Sept. 27, 2008
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Postgame Quotes
On the game:
"It was a credit to our players that they could hang in with them. We weren't playing well and Clemson was playing very well. We were 11 points down at half and I told them at halftime 'we were fortunate to be in the situation we are in.' We took advantage of it and maintained our composure. We started focusing in. We were able to put some drives together and I thought our defense made some very good adjustments at halftime. Coach (Chris) Cosh and his staff did a good job. It was really the keys to the game. I thought the last two drives of the first half were very important. They had very good field position and had a chance to go up by 18 points and our defense held and did a great job in the second half. They were over pursuing. We came back (in the second half) and ran some reverses, bootlegs and misdirections.
On stopping C.J. Spiller and James Davis:
"In the first half we were slanting a lot. We were playing more of a shade. We came back after halftime and played more of straight up defense. We tried to disguise our coverages because they were doing a good job of reading them. We took blocks one-on-one. Davis and Spiller are really good backs. All they need is a crease and they gain yardage."
On Darrius Heyward-Bey's 76-yard reverse and the impact:
"Coach (James) Franklin wanted to call that play earlier. It was one of those days. We should have had 14 points (instead of two field goals in the first half). Edwin (Williams) was having trouble with the snaps. We screwed that up a few times. They were bringing the backside linebackers and they were also bringing their defensive end. So, then we started running reverses."
On the difference of the team's play in the first and second half:
"Well, I don't think we played that well in the second half. We won this one with our hearts, not with our ability or not with our technique. They more or less grinded it out with will. We kept making mistakes, but Clemson did too. They kept getting penalties that helped us. Really, it was about who was going to make the least amount of mistakes in the second half. Seems like every time I play it's a close game and a hard-fought game."
On the Clemson fans and the environment:
"It's a tremendous environment. I really think the Clemson fans are really some of the better fans in the ACC. The sportsmanship is very good here."
Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden
On the game:
"We self-imploded today. We had critical points in the game where we made mistakes, especially with penalties and fumbles. We didn't play sharp today and that was the reason we lost."
"They made plays when they needed to in the second half, and we didn't.
They came out of the locker room with defensive adjustments and they capitalized on that."
"C.J. and James played extremely well today; however, our mistakes outweighed the positives in today's game."
