Tuesday News Conference Quotes
9/16/2008 8:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 16, 2008
Head Coach Ralph Friedgen
On the status of the place-kicking game:
"What I did is I took both of them last night and at he end of the two minute (drill) we had a 51-yard field goal and Nick Wallace came in and missed it and Obi (Egekeze) came in and nailed it. In kicking competition last night I would say Obi won. So we'll still have the competitiveness this week, we'll see where it goes but Obi last night he was kicking very well so we'll see where he's at."
On achieving consistency:
"I've given it a lot of thought and my conclusion is that we have to practice with consistency in order to play with consistency. What has happened to us is very similar to what has happened in the game. We practice very well until about the last 20 minutes of practice and then we don't practice so well. So I told them we'll do something special today. I don't know, I may break out the music. They like music so we'll do something to make us get through the last 20 minutes of practice. But I really believe we need to continue to stress to our players about being consistent. It's interesting during our last weeks of two-a-days, I had our players tell me what they felt their strengths and weakness were and what they thought their intangibles that they brought to the team. Overwhelmingly the biggest weakness was inconsistency and so I told them that if each one would concentrate on correcting that from an individual standpoint that would make us better as a team. So that is what our approach is, if we can practice more consistently throughout practice then hopefully that will transfer into the game."
On whether conditioning was part of the reason Cal closed the gap in the fourth quarter:
"I would think that is part of it, I don't know if that is all of it. I am kind of at the point where I'm going to play every available player that I have who will help us win. We have some kids on special teams and I think one of the reasons we were as good as I expected us to be on special teams is because a lot of those kids are starters are on the field. There were some kids I've kind of earmarked to redshirt. And with some of the injuries we have, notably Richard Taylor, I've told a couple of kids that we are going to play them this week and hopefully they can come in and fulfill a role for us to help increase the number of good players we have playing, and get the production of some of the guys playing. We had some guys play 80 plays Saturday, and we have to be able to give them a break. Especially when you're rushing the passer and playing defense, it's harder than playing offense because even though we rotate a lot of guys in when they got worn out, we have to hold the ball more offensively to help them. I told that to a couple of individuals yesterday and we'll just see where that goes. I am going to do whatever we can to win this year, I think that's important to us."
On Kevin Barnes' play and his hit vs. Cal tailback Jahvin Best:
"It was a good hit and Kevin has been playing extremely well. What was refreshing is that tackling probably isn't Kevin's strong point and it was an area that would've hurt us last year, and he has made a conscious effort to get better at it. The thing I liked about it is that a lot of times Kevin goes in a lot of times with his head down, and that is very dangerous. The hit he made, he had his head up in a good hitting position. Of all our DBs he's I think he's playing with the most confidence. The interference call he had, I think it was interference but he was making an aggressive player go to the ball and their legs got tangled up. Kevin has come a long way, I remember when he was a youngster he was very timid about getting beat and played very soft at times. He has changed that and I think he's having a really good year, and also doing a great job at leadership. I am pretty proud of the way he has matured."
On the final seven minutes of the Cal game:
"They were running two patterns and we had covered the patterns the whole day. That is what I told our players last night, for three quarters or more, its not that they ran anything new. The sacks we got were probably coverage sacks, they had trouble throwing the ball and our underneath coverage was that good. And then we kind of lost it, we had a couple of linebackers not doing their responsibility as they had done in the first three quarters. We had a corner roll up outside and our linebacker was pushing in his zone and then they were just running a little post behind him and hitting the forbidden yardages. I watched the tape and I thought we played very well on defense until the last seven minutes. Here we have a team that was averaging 52 points a game, was over 300 yards rushing, over 500 yards total offense, as it was they rushed 23 times for 38 yards and that averaged 1.7 yards per rush. They weren't throwing that good until the very end. Part of it was fatigue and the other part was us having to be more disciplined to not panic."
On running back Da'Rel Scott:
"Both Davin (Meggett) and Morgan (Green) had good practices last night but I'm hoping that Da'Rel will be able to do something today or tomorrow. He is very sore, so I'll have to see how that goes. We have Dan Bonato and probably Cory Jackson (in the backfield) and Josh Portis will have to take more of a role."
On getting consistent on offense:
"Part of it is the same thing, its focus. It is something we have been working our way through; when we focus and we don't relax and are attentive we execute and do pretty good. When you look at it from an offensive standpoint our first drive we went 5 plays for 60 yards for a touchdown, then we got the interception we went four for four-teen, then we went 14 for 60 yards. Then we come out we throw the ball at Darrius and he drops the ball, then we have a break down in assignments and we get a sack then we complete the third down. Chris made a heck of a play then we go down and throw the ball to Tory Smith and we fumble the ball. We blow a block on assignment and Da'Rel gets hit. We ran 27 plays the way they're supposed to be run and all of a sudden we are breaking down all over the place, and that's what we have to get corrected. I think the kids understand that and what we have to do as coaches is to really emphasize it and make a point of it. You can't just relax; you have to go out every time. I think we ended up scoring 5 out of the 10 possessions we had, when I looked at it, with the field goal we missed we probably should have scored another two."
On Darrius Heyward-Bey and what he means to the program:
"I see Darrius improving each week, one thing I am seeing him getting better at is that he didn't do last year is that he's running his routes at full speed and coming out of the cuts at full speed. I think if he continues to improve I think the skys the limit for him. He catches the ball better in games than he does in practice and that's a good thing. He is such a positive kid and he has such a tremendous work ethic. I am really happy he is in our program. He is a pleasure to be around every day. I use him as an example when he scored the touchdown, he handed the ball to the official and went right to his teammates to celebrate. I'm not into all the gyrations that are done to bring attention to the individual, to me it's a team effort. Here's a kid who's got a lot of recognition and talent and yet he still appreciates teamwork, and he's like that off the field. He's just a great kid to have in our program."
