Quotes from Tuesday's News Conference
10/6/2009 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 6, 2009
Head Coach Ralph Friedgen
On the Wake Forest offense:
"They lead the conference in (total) offense. They average about 408 yards per game - 270 passing and 136 rushing. They have a very senior-laden offensive line. They have the most starts of any team in the nation on the offensive line. They have a big fullback, Mike Rinfrette, who is 6-foot-3, 260 pounds. He's a very good blocker and a very good receiver. They have a running back by committee with Josh Adams, Brandon Pendergrass, and Kevin Harris. All three will play. I think all three of them have their own particular strengths. Their tight end Andrew Parker is a very good receiver and very fast...almost like a wide receiver, and a decent blocker. They have a talented receiving corps. They are young, but they are athletic and they run very, very well. Marshall Williams and Devon Brown are the two main wide receivers. And then you have (quarterback) Riley Skinner. Riley is probably one of the best that's ever been in the ACC. I think, right now, in total yards he ranks fifth in the ACC and I think he is 19th in passing efficiency in the country and he's number one in the ACC. I'm glad he's a senior. He's been a great asset to their program and a great contributor to the Atlantic Coast Conference."
On the Wake Forest defense:
"Defensively, they are younger than they are on offense. They have four starters that are seniors. The defensive line is anchored by Boo Robinson. Their defensive tackle is John Russell. Both of them are redshirt seniors and both of them we've been playing against us for a long time. In the linebacking corps, they have two juniors and a senior. They are experienced and they are very hard players. They'll give us quite a test. In the secondary, the only senior starter is Brandon Ghee and then they have a redshirt freshman at the other corner, Kenny Okoro. They have two sophomore safeties.
On the Wake Forest special teams:
On special teams, their punter is Shane Popham. He's a redshirt sophomore and averages 38 yards on punts with a long of 49, but the big thing is he has seven inside the 20-yard line. The place-kicker is Jimmy Newman. He's 4-for-6. He's a (true) freshman and his long is 27. They have an excellent kickoff guy in Cline Beam. He has 27 kickoffs and seven touchbacks and averages 65.5 yards, so he's getting the ball down by the end zone or in the end zone quite a bit of the time."
On the Wake Forest game:
"This is a very, very big game for us playing on the road. I think it's very important that we win those games to stay in contention for a championship. It would help us keep growing. I thought last week, we got better. After looking at the film, I saw improvement and that's what we have to continue to do each and every week. I thought we saw some improvement last night at our practice. I think getting a win in Winston-Salem could give us some momentum and hopefully get us going this season."
On the running back situation:
"Both of them (freshmen D.J. Adams and Caleb Porzel) were up (on the varsity at Monday's practice). This is the first week Porzel has been able to play since training camp, so obviously he is a little behind. We are trying to see if there is a certain package we can put in for him. D.J. (Adams) is in the mix. I thought both of them came in and looked good last night, so we are going to work with them. Right now, it's Davin Meggett, followed by (Gary) Douglas and then D.J. Adams and Porzel...that's probably how they are sitting right now. But that could change by the end of the week."
On improvement throughout the season:
"The biggest improvement I saw was at the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter of last week offensively. Playing against some very good players, we were able to get some movement and our techniques were better and we were able mount an offense. I thought that was a positive and that was one of the things I told our players. I think we are on the right track as far as what we are doing in practice and emphasizing turnovers and being conscious of them. I'm having officials again today at practice. I'd like to get off the field quicker (at practice). But we had one or two periods yesterday that were pretty long. I'm just insisting that we do it the right way. There doesn't need to be a lot hollering and screaming...just saying we are doing this again because this wasn't right."
On how injuries have affected the team:
"Obviously when you lose your top running back (Da'Rel Scott) and your best corner (Nolan Carroll), you can't say that that hasn't been a factor. But Cameron Chism has come in and done really well and I think that is a very big positive. I'd like to do the same at running back. Right now, (Bruce) Campbell is not out of the plans for this week, but I still don't know if he's going to play or not so we are holding out and seeing how he develops."
