Nov. 21, 2010
Recap |
Final Stats |
Notes |
AP Photo Gallery 
|
Photo Gallery
COLLEGE PARK, MD. -
Postgame quotes following Maryland's 30-16 loss to Florida State.
Maryland Head Coach Ralph Friedgen
Opening statement:
"Well it was a tough game. I thought my players fought with everything that they had. There was some adversity. In the first half,
Bennett Fulper, who is our center, broke his hand and we lost him. Then they took him in for an x-ray and they found out it wasn't broken and he came back and played the second half. Then
Justin Lewis hurt his knee and he wanted to go back in the second half, but we wouldn't let him. We had to move [Paul] Pinegar from right tackle to center, which he hadn't been working at. Then, we played
Max Garcia at left tackle and moved
R.J. Dill over to right tackle. Max got hurt and I don't know how bad he is right now. That is an area that we can't sustain many more loses, but our team stuck in there right to the very end. You can't turn the ball over four times, and I bet that they got 13 or 14 points off of turnovers, maybe more. We hadn't been doing that and I didn't think we played well on special teams. We were in punt safe and supposed to be looking for fakes and they run a fake and get a field goal off of it; then, the pooch punt that hit
Cameron Chism, as well as our return and coverage teams not playing very well. Even after a disappointing interception at the end we were still moving the football. We just need to play harder and keep competing."
On going for it on fourth down:
"The fourth and 18 is a tough situation. I have a decision to make to pooch punt it or go for it. If we caught the ball we probably would have got the first down. The other one, which was the short one, if I had to do it again I still go for it. I was told it was one yard and it was probably less than a yard. I wanted to get the lead at that point and time, so that's why I went for it."
On the touchdown to Bert Reed:
"He is a very good player, especially out in space. A couple of our guys fell down and slipped on the turf and that was a big play for them. That is going to happen. They have tremendous athletes in space and I was worried about how we were going to hold up against that. We did a pretty good job for most of the game, but it just takes one play. There were guys who just missed [Chris] Thompson, but instead he went 70 yards. That being said, we were coming down with a chance to win and were prepared to go for two, but in the end we just came up short. We had the situation that we wanted, but just didn't quite convert the way we wanted to in that situation. We are going to beat one of these teams one of these days; I see it. We are very close. Through all the adversity we had today we still had a chance to win it at the end."
On getting ready for NC State after such a disappointing loss:
"I will be disappointed if we aren't ready for NC State. It's the last game for some of our seniors and 8-4 is a pretty good season. I'm not so worried about that with this team. I think that they will be ready for the next game."
On the rushing game:
"I thought Da'Rel [Scott] ran as well as he has ever ran. That's as physical as I have seen him run. I thought our running game was as good as it has been all season. Florida State is one of the better rush defenses in the ACC, but I though Da'Rel and Davin [Meggett] played well."
On if he would have gone for it at the end of the game:
"They have a pretty good kicker and I didn't want to get into a kicking contest, because I know how fast they can score. A lot of it was about how much time was left. Once it got to under a minute or so we were going to go for two. James [Franklin] asked the kids at the start of the drive what they wanted to do and they all said go for two. If we had caught a touchdown pass on the first play I probably wouldn't have gone for two."
On the team competing tonight:
"I think the biggest thing that could have gone wrong today did and we didn't flinch. We were competing right until the end. On offense we had over 400 yards with a make-shift offensive line. We were competing in the game right until the very end."
Maryland Coaches/Players
Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator James Franklin
On handling the defensive pressure:
"Towards the end of the game, they started to put more pressure on us and that really had an impact on our execution. The offensive line really fought hard, especially with some of the situations we were in. We already had some issues with our offensive line and I think our guys fought really hard."
On the ground attack and Da'Rel Scott:
"I thought we had a really good plan. We showed some runs that we haven't shown in the past and that helped us. Our line also played really well. We were able to get the ball to the edge in the running game, and that was great. I pulled Da'Rel to the side and told him that the fact that he was able to take that big hit and come back and run hard was a real positive. He has really grown as a player."
On planning to go for two on the final drive:
"I was trying to instill confidence in our team and make it a foregone conclusion that we were going to score. I pulled our guys to the side and asked them what they wanted to do and they all said go for two. I told Coach Friedgen about it to see if he was alright with the idea. I wanted to make it clear to everyone that we were going down to score and win the game."
Defensive Coordinator Don Brown
On how the defense played:
"[Florida State's offense] can make you miss and create big plays. It's a shame because we really did a great job. Our guys competed on third and fourth down, we had an interception, we had a fumble recovery, we created some turnovers. I thought we did a good job of minimizing damage on the fake field goal, on the interception, on the punt that hit [Cameron Chism] on the back of the leg."
Freshman Quarterback Danny O'Brien
On the potential game-winning drive in the fourth quarter:
"They did what we expected them to do for the most part. We had to put in guys who hadn't played a lot, [Max] Garcia coming in as a true freshman, I think we handled the adversity really well. We fought hard and we gave ourselves a chance to win. This one hurts just because it's another one of those games where we thought we were in the game, we weren't really out-matched, the scoreboard didn't show it so it's tough. But we have to bounce back; we still have a game to play."
