Oct. 30, 2010
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COLLEGE PARK, MD. -
Postgame quotes following Maryland's 62-14 homecoming victory over Wake Forest.
Maryland Head Coach Ralph Friedgen
Opening statement:
"Well I thought we played a complete game tonight. I asked the kids last night to make a statement and I think they did. It's a great bunch of kids we work with. To see them so excited and so happy on the sidelines, and just thinking of where we were last year, to me it's a lesson in perseverance. We were just hanging in there, never giving up, just keep working and that's what I think our team has done. Now we're bowl eligible and these next four weeks will probably be the most important four weeks of our players' lives. But we're not looking any further than next week, which will be a very big game on the road and we'll see how we handle that situation."
On the team's growth from last year:
"I always expected this, I really have. I knew the type of kids we have. I saw how we were losing games last year. If you look at our team [last season], early on we lost games because we were turning the ball over ... so that is a reflection on myself and coaching. I wanted to get that corrected. That's corrected. In all the games that we played last year, they were fighting right to the end with numerous injuries. We had cornerbacks that were probably 60%. There were close games all along the way; we just didn't find a way to close them. Eventually I knew that was going to happen. But that's what we had to learn how to do. I don't think we've reached our potential yet. We're still a young team and I just think we're going to continue to get better and better. The more we gain confidence the better we'll get."
On the in-game defensive adjustments:
"I think Don Brown does a heck of a job making adjustments. He's a heck of a football coach. They hurt us on the one play we thought they would. We kind of got a beat on what they were doing, how they were doing it. I think Coach Seamonson really helps up in the box. Like last week in Boston College; they ran the split zone, we came up with another adjustment and we were able to take care of it. I think [Brown] does a great job of making adjustments on the sidelines, getting our kids to play, and they know the defense pretty well right now. They're flying around having a good time. He calls it controlled chaos, and it is sometimes, but you never know where we're coming from. We're coming from everywhere."
On bowl eligibility:
"I said we have to get bowl eligible, then we'll work on what bowl we're going to. You're bowl eligible but it really depends on what your record is. There's only so many bowls we can go to. We've got the minimum right now, but we want the maximum."
Maryland Coaches/Players
Offensive Coordinator James Franklin
On the team playing for Pete DeSouza:
"I wanted to be able to call Pete (DeSouza) after the game. I knew that he wanted to be here today, but I wanted to be able to be able to call him and tell him we are going to a bowl and he will be going with us. We aren't going to wait until later in the season to lock it up. It's not if we are going to a bowl or not, it's what bowl we are going to go to."
Senior Safety Antwine Perez
On adjustments the team made after Wake Forest's first touchdown:
"That drive consisted of two big plays that resulted from a mix up in our coverage, but they didn't really drive on us. But after that we sorted things out on the sideline and got things rolling. We were able to force three-and-outs, sack the quarterback, and get turnovers and we just tried to do things to get our defense off of the field and get our offense back on."
On the team's preseason goals:
"Our only preseason goal was to get to seven wins. Coming off of a 2-10 season, we just wanted to be bowl eligible and get one more win than was needed for that. Now we are just trying to win one game at a time and take it week by week."
Junior Safety Kenny Tate
On becoming bowl eligible:
"It's a huge confidence booster for the team; everybody is a lot more positive. This year we are looking forward to playing in a bowl game and possibly an ACC Championship."
On the team's motivation:
"We know that on any given day anybody can beat anybody. The ACC is a tough conference and right now we are in contention. So we need to keep going out and playing well every week to stay contenders."
Senior Linebacker Alex Wujciak
On the defensive game plan:
"Coach [Don] Brown had a great game plan. When they scored it was on a deep pass and them chipping away at us. Defensively, we made our plays and followed the game plan."
On the defensive pressure:
"Coach Brown likes to bring pressure from different places with different people. We were able to make the quarterback not feel comfortable today."
Junior Wide Receiver Torrey Smith
On their spot in the ACC:
"In the ACC, week in and week out anybody can beat anyone. We need to come to play every week. Where we are right now doesn't really matter because we still have a lot of games to play, so we need to keep coming to play to stay on top."
On the offense's balance:
"We were balanced today - the offensive line did their job, the receivers made plays and the running backs were breaking tackles. Offensively, we played well all around."
On Danny O'Brien:
"He's smart, confident and wise beyond his years. Year-wise, he is a freshman but he doesn't play like one. He understands football, and knows how to make the right read and who to throw the ball to."
Freshman Quarterback Danny O'Brien
On the improvement of the team:
"I think [the team improves] exponentially every week; just getting into the flow of the game quicker and quicker every week. We have started to have more of a rhythm. I am really confident because I have playmakers all around me and a line that is protecting me. It makes my job pretty easy."
On improving from last year:
"We struggled together through last year's 2-10 season, but we vowed at the end of that season that we wouldn't let that happen again. We are a tight group. We have to keep taking it one week at a time and I think we can do some really special things."