On differences in this year's Wake Forest squad:
"They are not running (Riley Skinner) as much as they have in the past. Now that I've said that, they'll probably run him zone option all over the place. I don't know whether they are afraid of him getting hurt or what. They are very innovative with what they do. It seems no matter how they try to do it, they are not the norm. They are always different in some ways. Even running a little zone play, it has a little different tweak. They are not afraid to do things that other people don't do which makes them very difficult to defend. I have a lot of respect for them as coaches and they are very innovative-type people. We got a real test on our hands defensively."
On the loss of longtime Maryland Athletics supporter Jack Heise:
"I'm very sad today. I lost a very close friend that was very dear to me. He was one of the great all-time supporters of Maryland Athletics, let alone football. I've known Jack since I was a student here. He'd come to practice every Tuesday and I'm really going to miss him quite a bit."
Senior Defensive Lineman Deege Galt
On growing as a team throughout the season:
"We're going to keep sticking together; we're going to keep doing our thing. As long as we play as a team, try to execute, play hard, then we have a chance to win every game we play. This week, that's what we did. We played hard and it worked out for us."
On the defensive stats not reflecting their performances this season:
"I think we've played three good games all together these past three weeks. We've talked it over and we've come to the conclusion that the stats are what they are. That's what Cal's going to do to you. It's tough to recover from a game like that as far as where you're stats are, but we're playing well. We're not giving up too many points and we're holding teams from making plays when we need to. I think we're young, but I think we're progressing a lot. We're doing a lot of things right and ultimately, I think we're putting this team in a place where we can win games."
On playing against Wake Forest's offense and quarterback Riley Skinner:
"He's good. He's experienced, obviously. He's one of the ACC's best quarterbacks. He's elusive, he makes good decisions, he's smart and he knows the playbook like the back of his hand. They have a lot of weapons, a lot of speed and they're really experienced up front. One thing you take from it is you can't let him beat you."
Sophomore Running Back Davin Meggett
On their progress since the Cal game:
"I guess we've come a long way. We probably figured out how to finish the game and that was real important. Taking all these lessons we've learned throughout the last few weeks ... we should look like we are in good hands, look like we are in a good position to make an impact this season and be prepared the next year."
On Wake Forest's defense:
"They're really solid. They don't allow a lot of big plays. The two nose guards they have are probably the strength of their defense. They don't have a lot of returning starters, but a lot of their starters have played on special teams. It should be a good challenge for our offense against their defense. I look forward to it."
Junior Offensive Lineman Paul Pinegar
On the loss of running back Da'Rel Scott:
"No, we've had a few games without Da'Rel. We've had some other guys step up; we've had some other guards step up. It's a sad thing that Da'Rel went down, but we have some other backs that will be able to step out here like Davin Meggett and Gary Douglas."
On the growth of the offensive line:
"I think from the first game we've seen marked improvement. I think we still need to find that chemistry and find the best five to be able to on the field at the same time.
On what the offensive line needs to focus on:
"We've got to cut back on the sacks and we've also got to get our running game going. We have Torrey Smith and Chris has connected with him on some big plays. We've got some big plays out of Ronnie Tyler, but the running game, that's on us. The running game is obviously put on the offensive line's back because if they can't block, the running back can't do anything, but if we give them holes, they can use their given abilities to run the ball down the field to make big plays."
Senior Defensive Back Terrell Skinner
On playing against Riley Skinner and the offense:
"I think with Skinner, he scrambles a lot. That's where he gets most of his big plays, from the scrambling and people busting coverages trying to come up and compensate for him running the ball. I think as long we stay back and the safeties read and take care of the pass first and then come up on the run, we'll be fine."
"It's very difficult, especially if we're in man (defense). We have to have that pressure on the quarterback. If we're in man, we can only cover for like three or four seconds before stuff gets out of hand."
On the win vs. Clemson:
"[We are] motivated. Because we know the ACC championship is within reach. I think we are also uplifted that we beat a good team. Around the team we're upbeat, uplifted, and we are anxious to go out and prove to everyone that we can win."
Junior Linebacker Alex Wujciak
On Wake Forest QB Riley Skinner:
"He's very experienced. He's been the starting quarterback for four years now. We've played against him a bunch and he's played in a lot of big games for them. He took home the ACC championship a few years ago. He's dangerous throwing and running and everything, so we've got to try and take him out of (his) game this week."
On the win over Clemson:
"It was huge to beat a team like that in a game that could have gone either way. I think it really shows a lot about our team."
