Sept. 12, 2009

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Postgame quotes following Maryland's 38-35 overtime victory over James Madison.

Maryland Head Coach Ralph Friedgen
On the game:
"I was very proud of my players. I knew the momentum was getting ready to swing when Kenny Tate fumbled the punt and then [Turner] threw the interception for the touchdown. The momentum definitely swung in their favor, and sometimes that is hard to turn around, especially for a young team. But the kids hung in there and found a way to win.

On improvements:
"There are a lot of things we need to get corrected. Defensively, we have to tackle better and play our responsibilities better. We have to make more plays. We are not making as many plays as I thought we would be. Offensively, we need to limit the penalties. Those are the things I am going to get corrected this week."

On Nolan Carroll:
"I feel very bad for Nolan because he was playing so well and it's great to see how he has matured and developed in one year. He's very dear to my heart. I am praying everything will be okay for him because I really think he has a future."

On possible concerns:
"I think I have concerns. I do think we will get better and I'd like to say it'll happen overnight. The penalties and fumbles have nothing to do with experience; we have to get smarter and better. One thing that is positive about these kids is that they will work. We can't get frustrated and listen to a lot of the negative talk. We have to stay together as a team, and trust the coaches. That's the only thing I know how to do."

On the defense:
"Everyone needs to play their responsibility. If one guy misses the tackle, it's a problem. If you make the tackle, it's a good defensive play. "

On Chris Turner:
"I was pretty impressed with Chris all night. He threw the interception and got dinged up a little bit too. The play he scored on, I don't think I've seen him make a play like that since he's been here. That was tough and he stuck it in the end-zone. I thought he hung in there. Chris has always been at his best in the toughest times and I think he came through for us big time tonight."

Maryland Players
Senior quarterback Chris Turner
On the big fourth down conversion:
"James Madison had closed the middle of the field up. We had called that play earlier in the game and we had success with it. Ronnie [Tyler] ran a good route and he had a lot of space. When third down came up I knew that I had two downs to get the first down so when fourth down came up I knew that it was going to have to be a big play and Ronnie came through."

On getting the overtime win:
"In my experience, any win is a good win and I think there was a lot to learn from this game. Obviously, we have a lot of corrections to make and we made too many mistakes. I threw that interception and that needs to be corrected, but we have one of those games under our belt now. We have two big experiences now, on the road in a big game and home in an overtime game. We just have to learn from it."

Freshmen Kicker Nick Ferrara:
On how he felt leading up to the overtime field goal:
"I mentally prepared myself before overtime because I saw us driving down the field. As soon as I saw (Dixon) Wright miss I knew that this was my time, so I went out kept my head down and kicked the ball through."

On what he was thinking on the final drive:
"I knew that coach was going to let me kick the field goal even though he kept running the ball, so I was getting prepared the whole time. When I went up there to kick it they iced me and when I was walking over to the sideline coach Friedgen said, `What are you doing? Stay out there, you are going to make this.'"

Junior Linebacker Alex Wujciak
On JMU's performance:
"There are a lot of good players and they run a different offense than we're used to seeing, so it was definitely a challenge for us."

On the biggest challenge on defense:
"Probably when they run that spread when the quarterback kept it."

On Nolan Carroll's Injury:
"He broke his leg? It's going to hurt us, man. He's a captain. He's a leader, but someone has got to step up and fill his place."

On the Rookies' performances:
"Coach preached to us the whole week, but I think we are going to get [even] better. We have a lot of young guys. I think they've all got a little experience tonight."

Senior Defensive Tackle Travis Ivey
On the play of the younger players:
"We prepare everybody as a starter. That's the one thing Coach [says]. Whether you start or you don't start, that basically you've got to be ready at anytime. We've got Cameron Chism. We've got Richard Taylor. We've got a couple of guys that come in and I don't think there is going to be any type of let-up because these guys have been playing pretty good at practice, anyway. I look forward to seeing those guys go out there and play and see what they can do."

On the Game-Winning Field Goal:
"I think we just wanted it. This is the type of situation we do in practice all the time. Field goals for the win, we do that every practice. We can't get off the field until we do it in practice so if we do it in practice; we do it in the game. We tried to play as hard as we could."

Junior Running Back Da'Rel Scott
On half-time adjustments:
"Halftime, we had a little trouble, but we made some adjustments. The receiver's made great adjustments and they played second half."

On having strep throat ...
"They told me I had strep a couple days ago... I felt good. I try to do whatever I can to help my team out."

"I had to stay hydrated and try and get some rest.... I practiced [though]."

On the play of the newcomers:
"Right now, we are just growing right now. The rookies are getting more experience right now. We just have to stay humble and keep fighting it."

On the win:
"It's a huge win, whether we blew them out or just beat them by three. I mean, it's definitely a confidence right now, get us ready for the game next week."

James Madison Head Coach Mickey Matthews
On overtime loss:
"We anticipated a close game so it didn't surprise me that it was decided in overtime."

On JMU kicking game (missed PAT, FG):
"Our kicking game really hurt us. To have so many kicking errors is uncharacteristic of our team."

"He missed the kick and he was knocked out. He couldn't kick. The doctors said he had a concussion and did not release him until the second half, and we really didn't bring another kicker."

On penalties:
"We really hurt ourselves with penalties. We just got tired and I think our lack of depth hurt us."

"I just thought we were going to win. We thought we had the better team and it was hard-fought, but we had too many penalties."

On Maryland:
"I thought it was really obvious in the first quarter that Maryland had played a game and we had not. We made a lot of errors."

"They have great players and I think Ralph and [his coaching staff] know what they are doing. It was a well-executed game"

"We didn't move the ball very much in the second half, and [Maryland] played much better defense in the second half."

On Torrey Smith:
"Torrey Smith was a great player and a great returner... I can't remember the last time another team returned a kickoff against us."

On a holding call:
"I was mad because we were thirty yards down the field, and I was making sure there were no flags on the field, and then the flag came. That call decided the game. We'll have to watch the tape."

"It was a huge call, and one call can turn a game, but we had our chances."

"I don't think I've seen a holding call turn a game so much."

"We really played hard, we didn't turn the ball over, and it really came down to that one play, and we weren't good enough to overcome that."

On the play of both JMU quarterbacks:
"We thought Drew was managing the game a bit better, but it was probably unfair to Justin because every time he went out on the field we were getting extra penalties."

On which quarterback did better:
"It's awfully hard to make a judgment right now. We'll have to watch the tape before we decide anything."

James Madison Players
Senior tight end Mike Caussin
On what to take away from the game:
"We've got to keep our heads high. We played our butts off. We played beyond what I think we expected to play... I think there's nothing but good things to say about this game."

On losing a tough game in overtime:
"We want to win every game. This is just as hard a loss as any other game. It's not a conference game or anything like that but we want to win every game."

On what hurt the team most:
"Penalties and the kickoff return really killed us. That's the thing that's going to be hard to sleep with. We killed ourselves. Maryland was a great team ... but tonight was our night for the taking and we just killed ourselves one too many times."

Junior quarterback Drew Dudzik
On the quarterback controversy coming into the game:
"They said we were going to rotate at the beginning and just kind of see what happens from there, so we both obviously came into this game prepared."

On losing a tough game:
"It's tough. We've got to use this as an advantage going into next week. Obviously we lost the game, but we played good enough to win. We've just got to get better in practice this week going into next week."

On the offensive line play:
"Our offensive line played great tonight. I barely got touched. On passing plays they were giving me great time to throw and opening up holes for me and the running backs. They played their butts off and my hat's off to them."