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PHILADELPHIA - Postgame quotes following Maryland's 36-27 win over Temple Saturday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field.

Head Coach Randy Edsall

On today's game:
"Just very, very proud of this football team and the coaching staff for the effort we gave today. It was really a tale of two halves. The first half we went out and we capitalized on big plays and turnovers and then it was reversed in the second half where we turned the ball over and they made some big plays. To have our guys come on the road against a quality football team, which Temple is, and to fight through the adversity that we had to in the second half and to put that last drive together; it really showed me something about the heart, the soul and the character and the belief that these kids have in one another--and in themselves. So I'm just very, very thrilled and happy to come up here and get the win.

"There's plenty of things to work on that's for sure and we'll do that but I thought we made strides from week one to week two and I think we'll be making strides each and every week. I'm very, very proud of these guys in terms of how they persevered, how they hung in there, how they fought. If you go out and play hard like that all the time, and never look at the score board, you give yourself a chance."

On quarterback Perry Hills' improvement:
"Well he didn't throw any picks, that's one thing. I thought he made some pretty good decisions today, not only in the passing game, but also in the running game. That last TD was kind of like a triple option and he made a great read and gave the ball to [running back] Justus [Pickett]. They came with the blitz off the edge on both sides and if we didn't have that then he's going to run the option to [wide receiver] Stefon [Diggs] and he just read it beautifully.

"So, I thought he got even more confidence as the game goes on and I thought when he got a few times that made him get more confident. Look at the touch on the deep ball. The passes he made on the deep ball and then the scramble for the touchdown when he dropped the snap--he didn't panic and he got outside and ran it in. The throws he made to Marcus and then the play that [wide receiver] Marcus [Leak] made and the play that Stefon made. One of the biggest plays in the game, he only had one catch, was [wide receiver] Kevin Dorsey. The combination of the seniors stepping up and young guys is great to see.

"Perry's just going to continue to get better. He's going to be a work in progress throughout the year but I think any rookie quarterback or freshman quarterback that's what you're going to have but as long as you make steps each and every week, that's what you're looking for and he made steps today."

On possibly giving up a big lead:
"I didn't sense any panic settle in on the sidelines. I think our kids were confident the whole way -- they believed. They never thought in their minds nothing was going to happen other than us winning the ballgame. That's things that you work on. You take a look at some of those young guys. Stefon took his eye off the ball. You could just see it. He wants to make a play. Then he comes up and makes the big play at the end. You're going to have that sometimes with young kids, but there was never any panic. Again, they found a way. We persevered. Boy, if you can persevere you can be pretty successful in whatever you do."

On what he told running back Wes Brown after his fumble:
"Tell him to put two hands on the ball in the hitting zone. This is college football; this isn't Good Counsel football anymore. Wes knows he made a mistake; we're not going to be down on Wes. He's out there trying and it's a learning experience. That's why we put him back in there. He'll be better for it.

"Stefon will improve from dropping the punt and knowing that situation calls for just needing to get the ball back. We don't need to make a play there, but he has such an amount of confidence in his ability that he thinks every time he touches it he can make something happen. The first thing you've got to do as a punt returner and it's my fault because I coach him and probably didn't stress it enough - in that situation he's just got to catch the ball. Just take a fair catch there. Get us the ball back.

"The other thing is I just think that [defensive tackle] A.J. Francis just made a huge play in blocking the field goal. I wish [defensive back Jeremiah Johnson] could've kept his feet, but you know what -- games like this is just going to make this team that much better and make us grow even more."

On the excitement of the team afterwards in the locker room:
"They're excited. Anytime you win you're going to be excited. It's hard to win and it's hard to win on the road. To come up here and to win and to go through what we did, to have the different emotions from the first half to the second half. I told them at halftime it wasn't going to be easy. They're not going to roll over and play dead. They're not going to be possums.

"I told them afterwards, we're 2-0 and that's the best we can be. There's a lot of things we did well today and there's a lot of things we have to learn from. Give Temple credit. Temple's a good football team. My hat goes off to [Temple running back] Matt Brown. To come back in in the second half, to compete and run the way he did. That guy was a good running back; watching him on film and I thought our defense held him to 34 yards in the first half. They did a great job and then we hurt the defense with the field position.

"I told the guys we've got to be a 60 minute team we've got to be a team that as long as we believe in each other and believe in ourselves then we've got a chance. Just go out play as hard as we can one play at a time for 60 minutes -- we'll give ourselves the opportunity to win and that's all you can ask for. I told them we've got to make sure we prepare well each and every week."

Senior Linebacker Demetrius Hartsfield

On Temple's adjustments in the second half:
"We knew they were going to come out and try to run the ball. I think we did a great job of stopping them. They did some things we weren't really used to; they shifted a few times and got out of formation. Overall, I think we did what we needed to do: run, stop the run and win the game."

On finding ways to win:
"Like coach said, `a win is a win, regardless of how many points it is.' You just want to come out and score more points than the other team, regardless if it's ugly or not. It still counts as a `W.'"

On the mood in the locker room:
"People were excited. It's just one more game that we won. We've got to look forward to playing UConn next week. I think last year is definitely behind us. Not too many people talk about last year. Yeah Temple beat us last year and it wasn't pretty, but it's this year now and we beat them."

Senior Defensive Lineman Joe Vellano

On teammate A.J. Francis' blocked field goal in the fourth quarter:
"I was pushing and he came up and I heard the ball getting batted. I just knew it was A.J. because he's the only one that blocks stuff for us. It was a huge play and huge momentum changer as well."

On the importance of the offense's last drive:
"Without a doubt. Just getting time off the clock and making it a two-possession game. Just giving Temple a long field as well and working it down there they ended up scoring which was huge. Then our defense came out and played tough to finish it out. Temple was tough. They came out the second half and played tough and made a bunch of plays."

Senior Defensive Lineman A.J. Francis

On the difference between this year and last year:
"We knew after last year with the way they ran the ball on us last year, they were going to come out and try to run the ball down our throat. Our goal all week was to stop the run. Even third and long drills we anticipated the run all week. We wanted to make sure that the same kind of mistakes we made last year, we wouldn't make them again. We stopped the run; they adjusted and started going to more play action pass -- more power to them. They had a good gameplan in the second half and came back we were able to finish. The guys are happy we were able to get this win."

On if he thinks this game was the best of his career:
"I've had a few good games. I don't think I even had that good of a game. I had a half a sack, a field goal block and a fumble recovery -- that's all I did. I didn't have any other tackles. I had three big plays, but I didn't do anything else; I just did my job every other play. This is definitely one of them mainly because we got the win. I'd rather have a terrible stat line and win a game any day."

Sophomore Running Back Justus Pickett

On how his improved conditioning helped him in today's game:
"Going into the offseason that's one of the main things I worked on--putting on weight and getting stronger. Seeing the hole and making sure I was hitting it was the main thing."

On if his on-field vision has improved:
"I think it's just getting comfortable with the offense. Knowing exactly what the offensive line is going to do helps me out knowing pre-snap where I should hit the hole."

On improving on last year's issue of not being able to finish off opponents:
"It was definitely an issue last year and a main concern for this year; making sure that we played all four quarters. As a team the chemistry came together and we knew we had to go out there and make plays. That's what everybody did. When their number was called, we made plays."