Tuesday News Conference Quotes
11/11/2008 7:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 11, 2008
Head Coach Ralph Friedgen
On Maryland's injury situation:
"I've got some good news in the fact that I don't think anybody will be out for this game that isn't out already. We have no new [injuries] to add, which is a good thing."
On North Carolina's running backs:
"They are a very talented team. They're playing very well right now. Offensively, they have two really good running backs - Shaun Draughn and Ryan Houston who is a beast at 6-foot-2, 250 pounds. Both of those guys are running very, very well."
On the Tar Heels' quarterback situation:
"They play with Cameron Sexton at quarterback. He came in in relief of T.J. Yates, who was injured and is now healthy. [Sexton] has been playing very well, and it's my understanding he will continue to be the starter, and Yates will be the backup."
On North Carolina's wide receivers and tight ends:
"They have a very talented wide receiver - Hakeem Nicks, who leads the ACC in receiving yards. I think he broke the all-time North Carolina [receiving yards] record this past weekend. He's a very, very good wide receiver. He has great size and great speed. Greg Little is another talented wide receiver they have. They've also used Greg as a running back. He's a very powerful guy with tremendous athleticism. At tight end they have Richard Quinn, and he's also very athletic and also a very good blocker."
On the Tar Heels' offensive line:
"Their offensive line is big, strong and experienced. I think it's probably the best offensive line we've faced all year, and I see them getting better each week, so we have a real challenge defensively with their offense."
On the North Carolina defensive line:
"Defensively, their defensive is young, they're very athletic and they have great depth. They play eight different defensive linemen. They rotate them through, and that's a concern we have."
On the Tar Heels' linebacker corps:
"Their linebacker group is very strong - maybe the strongest in the ACC. Quan Sturdivant and Bruce Carter are two very athletic linebackers. Both are very good in special teams also, and they run extremely well. They're anchored by Mark Paschal. He plays Mike linebacker, he leads the team in tackles and, obviously, is one of the leaders of their defense."
On North Carolina's defensive backfield:
"Their secondary is very, very talented. They have 18 interceptions, which is tied for leading the country. They are fourth in the nation in turnover ratio. They've scored seven times on turnovers with their defense, mostly through interceptions, although they have gotten a couple fumbles. Their corners, Jordan Hemby and Kendric Burney are two excellent players. Trimane Goddard, their safety, has six interceptions. I think that also is tied for leading the country. Deunta Williams, their free safety, is very strong in run support."
On the Tar Heels' special teams unit:
"They have a very good offense and a very good defense, and then their special teams unit is exceptional also. They've settled on Casey Barth as their place-kicker. He's 11 out of 16, so he's solid. Their punter is Terrence Brown. He has 42 punts for a 40.6 average, so he's solid. Probably the biggest dropoff they've had is the loss of Brandon Tate, who is just an unbelievable return man and sustained an injury and is out for the year. They also blocked three punts against Connecticut, and I believe Carter blocked all three punts, so they have excellent special teams."
On the importance of Saturday's home game:
"It's a very good football team playing very well right now. They're 17th ranked and they're coming into Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium in a game that we need to win very badly."
On UNC quarterback Cameron Sexton and why he is being successful:
"To me, he's throwing the ball extremely well, his game management is excellent, and they're doing a good job of running the ball so I am sure he's putting them in situations where they have a chance to be successful. When you look at the whole thing, he's playing very efficiently for them and he's making the plays that he has to make. I've watched them play Notre Dame and I thought his management of the game was excellent. He did the same thing this past week against Georgia Tech. Right now, they're fortunate to have two experienced quarterbacks that are playing very well."