On junior quarterback Chris Turner:
"I think there was a vast improvement this week. He made some really good throws. I thought he had two bad throws the entire game. He missed Da'Rel Scott on a screen play that might have been a touchdown and we missed that at Middle Tennessee also. And he under threw Darrius (Heyward-Bey) on a post but the next post (to Darrius) was perfect. I thought the way he moved in the pocket was very good. He didn't hold the ball and his decision making was much better right from the first play on. Where I think he needs to get better is he needs to sometime put us in the right play in the running game, I think we missed two or three of those. He needs to get better in recognizing defense for us, but I will take 10 more games like he did Saturday and we'll have a good season."
On his message to the team this week:
"We should have a vivid memory of what we felt like Saturday and what we felt like a week ago. We need to keep or eye on the target and right now our target is Eastern Michigan and that is all I am focusing on, and this time next week I want to be 3 and 1. That is what I am focusing on."
On the Eastern Michigan offense:
"I think Middle Tennessee had a really good game plan against us. They made it a perimeter game. Eastern Michigan has the same type of offense and the same type of personnel that can do the same thing to us, and now they have us on tape. They are a no huddle team, although I thought we were better this week in our communications on defense, we are going to have to play better on offense too. I think it's how we approach this game from a player's standpoint and from a coaching standpoint, we can't do the same thing we did at Middle Tennessee, we have to have some answers. Both of those two things have to come in play for us to be successful on Saturday."
Senior Defensive Back Kevin Barnes
On Jahvin Best leaving the Cal game:
"He pretty much single-handedly gave us a problem in the first half so being able to take him out of the lineup for that amount of time definitely helped us out.
On the reaction to his hit on Cal's Jahvid Best:
"I went out after the game for a little bit and like 30 or 40 people came up to me talking about the hit...I mean at the time I didn't exactly know what happened I was just in the momentum of the game and then everyone called me after the game telling me he (Best) threw up and sending me links to YouTube."
On what he needs to improve on:
"I still need to improve on my tackling. I missed three tackles that I probably should have made and reached a lot so I need to be more physical when I run through the tackle but when I got the opportunity to make that play, I need to make it.
On speculation of lack of stamina amongst the team:
"Guys want to win and we are playing very hard. The defense looked a little tired because we made some mistakes that elongated drives. So we just need to get off the field when we have the opportunity to and cut down on some penalties."
Junior Offensive Lineman Phil Costa
On what the Terps need to do to be more consistent:
"I think it all starts in practice, and we all just need to be more focused."
On the possibility of Davin Meggett seeing more time with Da'Rel Scott's injury:
"I don't think we are going to miss a beat with Meggett, I think he has proven that he can be a great back, and I think he has a tremendous future here."
On the difference in starting out well against Cal and struggling early vs. Delaware and MTSU:
"I think it all finally started clicking, you could see it in the o-line, receivers, and everybody, after we watched film on Monday, everybody was just doing their job, I don't think we were doing that against Delaware or Middle Tennessee."
On the cohesion of the offensive line this year so far:
"I think years before we've always had great players, but it seemed like we always had one or two guys get dinged up, and now we have five fifth-year seniors, and I'm a fourth year guy. I think the running game has finally come along, and we are really clicking so far."
Junior Wide Receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey
On Maryland's upcoming game against Eastern Michigan:
"They've got good players. Defensively, they have a good middle linebacker and some defensive ends who look good on tape."
On his mindset during each week of the season:
"We have to take every week at a time. Somebody said we have Clemson next week. I didn't even know. I don't even care. I just want to focus on Eastern Michigan and get this win."
On the Eastern Michigan Eagles:
"They are well-coached and their offense is similar to Middle Tennessee State's so we have to play well on both sides of the ball."
On the Terps' approach during practice this week:
"We have to out there each and every day and work hard and just try to get better. I don't think it's a trap game, we need to go out there and do what we do best, which is making plays."
On Maryland's tendency to lose focus near the end of practices:
"The reason that happens is because people get tired. Practice is really competitive, but it's the same thing every day. The last 20 minutes you know what's going to happen; it's going to be a kicking period then two more team periods. We need to get out of that funk. We need to finish strong so we look good on Saturday."
On the team's mentality:
"Even after the loss to Middle Tennessee State, we were still confident in the ability we have on the football field. It's about execution. A mess up here, a missed block here, a dropped pass here can change the course of the game. We know we're capable of doing this, so we're really confident right now."
Senior Wide Receiver Danny Oquendo
On getting tired at practice:
"A lot of the time we'll get tired towards the end of practice. It's a lot harder to try your hardest towards the end, but its all about leadership to try and get everybody to play their heart out."
On the team's loss to Middle Tennessee State:
"It definitely brought us back down to earth. You can't just go out there and expect to win. No matter who you play, you have to go out there and fight."
"I think we just have to leave it in the past just like we have to leave the Cal game in the past. We just have to take it one week at a time and play to our potential."
On quarterback Josh Portis:
"He's definitely getting more efficient with this offense. As every week goes on, he's learning more and more of it by going out there and getting reps in games and in practice. When he's on the field, the defense has to respect everything: the running-back run, the quarterback run, him just dropping back and throwing a pass."
On wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey and his affect on the passing game:
"Darrius is a freak of nature. When he gets the ball he kills everybody's angles. There's just no touching him out there. When you've got a guy like that, the defense really has to key on him, so that leaves a lot of opportunities for other people to get open."
"Darrius has always been good with pressure. We all have our own role on this team. He knows what his role is. He's the main guy, he's going to get all the deep balls. Our time will come when they're double-teaming him or playing Cover 2 and we all have to get open."
Players Mentioned
