Sept. 29, 2009
On the Clemson defense:
"We've really got a challenge this week because this is a very good football team. Defensively, I think they lead the ACC and are nationally ranked defensively. They are experienced, big, fast, athletic and pretty impressive. On their defensive line, they have four defensive ends and all of them play. Ricky Sapp - it seems like he's been there for years - looks bigger, stronger and faster this year. He's an excellent pass rusher and they are moving him around and putting him at linebacker and defensive end, so it's hard to find out where he is. They are doing a good job with that. Da'Quan Bowers is the other defensive end but they will also play two other guys just like those guys.
"Defensive tackle Brandon Thompson is 6-foot-3, 305 pounds and Jarvis Jenkins is 6-foot-4, 310 pounds at nose. They are two big, wide bodies. They will also play two other guys in there that are pretty good also. The linebackers are very fast and very big.
"The secondary is very experienced. The two corners are Chris Chancellor and Crezdon Butler. Both are seniors and play a lot of man-to-man and lot of press coverage. Both are very quick and good cover guys. The two safeties are real hitters. DeAndre McDaniel leads the league in interceptions and is a very good tackler. Marcus Gilchrist is a very good deep safety and a good run-support man. They are pretty solid on defense and very-well coached."
On the Clemson offense:
"Kyle Parker is a very good athlete and he has a strong arm. He's just young. He's going through some growing pains right now. But he is dangerous because of his athleticism. I guess he is also a very good baseball player and beat out Willy Korn, who was the upcoming apparent starter. When you talk about Clemson's offense, you have to talk about C.J. Spiller. He's a Heisman candidate. He is great kickoff and punt returner. He's a big-play guy with great speed. He's a guy you have to know where he is at at all times. They also play Andre Ellington and Jamie Harper. They have three really good running backs.
"Their offensive line is young. They have one senior Thomas Austin. He's an Outlook Trophy candidate. They are big and good looking. They have one senior, three sophomores and a junior. All of them are 6'6", 310 to 320 pounds, so they are going to look good getting off the bus.
"At wide receiver, they have some young guys, but the guy you have to stop is Jacoby Ford. He's very fast. I think he's the NCAA sprint champion. Of the 55 receptions they have this year, he has 20 of them. Spiller has nine others, so 29 of the 55 are with those two guys. Seven of them are to their tight end Michael Palmer. Those three guys are their main offensive weapons."
On the Clemson special teams:
"Their special teams really have me concerned. Spiller is averaging 36.4 average yards on punt returns. Ford is back there with him and he's averaging 15.8. Spiller has one touchdown of 77 yards and Ford has one of 66 yards. In kickoff returns, Spiller is the main guy, Ford is there too, but he's the up-man. He's averaging 33.9 yards and one touchdown of 96 yards. So kicking the ball, we really need to be careful what we are doing with that because we have some explosive people there."
On trying to improve this week:
"Our kids have a real challenge this week. We've worked very hard. We talked to our players last night and thinking of things we can do to stop the turnovers. Right now we are minus 10 in turnover ratio. I told them that we are going to start a new streak and we are going to keep track of how many turnovers we have per practice. We are going to do something to recognize the turnover, whether or its up-downs or whatever. Last night we had one turnover the whole practice.
"I think we have to make a conscious effort to not do this. We work on our technique of carrying the ball and where to throw the ball but I think it just has to be something we avoid at all costs. Second thing we need to stop is penalties. We had 10 penalties last week and seven on offense. I'm bringing officials in on Tuesday and Wednesday to officiate our team periods and see if we can put some emphasis on not committing penalties, especially the foolish ones.
"The other thing I thought we had to get better at is our execution. What I've done is cut back on the number of plays we are going to run each period. But we are going to do those plays right. And we are not going to end those periods until every play is run correctly and the way we need to do it. So if we have to slow things down to get it right, that's what we are going to do.
"Defensively, the other area I think we need to get better at is tackling. We are going to do extra tackling drills and put them into different situations to better improve that.
"So those are the areas I felt like we needed to do something about. I'm putting an emphasis on getting it done. I thought we had a very good practice yesterday and I'm looking to have a very good one today."
On bouncing back from the slow start:
"I think it starts with me. I don't like losing probably as much as anybody. But you can't worry about what you've done in the past, you have to worry about what you are going to do in the future. I really think if we could eliminate turnovers and penalties, we'd give ourselves a chance. I think we would have won our last two games, even though we didn't play as well as we wanted to play. I think we are right in it. It's amazing that we are in it. When you turn over the ball five times, normally you get beat by 50 points. With five minutes left in the (Rutgers) game, we are a play away from tying the thing up and then who knows what could happen. So I thought our defense showed a lot of improvement and gained some confidence from last week. I'm going to accentuate the positive and be upbeat. We are going to do things the right way. I haven't thrown in the towel one bit and I'm still thinking about winning and winning the ACC. And that's just the way I am."
On replacing injured punter Travis Baltz:
"Punting competition went well last night and we will make the decision later in the week (on Nick Ferrara and Ted Townsley)."