On the play of both lines and the focus at practice last night:
"At this point of the season, the biggest thing we have to do is try to get healthy and try to correct some of the mistakes we made Saturday. We have moved Travis Ivey to a starting position, and we are going to probably move Jeremy Navarre to end, he can also go back and play tackle. We'll play Ivey at tackle, Dion Armstrong at nose guard, and Jeremy Navarre at end, and try to get our three best defensive linemen on the field. We've been back and looked at the Virginia Tech game and looked at some of the things that hurt us. There were five plays that Virginia Tech got over 150 yards rushing on. Most of them were formation into the boundary and that's something we have to get corrected as coaches. You can't take those plays away, but other than that we played really good. The thing is we have to eliminate that and play the way we are capable of playing. I am hoping some of our guys will get well. It's that time of the year, and I am sure North Carolina has the same problems. We have some guys who are beat up pretty good. The guys are playing really hard. They're are going to be able to play but they have this nagging injury or that nagging injury. We're going to hit in practice today, but that will be about it. I'm trying to get them well so we can go out and play and be as healthy as we can possibly be by Saturday."
On the timeout at the end of the first half of the Virginia Tech game:
"We sent the defense in but not everyone got the defense. I was concerned that everyone was not going to be on the same page. It turned out that when we got everyone on the same page, they still got a big play. So maybe I should have left it alone and let the dice roll. But it was third-and-18 and I just wanted to make sure we had everyone on the same page. "
On approaching the last three games:
"I told them after the game in Blacksburg that I was very disappointed, but we are still in things. I told them last night that if we win three more games, we are going to Tampa. Maybe two out of three, it depends. For every game we win from here, we are assured for a better bowl. We may not even going to a bowl (if we don't win more games) with the number of teams that are as qualified. It goes back to the same old thing; we have to focus on this game coming up and it becomes the most important game of the season. I was pleased with our practice last night. How you perform is the main thing to me."
"Kids are often more resilient than coaches, but we have to get back, get our minds right, and concentrate to play the best we can against North Carolina and get a win."
On differences between good performances against Wake Forest on run defense and the recent loss to Virginia Tech:
"There were five or six plays that we didn't defend very well. Some of them we got blocked, some of them I thought we could have been more physical, and some of them were against guys who were kind of nicked up. There's probably more than one reason why they were successful, but what we have to do is get those corrected. We played very well against some very good teams. California, Wake Forest, and in the second half of Clemson. I know what we are capable of doing, we just have to go back and do it. "
On replacing Rick Costa at LEO:
"We've moved Derek Drummond up. He is a youngster who hasn't played a lot this year, but we have very high hopes that he will be a good player for us. He came in last night and we were very pleased with what he did, and we'll see what he does today. We're going from a situation where we had two experienced guys to where we have a young guy who is just looking for a chance. That could be good too.
On Jeremy Navarre being moved to end and if he will be rotated:
"He'll still go in. If we need him inside, he'll go inside. Mack Frost has not been 100 percent this whole year. He is better now than he has probably been at anytime but he is still not one hundred percent. This game is going to be a very physical game, just like Virginia Tech was, so we are trying to get our best people in there. Mack will still play, it will really help us if he was back at 100 percent but he isn't. Jared Harrell will play, so we'll try to slide Jeremy back in to get some depth inside but we'll start him at defensive end. "
On the split of reps between Scott Burley and Dane Randolph at right tackle:
"We'll go through this week of practice. Scott was a little injured last week. He wasn't one hundred percent, but he practiced well last night. We'll just see how both of them do this week, and we'll make a decision at the end of the week. Dane Randolph graded okay but none of them played to where they are capable of playing. I would say both he and Scott played about the same.'"
On the parity of the ACC as compared to other conferences:
"I can't worry about what everyone thinks. I kind of felt right from the beginning that our league would be exactly how it is. I'd like to see the statistics of the home team. No matter where you go it's a tough place to play, and I'm hoping Byrd stadium will be a real tough place this Saturday."
"I've been associated with this league for about 40 years and I don't think it has ever been like this. The parity in the league is like no other in the country. It is who is ready to play that day. Injuries play a factor, emotional and mental outlook is important also. I think that's what is very exciting about this league, and going into it there are eight or nine teams that probably still have a chance at winning the ACC championship."
