Nov. 12, 2011

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LANDOVER, Md. - Postgame quotes following Maryland's 45-21 loss to Notre Dame at FedEx Field.

Opening Statement:
"A couple too many opportunities on defense on third down, you know, we couldn't get off, we didn't tackle that well on defense. Notre Dame is an outstanding football team, they had something to do with those missed tackles, and offensively we couldn't get a whole lot going and, same thing, dropped passes; that didn't help with the continuity of what we needed to get done."

On Danny O'Brien's status:
"He broke a bone in his upper arm and we will know a little bit more after I get back out of here and talk with our doctors. He's not going to be back ready to play, I know that."

On how long he expects O'Brien to be out:
"Rest of the year."

On the play of Maryland's freshmen:
"You know, they're getting experience out there. They just have to keep working to get period of time. They're getting better, but they make mistakes, as freshmen usually do, but it's good that we got them out there and they're getting some playing time and they're eager, but, again, they made some mistakes tonight."

On what Maryland needs to improve on:
"That we have to just stop making some of the mistakes that we've been making week in and week out, and we have to correct those. We've got to tackle better, get off on third down. We have to make third downs; we can't drop the ball. And you got to understand it; you have to do the little things right all the time in everything that you do, and if you do that you give yourself a better opportunity to win."

Junior Linebacker Demetrius Hartsfield

On playing in another prime-time televised game:
"It's very frustrating. It's another loss. I didn't want to lose the way we did. I felt like we just gave up. We didn't fight like we wanted it. We didn't play the same way we did against Miami. It was definitely frustrating."

On Notre Dame's offense:
"They were just fighting us off and running the ball; getting the least amount of people as they could in the box and then just running the ball. That's all they were doing. We weren't tackling well."

On the team giving up:
"I wouldn't say give up exactly. We weren't executing. We weren't playing fast like we should. We weren't tackling like we've been tackling in practice. It was a lot of little things that just weren't clicking today."

On being 2-8:
"It's tough. We try to be there for each other and try to play for each other. A season like this, where everything is going wrong, it's easy to quit. That's the one thing that we don't want to be known as. If anything, we just want to try and win these last two games. The plan is definitely to win the next two games. We're going to have to be on our P's and Q's once again this week in practice."

Junior Offensive Lineman Justin Gilbert

On how his knee is feeling:
"It's holding up pretty good. I felt pretty good out there. I'm trying to get back to where I was before I got hurt. Trying to get my groove back and get used to everything again."

On Danny O'Brien's injury:
"I saw him go down but I didn't really get a good look at it. It's hard to lose a guy like Danny. He's a good player and a leader on the field. We have C.J. [Brown] and all the trust and are comfortable with him back there, so we will finish the last two of the season with him. Hopefully Danny gets better and comes back from this as well as I know he will."

On the first half of the game:
"You hate to start that way; you always want to come out firing. It's football. We all come in and know what we have to do. We tried to fight as best we could. The end result wasn't what we wanted but guys didn't fold so that was the good part."

On the remainder of the season:
"If I know the guys like I think I do, we're going to keep playing like it's a regular season. We're going to practice as hard as we can and hopefully finish out with two wins in the end."

Sophomore QB C.J. Brown:

On Danny O'Brien's injury:
"It's never good to see one of your teammates go down like that especially with the type of season that we've had and the type of player, the competitor that he is. I knew he got tackled and he landed wrong. I didn't really know what it was, [Coach Edsall] just told me to go get my helmet."

On Norte Dame:
"They're a good team. You have to tip your hat off to them. We kept battling; we came back a little bit. They made the run and they answered. There's nothing much you can do to that.

"[Our] offense has just got to stay on the field. We have to help our defense out a little bit and we just have to get back out on the field. We're going to get back to the film room and start working tomorrow."

On his touchdown run:
"[Wide receiver Kevin] Dorsey made a heck of a block and I ran off. I'm just thankful I ended up in the end zone."

On starting for the rest of the season:
"I'm not really worried about that. Whenever you see a friend go down like that, and yeah he is a teammate, but first he's my friend. Everyone is going to get it together no matter who is playing. We don't want to go back to that 2-10 season, as much as I keep repeating myself."

Junior Defensive Lineman Joe Vellano

On team morale:
"You have to have a lot of pride. There is no reason to stop now. We just have to send the seniors out the way they want to go out.

