Oct. 25, 2011
Opening Statement:
"We are seeing a team this week in Boston College that I am very familiar with. They are a big team up front who likes to run the ball. They are very physical. Their tight end Chris Pantale is playing very well. Bobby Swigert, their wide receiver is having a really good year. They lost their running back Montel Harris, but Rolando Finch and Andre Williams are in there doing a good job for them.
"The biggest thing that you always worry about BC is their size up front and their ability to run the football. Defensively they are always very sound. They are physical on defense. They have an outstanding middle linebacker in Luke Kuechly. He is all over the field. He is very active. I have been impressed watching him on film.
"Kevin Pierre-Louis is someone I know a lot about. I tried to recruit him when I was at Connecticut. He is playing extremely well for them. They are coming down here and we know we have a difficult challenge ahead of us. We are looking forward to getting back out on the practice field today. We are playing a real good team. Their record is what it is, but they are a good team. If you take a look at their scores they have been in a lot of good games and haven't been able to get over the hump. We have to make sure we are prepared and ready to go."
On getting young players experience due to injuries:
"We have a lot of people who are getting experience. We hope that guys will keep playing and keep battling. This team is working hard and giving effort. You can see that because other than one game, we have been in the fourth quarter with the chance to win the game. We have to get over the hump. The effort is there and they are doing the things we are asking them to do."
On keeping players' confidence high:
"I thought that in practice there has been a lot of enthusiasm. I don't sense any guys who are down. We are just trying to get better. When adversity strikes, there are only two things you can do. You can sulk about it, or you can go out and work hard to improve. Everyone is working hard to improve and trying to find ways with what their responsibilities are to do them a little bit better. Everyone is doing everything that they can to help the team try to win."
On junior defensive lineman Joe Vellano:
"Watching Joe on film you always see a guy who plays extremely hard. I think Joe has taken his game to a higher level and improved this year. He understands even more the technique of playing defensive line. He is doing a good job and that's why I made him captain because of his work ethic and how he plays the game. I think there are still better days ahead for Joe. I don't think he has reached his full potential yet."
On the quarterbacks:
"It will be a game time decision as to the starter. C.J. (Brown) is fine as is Danny (O'Brien). We will go out to practice today and they will both work with the first team. By the end of the week we will make a decision as to which way we will go."
On the offensive scheme:
"I like our scheme and what we are doing. It is only going to get better. The biggest thing is just finding the consistency. When you look at the Miami, Clemson and the second half of the West Virginia game you can see progress. Is it as much progress that I wanted to see so far? No, there has been too much inconsistency. My job is to figure out and handle the inconsistency. We put up 45 points against the number five team in the country. I think that shows that we have the ability to move the ball with what we are doing. We just have to keep working at it and getting better."
On the progress of the defense:
"I think we are getting better on defense. I don't like how we have started games. I think we have started them a little bit slow. That is something that we have talked about and addressed. I think we have some answers for that. When you take a look at stretches in games I think we are playing very well. After the first 14 points against Florida State we played very well until the stretch in the fourth quarter. We have done the same thing in other games. We have to get more consistent and make more plays in the situations that allow us to get off the field sooner."
On staying upbeat despite the 2-5 record:
"I am who I am. I am not going to be someone that I'm not. I have a level of expectation from what I believe in. I believe in it 100 percent. I see the progress being made in our program. My message to the young men, if it isn't consistent from week to week, then I'm not doing justice to them. My message to them has been the same thing every week. We have to work to get better and master the techniques that we are being taught. We have to understand that the mission is for me to treat these young men as student athletes. That's the bottom line. They aren't athletes, they are student athletes. All I want to do is make sure that I am doing right by them, in the classroom, as people and as athletes. That is what's important to me. We are going to continue to send that message to them and be consistent in what we do. They are getting better and we are getting better as a team. It just doesn't show in the win-loss record right now."
On the team's struggles with third downs:
"We have had a lack of consistency. We have had times where we have played very well both offensively and defensively. We just aren't consistent enough on either side of the ball. Those are things that we work on every week. Wednesday is our third-down day. We do a lot trying to both convert on offense and stop them. We just have to keep working and keep getting better."