On the mood in the locker room:
"We were down. It was a tough loss, just to lose down the stretch like that it's tough. We turned the ball over which hurts, when we win the turnover battle we seem to always win, but we didn't do it tonight."
On the intercepted fourth-down play:
"I just tried to give us a shot to win. I felt a little pressure. I didn't want to take a sack. I didn't even see where the receiver was so I threw to where I thought he would be."
Junior Safety Kenny Tate
On Florida State's speed and ability to move the ball in space:
"We made a lot of plays in space, but on those two they just broke on us. They're a team that's known for their speed so you just have to get them to the ground any way you can."
On the mood in the locker room:
"We still have one more game left. We stay together, we have to get past this one."
On the atmosphere of Byrd Stadium:
"It was a great atmosphere. I have to thank Terp nation and the way they came out, I haven't seen the stadium like that in a long time especially after last season. Just hearing that crowd gave us a boost today."
Senior Running Back Da'Rel Scott
On taking a big hit in the first half:
"I feel fine. I got the wind knocked out of me and for a couple of minutes I couldn't breathe. But afterwards I think it really got me going. The team really needed me to get back into the game and give a spark to everyone."
On the final drive:
"I really thought we had the momentum going down the field. The defense played great tonight. Unfortunately, a couple of plays just didn't go the way we wanted them to."
On the atmosphere:
"Seeing our fans in all black was priceless. We felt like they were with us the entire game. It was really uplifting for the team."
Florida State Head Coach Jimbo Fisher
Opening statement:
"Our defense did a great job sticking to their players, creating opportunities and controlling a lot of the game. I was disappointed that we didn't convert more plays and we let some opportunities drop. We got a little anxious and I made some poor play calls. I didn't do a good job in the red zone today."
On 6-2 finish:
"No matter what, we are at least a co-champion of this league and that was one of our goals for this year. We did what we could do, we had a chance to be 8-0 this season but we didn't do it, and we still have things to work on. Six wins is where we wanted to go and it's a step in the right direction. I am very proud of these guys and our seniors can at least say they are champions. We have done all we can do, we won six games and that's great, it's more than we have won in a while. Our focus now is only going to be on the Gators."
On creating turnovers:
"We won the turnover battle and that was critical for the outcome of the game today. Although we won them, we didn't take advantage of all of the great opportunities we created. We should have converted more on the short punts; we just have to get better. They did do a good job on our blitz packages, and Maryland is a very hard team to play against."
On goals for the rest of the season:
"We have to work on those Gators; we have to beat those Gators. One of our goals is to win the state title and we are the only ones who can do that. We can't rely on other teams to win and lose. We have to control our own destiny. This is a great game for us; it is a big rivalry game. They have a great coach and they have had a good season so far. They have a bunch of good players and we have to play much better than we did today."
On winning mentality:
"Winning is a culture and is a habit. Winning on the field is the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you breathe and the way you believe. Everybody in the organization has to have this mentality, not just the players and the coaches. Everybody who affects those kids has to have this mentality, and I think that is what we are starting to bring back. It is going to be a process and we knew it was going to be tough, and we are nowhere close to where we have to be, but we are learning to get this mentality, and that's what I am happy about."
On second quarter play:
"We were starting to get pressure on their quarterback and that was really good. You have to affect the quarterback in the game and I think we did that very well in the second half. Our defense played very well, they really did."
Florida State Players
Quarterback Christian Ponder
On wide receiver Bert Reed's touchdown:
"It was a huge run for that long touchdown. He made a great play and it got the momentum on our side and it ended up winning the game."
On the win:
"It was huge. For us to get this many wins in the ACC, it's been a while for us, so I think this program definitely took a huge step forward this year. Obviously we want to make it to the ACC Championship game. I don't think we'll ever be satisfied [if not] and that was our huge goal. I think we have to be pleased with how our divisional play has gone."
On the FSU defense:
"They've played unbelievable and they helped us stay in this game. The offense kind of sputtered here and there and the defense made plays when they had to. The other team's offense always gets yards but they [defense] always stop them. They're holding them to field goals which is huge. The defense helped us out today."
On his injured elbow
"The elbow feels good. It didn't really bother me. The only time it bothered me was on that late hit out of bounds. Looking at it after the game, the swelling is not too bad so that's good."
Running back Chris Thompson
On today's game:
"We focused on making big plays. We knew we had to make big plays against this team because we know they have a real good defense and we know they bring a lot of blitzes. I think Coach Fisher's game plan really helped us out this week."
On the win:
"It was a big win and we wanted to have at least six wins to at least have a chance to go to the ACC Championship, so it was a big win for us as a team."
On FSU's defense:
"It was special. We knew they were going to come out and win the game for us. Every single week we believe in them and they believe in us, so it's just a fact of making those plays when we get out on the field."
On Maryland's final drive from the sideline:
"I really believed in our defense. We were on the sideline and I was telling them that I knew that they [the defense] were going to hold it down for us."