On game results:
"I'm with the players and the coaches every day. We're working on it. Every day we practice hard, we watch all the film. We do everything we can possibly do and you fall short sometimes."

On slow starts:
"I feel like we have to be down before we realize we can play. It's tough. There is no one person to play; there is no one thing to blame. If there was we'd fix it. You just have to battle and play as if every play is your last. I really take that to heart."

Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly

Opening Statement:
"We asked our team to get off to a fast start. We did that. I thought that was important for us to come here and really make a statement early on. I thought we did that, put some points on the board. It was a total team effort today; if you look at it, our special teams, David Ruffer a 52 yard field goal; Turk punted the ball very, very well; defensively we scored; offensively we were able to play fast at times, which is a sign of a growing offense.

So when we look at it, very good victory for our football team, and I liked their preparation. I had mentioned to many of you that around us that I liked our preparation during the week and that paid off today."

What does that balanced offense, defense, special teams say, that they were locked in?
"It was just today. You know, it's Saturday, November the 12th. We played the way we need to play in all three phases. We'll see what happens on the 19th of November. But they know our players truly understand how to win football games now, and it starts with our preparation during the week, and they know that they have to be able to bring all three phases. We'll look to repeat that next week, and that's the challenge to our football team."

You said Robby wasn't your typical No. 2. Did he prove that today?
"That he wasn't my typical No. 2? Okay, I think of a No. 2 as the No. 2 receiver. He really adds a dimension to our offense. You saw that tonight, especially in the quick game stuff. He's very good with the ball in his hands, run off the catch, just a smart receiver. He's a really good football player."

Lo Wood, you had him in early in the game, just wanted to get him more time?
"He had a stinger. He missed a couple of series, but Jamoris did a great job of closing on that screen and had read that screen out and forced a high throw, and Lo was in a good position. It was good to get Lo in the game. He's going to have to play for us next year so it was nice to see him get a pick six."

Can you talk a little bit about Jonas Gray's game?
"Senior players, Michael Floyd, I know we look for perfection from Mike, but he blocked so well. Jonas Gray was what we have all been talking about. He's been a consistent performer for us, and he's really emerged as a big time back. That's why we went with two backs in the backfield for the first time this year; we played both Jonas and Cierre, because they've been so productive for us defensively."

We talked a lot about Jonas. He needed to step up. Did you expect this much production this year?
"I thought he was capable of it. We had challenged him to be the kind of back that we think he should be, and that is powerful, keeps his feet moving, doesn't go down after first contact. We told him that his reps would be based upon his ability to play physical, and you could see he doesn't want to get off the field."

You were here for a road game, you said, tonight. Did it feel like a road game?
"No, it was really loud coming in. It was an enjoyable atmosphere. We really loved being here. I know our players were excited when they got out on the field and heard the crowd and the action that was in the stadium. Our guys were excited, you could tell that."

Notre Dame Wide Receiver Robbie Toma

On starting today:
Obviously, keeping in mind that one of my best friends, Theo, went down, just to get out there and play felt really good. Having guys like Mike [Floyd], Cierre [Wood], [Tyler] Eif[ert] and TJ [Jones] makes things a lot easier for guys like me. I just felt like maybe they didn't pay as much attention to me, and Tommy [Rees] found me.

On the feeling of starting today:
Last year I was put in a similar situation when Theo went down. I was ready for this. It felt like a normal game for me. I'm just gonna do whatever I can, and when my number is called be ready.

Notre Dame Running Back Jonas Gray

On exceeding his expectations for the year:
I still have yet to play a complete game. I didn't do as well as I wanted on to special teams. I could have done a little bit better on blitz pick-up. Finishing the game, playing consistent and trying to have just an entire good game, playing an entire game, and I have yet to do that.

On his first 100-yard rushing game:
It was great. The guys in front did a great job blocking. The receivers did a great job blocking up field. Like I always do, I did the rest with my legs. Coach Kelly did a great job drawing the plays. We knew we would be able to run the ball. It was starting with a physical mentality and continuing that throughout the game.

On the tempo of the offense:
It was a big emphasis this week to play at a fast tempo, and we did that well. A few guys were getting gassed, and we're not used to doing that, even myself. That's a dimension of the offense that we are going to try to keep doing. When we do that, we are a pretty good offense and hard to stop.