quarterback. He played pretty good today. I know there are certain routes he likes and I try to call them for him. Once we got squared away, he was fine. Even when we try to kill the clock- and fumble the snap- and we made that exciting. I am hoping he is going to play like that every week. Maryland is better because we will have two good quarterbacks."
On the play of the defense:
"I thought our defense played well. We play hard and we just had a few spells. Once we defend the pass, we get a lot of three and outs and at the end of the game we got some of them. The (Rutgers) wide receivers are as good as we will play this year. They do some unorthodox things. It was a great win and it will be interesting to see where we go from here. This had run the gamut for two weeks. We have been as low as you can be and as high as you can be. It takes effort and it takes focus to be as good as you can be. The game plan we had I thought it would be very good or very bad, no in between."
On different offensive scheme in the second half:
"We threw more in the second half because I didn't want them to get tired. I wanted to play it loose. I had the linemen yelling at me to run the ball. I think I know what I am doing. I don't like playing that way. They play a lot of two-deep and Chris (Tucker), he goes up the field with it."
On Ray Rice and what his defensive coaches told him:
"I asked them what we were going to do to take him away. I know Rice runs hard and breaks tackles. I thought we broke up on him better in the second half. I think they are a very good football team, they are well coached. We have to worry about next week now."
On the strips and fumble recoveries:
"We work hard on takeaways and I think Kevin (Barnes) helps that a little bit. I think we stripped the ball more. The defensive coaches really work on that in practice and it helps us be more conscious of it in practice on our end, as well.
On the game:
"I am going to give Rutgers a lot of respect. They played hard. This week was our best week of studying film and communicating. We talked at the half and all came together. We can play with anybody if we play like we did in the second half."
On the win:
"It is beyond words, great for the whole team and great for the whole school. My thoughts (before going into the game) were I didn't know what was going on and I started gathering my thoughts, thinking about reads. I was definitely nervous; I am not going to lie. I always knew it was a matter of time before I got my shot. It is kind of like being in purgatory, you don't know how to feel. I took that to heart and executed the game plan."
On the spectacular catch by LaQuan Williams on 3rd down and 12 in the fourth quarter:
"I think I definitely handled myself well. On the third down pass to LaQuan (Williams), the game clock was running down and it was man coverage and I put it down there. It was a great catch and I probably put too much on it. He makes plays like that all the time, it's nothing. I know I am confident in all my receivers, especially LaQuan."
On his thoughts after the win:
"When the lights go on, that's when it counts. I had great protection and I had a lot of time. I was going through my reads and doing what I was supposed to do. It shows what kind of team we are. I think we showed it on national TV, finally got a big win. It speaks volumes on what kind of team we have."
On the game plan versus Rutgers:
"I take my hat off to Coach (Friedgen) and the coaching staff. We had a game plan already and we just had to take away theirs. We saw everything, their blitz', on third down, we basically had this thing figured out in their run game. We knew we were bigger than them. We knew our line. That's what we play, smash mouth. We tired them out."
On the feeling on the Maryland sidelines:
"It was complete pandemonium on the sidelines. Everyone was cheering from everywhere, both sides (offense and defense). When they scored two quick ones at end of half, we reiterated the feeling after Wake Forest. Knowing that, guys came out in the second half and showed true heart."
On what was said at the half:
"We knew we had to stay in tune with each other because there were 30 minutes left in the game. That's a testament to our coaching staff and players. We did a good job in the second half all around. We did a great job of tackling. And going against a back like Ray Rice you have to do that. He's a great runner. When you get the chance, you have to get him down on the ground."