Sophomore Quarterback C.J. Brown
On the helmet-to-helmet hit against Florida State:
"He got me good. I tried to get down, but didn't get all the way down when I was going down in a slide. I didn't lean back enough and sure enough he came in leading with the helmet and he got me good."
On Boston College's defense:
"They're going to be a strong disciplined group. We've played them tough every year. They have a solid linebacker in Luke Kuechly, their leading tackler. They're going to be tough, we just have to play our game and we'll be alright."
On the spirit of the team with the injuries that have occurred this year:
"Well being hurt last year, I know it's tough. I feel for those guys that are losing their season, but with that being said other people are going to have to step up. This season is not over, and we have a good opportunity to finish strong."
On talking to Danny O'Brien on the sideline after he came out of the Florida State game:
"I just wanted to re-emphasize what I saw when I was out there, and when I came back I was able to talk to him a little bit about it. Everyone knows they were playing a different defense for him, but I just told him to be safe with the ball because they were coming for him."
On the stumbling blocks for the team on third down:
"I think we just have to execute on first and second down; doing that will put us in a manageable third down and will allow us to take care of that. I think once you get started, it's easier to finish."
Junior Defensive Lineman Joe Vellano
On Boston College's offense:
"They're big up front and they really want to power the football at you. They have two good backs, and they can put drives together by just rotating them. They're big inside so they're going to want to run the ball and (use) play action. They're in the same position we are, just a couple tough losses."
On Boston College's quarterback:
"He can definitely throw the ball. He's good with play action, he's pretty quick in the pocket just watching some tape on him. They're going to be big up front and we have to stop the run. That's the number one concern."
On the team's difficulty to stop teams converting third downs:
"It's really tough to pinpoint something, but I think it's more or less getting teams off track on first down to set up third and long. If you give teams third and short, you're setting yourself up for some tough third downs to stop. It's important to get them off schedule early, and making those third downs tougher."
On why he's continued to be successful this year:
"You know just trying to go out there and compete every play. Every year I've been able to grow and get better. I had a pretty good year last year and I've been able to keep it going. I've tried to be one of the leaders of the team. I'm really just working hard and doing everything I can for this team."
On Boston College's defense:
"You can't look at their record and say they're not a good team, because they have arguably the best linebacker in the country, Luke Kuechly, and he's going to bring it every week. They have a really solid front seven, a good secondary, and they played us really tight last year. I remember we were getting up on them, and they just wouldn't give up. Just a really tough defense, very well-coached, bringing a lot of different pressures and you have to play well to beat a team like that."
On what he's learned about himself this season:
"I think you find out a lot about yourself in times of adversity. There's no doubt we've been down this year, a lot for me personally but also as a team. I found out kind of who I am. I'm going to bounce back. The linemen and the guys have a lot of faith in me and I have a lot of faith in them, and we're going to continue to look forward and try to get better today."
On what has given him trouble this year:
"I think it might be a lot of things. I don't really know what it is, my work ethic and how I approach the game hasn't changed. I haven't changed my attitude about the game; I still love it. We've played some good teams, it's a different scheme, we have different coaches, different players out there, different tempo, I'm not playing as good as I should be. It might be a little bit of all those things. You can't really get hung up on why you're not playing well. You just have to fix it."
On his confidence level this season:
"My confidence has never faltered at all. It was as high as it's ever been when I was out there. I think we did some really good things, just not enough. It was just too little too late. It felt good to get out there and complete some balls against a quality opponent."
On his take on his five seasons with the program:
"Well I've been [at Maryland] for four and a half years, and I've definitely seen a lot in my time here. You've obviously had your ups and your downs, more than anything else you just want to go out on a positive note with a bang. I think we definitely have the potential to do that and we definitely intend on doing that."
On earning a scholarship last season:
"Well I came here as a walk-on, and I just came here trying to be very tough and physical, and just show what I can do. I started off on special teams, and I've just worked my way up. It's extremely rewarding, because you see so many walk-ons come here and don't get the opportunity to earn a scholarship and it just feels great to be rewarded for your hard work. I just want to make the most of it."
On being a factor in playing in almost every game in his career:
"It's very rewarding because you know we came in with a huge class, and the players like Torrey Smith and all those guys and I think it's just Davin [Meggett] and me who have played every game since I've been here, so it's phenomenal and I think it's just a testament to hard work and a relentless drive to succeed."