On turnovers by running back Da'Rel Scott:
"Da'Rel is hurting. I thought he practiced very hard last night and I didn't see any remorse but I saw more determination. That's what I would expect out of Da'Rel. I was pleased with his work last night and I think more than anything else this is going to be a conscious thing for Da'Rel. When you are a running back, sometimes things like this happen. Case in point is Tiki Barber when he was with the Giants. He had this problem and then all of a sudden he went on a tremendous streak where he never fumbled the ball and it changed him into one of the best running backs in the NFL. So I think if Da'Rel approaches this as a weakness that he needs to make a strength, I think it will make him a better player in the long run."
On the challenges in keeping the team mentally focused:
"I think if we have a strong point, it is that these kids have great character. I haven't wavered from that. I would be disappointed if that happened but I think they need to get some success and the sooner the better. I think there are only so many times you can go out there and not perform well. I think if we can eliminate the mistakes and give ourselves a chance to be successful that is what will happen for us."
On positives from Rutgers game:
"I think defensively we played a lot better. Where I think (defensive coordinator) Don (Brown) is upset are the last couple of touchdowns. Either we let up because of mental fatigue because all day they were in there battling their butts off with bad field position or physical fatigue. We played two plays very poorly. And that's what will happen if we don't play. But I thought 68 plays we played pretty darn well. I think they would have had 130 total yards offense if they wouldn't have picked up those 120 yards in the last two (drives). I think that's a real positive. I thought we started getting our pass rush and really starting to make some plays. I really hope that will carry over because we will have to do that this week to keep us in the game. The next thing from there, if we improve our tackling, we will get some more turnovers. We haven't been getting the best of luck either."
On his leg injury healing:
"The boot will probably be off in late November. They might end up putting a splint on it just so I can walk around. Then in a couple of weeks take the splint off and I should be walking regular by December."
On being involved with the team:
"Most of the time, they have me up here in academics, so they won't let me down on the field. But when I'm down there, I try and tell them what I'm seeing and what they can do. It's pretty much all I can do right now. Unless they gave me a headset or something, I could do more with it."
On the difficulty of dealing with the injury:
"At first it was, but the support group of coaches, players, and my family just kept me up. It hasn't really affected much of the future for me. I'm optimistic about everything and I just go from there."
On the team progressing:
"We had a team meeting yesterday and the main focus was just about not turning the ball over. Not creating mistakes that have killed us. We should reasonably, right now, be 3-1, not 1-3. A lot of that has come with the turnovers, the penalties. It's just the small things that are really killing us right now. If we can improve on not making those mistakes, we should be fine."
Senior Offensive Lineman Phil Costa
On moving forward and making changes:
"I think we are all in it together. It's not just the coaches. Everybody coming together and realizing what we have to do to be successful this week."
On having officials at practice this week:
"I think it's a good idea. We've had so many penalties in the last few games that it can't hurt to bring in some officials who are really going to critique what we are doing during practice to make sure we don't do it on Saturday."
On the team's mental focus:
"We came in on Monday and guys weren't just hanging their heads. They are ready to come in the next week and work hard. So that is the mental focus I think he is talking about."
On the changes in the offensive line:
"We've had a lot of changes up front. I think we are finding those few guys that can step in there as guards and play well. Bruce [Campbell] is back, so that's a big positive for us. (R.J.) Dill's been playing very well I think too."
On Chris Turner's dealing with the loss:
"I think it's tough after a game, such an emotional game too that he really felt it, just like everyone else did. You get a day and a half to forget about the loss and really focus on the next week. I think that's what he is doing now. He had a good practice yesterday, so that's what we are doing."
Senior Defensive Lineman Travis Ivey
On Clemson's C.J. Spiller:
"He's fast and makes defenders miss. One thing we try to do, early in the season are get guys to run to the football and get more than one guy hitting him. So we are just going to keep working on that and hopefully it will take care of itself."
On Clemson's offense:
"He's doing the same thing. They've been successful in the past running the ball, [because of] C.J. Spiller, that's what they do, they run the ball. Also they run their play action and they try to take deep shots, do a lot of screen passes and things like that. They're still Clemson and they are going to do what they do well."
On moving forward and fixing mistakes:
"It's a brand new season, we are getting better every game and we want to come full circle. I mean the biggest thing is focusing on the mistakes and make sure you don't make the same mistake twice. I think that's the biggest thing he wanted to focus on, not that we aren't practicing hard because we are practicing extremely hard. (Coach Friedgen) wants to be a little bit more productive in what we are doing in practice. He actually turned off the clocks in practice. He didn't want guys worrying about how much time was left in the period, things like that. Just getting things done. I think that's good for us.
"Like I said, it's a brand new season. I think that's the easiest thing to really focus on. It's the preseason, but now we've got the real season so it could be difficult to get out of the funk thinking we didn't come out and play like we wanted to play."
On the recent play of the defense:
"Last couple of games, we were playing well up until the last minute, especially against Middle Tennessee and Rutgers. The last two series wasn't really us so this next game right here. We've got to finish."