On what this Saturday was like, and being able to watch upcoming opponents on TV:
"Friday I came in and watched our game with our defensive staff. Saturday morning I came in and did some work and went back and watched the three games at home. Obviously, I became a fan because I was rooting for some of those teams to lose, to make our job a little easier. None of them did, but I realized that all of them were playing really well. I know that the task we have at hand will not be an easy one. We are going to have to raise our level to their competition, and I am very confident we can do that."
"There are a lot of things you learn on television that you can't see on the tape. I see who is signaling and sometimes I can even read lips. A lot of the times the announcers also give you a lot of information. I listen to probably every play of every game."
Senior Linebacker Moise Fokou
On playing at home:
"Home-field advantage this year has been really big for us. On the road I don't know what happens to us. I guess we don't play real well at night. We have two of the last three at home so if we keep having the success we are having at home we should be alright."
On the attitude of the team after the Virginia Tech loss:
"A lot of guys played their hearts out down there in Blacksburg. Unfortunately, we didn't come out with the win. I haven't really seen a change, if anything we are focusing in to try and win the last three games of the year."
On the focus for this week, following a big performance by Virginia Tech RB Darren Evans:
"Try to prevent the big play. We let up too many big plays at Virginia Tech. As long as we don't let up the big play on the ground or in the air, we should be fine.
Senior Tight End Dan Gronkowski
On the emphasis this week:
"We just have to get re-focused and forget about out last loss. This game is against another ranked team so we are using that as a positive because we have done well against ranked teams this year so hopefully we keep that going."
On this year's matchup with UNC after losing last season:
"Well, they are a much better team this year. They have a lot of guys back. They are really fast and coached very well. It's going to be a real tough game. It's two tough teams going at it and luckily we have the home field so we are really looking forward to it."
On the UNC defense:
"Carolina's defense is fast. They get a lot of turnovers. They sit back and play man, and have their safeties running around making plays. That is what they have done all year, and they've had a lot of success."
On facing another ranked team:
"Yeah we are definitely fired up about it. I think we are more fired up about the ranked teams. I don't know there is just something about us. We just get really fired up when we play at home and when we play ranked teams."
Senior Offensive Lineman Edwin Williams
On North Carolina's defense:
"Their defense is amazing. Their defense is number one (in the country) in interceptions. They have an amazing front four. Although they're a really young team, only two seniors, they fly around a lot. The front four gets it done with the pass rush. They're just a real solid team. We're going to have to play our best game of the season."
On preparing for the game against North Carolina:
"Everybody has an optimistic stance right now. Everybody is still trying to stay together. We're just trying to get back on track. That shows at practice. We're doing what we have to do and working harder than we have in the past."
"We're working at being precise and consistent. Also, penalties have been killing us the past couple of games. We're working on our red-zone offense. When we get into the red zone we have to score touchdowns not field goals. We have to know our landmarks and know our assignments and be very confident when we step onto the field."
On home-field advantage:
"I love the fan support and the energy it brings to me personally. It helps us out and keeps us on course. When we're out (on our field) it's not loud, so we are able to communicate very effectively and get our calls right."
"When I step on the field at Byrd stadium, I feel a sense of pride. Maybe it's because we've got new end zones and we've got the flag in the end zones. It really reinforces that you are representing Maryland and you are a Maryland Terrapin and this is Terp Valley. I feel that pride when I'm coming up the field. Being at home, I want to `protect my house' as they say."
On the wide open ACC race:
"There are eight out of 12 teams, maybe nine that are still in the hunt. We have to just win one game at a time."
On the team's struggles on the road:
"There are a lot of communication issues, especially during away games. We just haven't been playing very well on the road and that's something we're going to have to improve on. Luckily we only have one more away game. We just have to keep approaching each week the same way, keep getting better and build off each week. We have to stay together, not point fingers, and everybody needs to do their part and it'll all work out in the end. Its not how you start, its how you finish."