On getting ready for the Miami game:
"The way we are progressing we can just celebrate this one tonight and enjoy it, but then get back to the drawing board tomorrow. We just have to keep preparing the same way we have been. We have great running backs and great receivers and just an overall great line. I am confident, but not too confident. Miami is a good team. It is going to be a challenge, but we are ready."
Junior Offensive Lineman Andrew Gonnella
On the rest of the season and being bowl eligible:
"It is a little weight off of our shoulders now that we can just focus on playing tough football and just finishing with a strong season. Now it is just a matter of fighting for which bowl we are going to."
On adjustments made for this game:
"I think that we were able to make some adjustments. They came out with a defense we didn't expect. We just kept our poise and when we were out there we played hard. We were looking for revenge and I really think everything clicked."
On this being a statement game:
"It lets people know. Sometimes you look up in the stands and notice that it isn't full. You want to bring people to the games and you want to let everyone know that we are no joke."
On the current record compared to last year's record:
"It is a great feeling, but at the same time it is the way it should be. We have a lot of good players and a lot of talent. If we keep playing the way we have been playing, we should be able to do great things."
Sophomore Defensive Lineman A.J. Francis
On differences from last season:
"We really have it in our mind that, after last season, we really want to show people that we are not the same team. We already have tripled the wins that we had last year. Right now, we are in a perfect position to make the run that we have always wanted to make."
Wake Forest Head Coach Jim Grobe
Opening statement:
"Tonight was a tough game. It's really hard, especially defensively, because we were put into so many bad situations. With the kicking game and the offense, we were put into so many tough situations. We also have a young team, so we are going to use this as a learning experience."
On the state of the program:
"I told our kids, we still love our football team. I don't have a problem with the work that our guys are putting in, but we certainly don't have very much confidence right now. We are playing a lot of young players. The problem is some of these young players have only been here since August. Their real learning-lab is on game-day, and that is not a good place to teach freshmen how to play football. I think we have talented kids, but we don't have a lot of experience right now. We have to keep coaching them and pushing them in the right direction to see if they can respond and come back next week against Boston College."
On coming off of a bye week:
"I told the kids I was a little disappointed. We had a real chance to win this game, especially with the week off. The kicking game is the biggest disappointment and got us behind right away. Then we got down offensively and pretty soon, the game was out of hand. I did think with the open date we would be a little fresher, but maybe sometimes with young players that is not a good thing. It kind of got them out of their routine."
On the late quarterback change:
"I was hopeful that Skylar (Jones) could come in and get some reps and give us a spark. It's hard for him to be a cleanup hitter right now. Tanner (Price) is a guy that we want to keep giving reps, but we want to give Sky an opportunity, especially for some experience."
On the blocked punt:
"That was a really athletic play. I give a lot of credit to that kid who blocked the punt (LaQuan Williams). He busted through our line and made a great play to make the block. Our line was a little out of place, and that didn't help. But that was definitely a momentum shifter early in the game."
On the team's mentality:
"I don't think this is the kind of football team to quit. The kids want to play and win. They all don't like to lose, but they are just not playing very well right now. Maryland is a very good team and they are playing with a lot of confidence. When they get a lead they keep building on it. Our kids are doing the opposite; they are not playing with confidence. But they are working hard and they want to get better, and the coaches are going to keep pushing them."
Wake Forest Players
Center Russell Nenon
On the game:
"I said Tuesday we had to go out there and execute, and we didn't execute. The defense played well at times, but we all didn't show up. We aren't the caliber team that can halfway show up, we have to play our game. All credit goes to Maryland, they had a heck of a game today."
On losing coming off of bye week:
"It's rough because we mentally prepped for them so many times, but you have to give credit to Maryland for coming out with some stuff that we weren't capable of taking care of. They [UMD] got the better hand tonight."
On disappointment of season thus far:
"It's unfortunate, but it's football. I've been through losing seasons before and I'm not counting our team out. We're a great group and we are going to work until we find something that works for us."
Wide Receiver Michael Campanero
On today's game:
"We came out here with the mindset of trying to make a run for the bowl game. We're just a little disappointed all around in the three phases of the game. We felt like we were real close to a few plays, but any time you give up two blocked punts in the first half it's tough."
On regrouping after loss:
"I think we've got a group of guys in here that love to compete and love to play. These coaches aren't going to give up on us, so we're going to go home and regroup and try to get the W against Boston College next week."
On trying to recover from two blocked punts:
"Anytime you get a big play on special teams is a big momentum changer. We went into halftime and made some adjustments. Everyone was fired up and really believed we could make a comeback, but we came out and had a few bone-headed miscommunications on offense which led to the touchdowns."
Linebacker Hunter Haynes
On disappointment of loss:
"It hurts coming out and just not playing well in any aspect of the game. The defense gave up a ton of points and the offense just could not get anything going. We've obviously got to rebuild and have a better performance. We've got nowhere to go but up from here."
On what can be gained from the loss:
"We've got a lot of young guys gaining a lot of experience, so hopefully it will pay off down the road."