On turning off the clocks during practice:
"That doesn't mean anything, that is just Coach Friedgen's trying to find a way to win, which I am fine with that. It gives us more time to go over plays that we are going to see on Saturday. It gives us a second look on it. We won't get just one look at it; we get more looks at it. So it's kind of helping the defense out too, it's not just helping the offense out. I think it will work. I believe in this team right here."
On Clemson's offense:
"They have some good, explosive guys, [C.J.] Spiller and [Jacoby] Ford, and they've got a good QB, a young guy, but I think he can move around in the pocket. He's key in getting the ball out of his hands real quick. I think it's going to be a good challenge for us this week."
"The past two years I've been playing, when I played against Clemson they had the same offensive line, just different people. Every year they're always big. When we were down there last year, they had a big offensive line. Kind of always have the same guys, they just move a couple people around, but the offensive line is going to be the offensive line. They are no bigger than Rutgers who we just played."
On stopping the run game:
"I think that's the key going into every game. If we shut down a lot of people's running game, especially when they try and run a ball to open their passing game, you make them one-dimensional. I think you can figure out everything they do after that. It's going to be a big key in stopping [Jamie] Harper and [C.J.] Spiller and (Andre Ellington). It is going to be a key in stopping those three guys."
On dealing with last week's loss:
"I'm a lot better. It usually takes me a day or two to recuperate and get focused for the next week. After watching the film, it really isn't as bad as it seems. So I'm feeling a lot better."
On his approach this week:
"I'm approaching Clemson the same way I approach any other team. [I'm] just going out trying to protect the game plan and do all the right things that I could do to put myself in the best situation to make this team successful. "
On the meaning of a win this weekend:
"I think a win for us would be good. I think it would go a long way. A win on Saturday would be huge for us. We realize that we are off to a pretty poor start, but we haven't played an ACC game yet."
On his getting his confidence level back up:
"I've been down this road before. The first year I started. A couple season's ago we lost three in a row to UVA, Clemson, and UNC. Then we came back and beat Boston College when they were (eighth) in the country. I've been down this road before and I'm just trying to preach that to a lot of the guys that it just takes one game. It really is a long season. We've got eight games in a row in the ACC. If we can just fix these mistakes, fix the turnovers and the penalties, we'll be fine and we'll improve tremendously."
On keeping the faith:
"You can't lose the faith, that's the thing. You can't give in to everything you read and everything you hear. You have to stick together as a team. You have to really believe in yourself and believe in that you can win a football game. Right now, I think a lot of us took it pretty hard after the loss on Saturday, but the goal is still there. We haven't played an ACC game yet. If we can just make these corrections, we'll be fine."
On the Clemson defense:
"They're a little different than last year with their new defensive coordinator (Kevin Steele), but they are the same old Clemson. They're really good upfront, talented in the secondary, good linebackers, they are going to come off the ball. I'm sure they are going to come out Saturday and they're going to be slugging; that's what they are going to do. If we can just hang in there, get the ball out quickly and make plays when they're there, then we are going to use that momentum. Defensively, they are a huge challenge for us. They are one of the better teams we've played all year."
On making improvements:
"Well that's really the biggest thing. If we can eliminate the turnovers and eliminate the penalties that stop the drives, that'll help us a lot. We need to sustain the drives. We have too many big plays, and then a penalty fall in that or a turnover. If we could just sustain the drives, we would be in a much better position."
On Coach Friedgen's tactics:
"Yeah, they're good. Coach Friedgen has always been good at identifying the weak spots on our team and trying to make those corrections or at best, hide them. This week, right now, we are doing different things to focus on holding on to the ball and put an emphasis on staying on sides. Really executing what we are capable of executing."
On the preparation for Saturday:
"It's one game at a time and right now we're focusing on Clemson. I think we are pretty fortunate to have four pretty big games before the ACC started. We played some pretty good teams and a lot of situations have come up for us. We've kind of seen it all right now. We're pretty prepared for the ACC, I think. In a way, it's a fresh start."
On the Clemson defense:
"Clemson has one of the top defenses in the country. Obviously, their defensive line is definitely a strength. They have two of the top defensive ends in the country. Their linebacking core is definitely athletic. [Brandon] Maye is one of the best linebackers (we'll see) this season and the secondary is experienced. We've got a tough challenge this week."
On the team's focus:
"Guys are focused on doing the right thing. Coach Friedgen won't let us get off until we do the right thing. Guys are really concentrating on assignments and mistakes."
On Chris Turner:
"Chris is focused. He's one those guys, he has a way to forget things. Last week is over; there is nothing we can do about it. All he can really do is focus on leading us against Clemson. I'm confident that he can get the job done."
On getting the job done:
"We have a great bunch of seniors and it's their job and a bunch of us younger guys to go out there and get the job done for us. We are 1-3, but we could have easily been 3-1. We lost the game ourselves with a bunch of turnovers and missed assignments. We are 0-0 in the ACC and it's a brand new season for us, so we have something to look forward to right now."
On C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford:
"[They are] two of the most successful football players in the country. We know they are coming in and we've got a tough challenge. We've got to work hard this week and get focused for Saturday."
