Quotes from Tuesday's Press Conference
10/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Head Coach Randy Edsall
Opening Statement:
"Well, I know it won't be as warm in State College on Saturday as it is here today in College Park, that's for sure. The weather today is not helping us get ready for the 40 degree weather and 30 mile per hour winds. We'll be ready. We have a tremendous challenge this week, again, as we do every week. Going to State College hasn't been a place that has been very friendly to the University of Maryland over the years. We're playing an outstanding football team and playing against a quarterback who is very good, very talented, big, strong, can make all the throws, and a great leader. We will be playing against a top defense in the Big Ten, who's very active, and does a good job. We are working to get better this week and get ready to go up there and play. We're really looking forward to it."
On what playing Penn State means to himself, the fans, and the team:
"Penn State is a fine institution. They have a tremendous history with their football program over the years. I think it's great to be able to be in the same conference with them, in a bordering state. It's something that as we continue to play Penn State, we can turn it into a rivalry and again we are looking forward to going up there to play in front of that hostile environment of 100,000 people."
On moving on from the loss to Wisconsin:
"As I said on Sunday, we graded the film as coaches, and we didn't watch any of the film. We moved on. When things like that happen, in my experience, it's always better to put it behind you and move on, which we did."
On Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg:
"I know this, from a throwing standpoint and a leadership standpoint and all those things, I think he'll be the best at both. We'll see. I know his dad. I looked at his dad when he was in high school in Marian Catholic, so he comes from a really good family first and foremost. He's big, he's strong, and he can make every throw that you want a quarterback to make. He's mobile and able to move around, so when an opportunity does present itself, he can hold the ball down and run. He's a big, strong kid, so you have to tackle. He's very impressive when you watch him. He does a really good job, and his statistics bear that out. Again, it's a tremendous challenge."
On Penn State's defense:
"They have good players. I think when you take a look at their defense, it starts with Mike Hull. That guy is all over the place. He is a tremendous football player. He makes a ton of tackles and is a leader for them. They are really solid. Their two inside tackles are good, and then Adrian [Amos] back there in the secondary. Again, they are very strong up the middle and have very good athletes at the other positions. They will pressure you, but again, they do a good job. They have good players, and [Mike] Hull makes them go on defense. Adrian [Amos] is a good kid when I was at Connecticut and really thought he was an outstanding player. It's proved out that he is an outstanding player. You can see he's worked very, very hard and he's playing at a very high level."
On how to turn Penn State into a rivalry:
"I think I've been on record, you have to win games and that's one thing that we haven't done here at the University of Maryland. Most of our guys weren't even born yet the last time [we played]. Again, it's just one of those things that we will get the chance to play them now on a yearly basis, and what we have to do, is continue to get better. If you are ever going to make a series a rival, there has to be wins on our side to be able to make that happen."
On establishing the run game:
"What we just have to do, is do our job. All our guys just have to go out there and do their job and all of a sudden if things don't go right, you can't press and try to come out of your element, you have to continue to grind and work through it. If you do that then you are going to come out of it. That's the way to come out of things if you are not doing things right. You just have to go back to the drawing board and keep working at it and keep practicing to get better. Those are the things that we've done and will continue to do."
On bouncing back from the Wisconsin game:
"You put it behind you as quick as you can and then you make sure when you go back out to practice the next week, you focus in on things that you have to do in order to be successful and going out practicing and executing the game plan and understanding the situation. The next week is a new week and that's a good thing. It's behind you and you move forward. It's just a mindset and a want to, and a will from the players out there who want to get it done."
On the regional impact of a Maryland-Penn State rivalry:
"Penn State has always recruited down here and Penn State has pretty much always gotten who they wanted to get down here. It goes back to beating them on the field to change those things, those are the things that you have to do. We're in an area where it's a bordering state and you have the population that we have here there is going to be a lot of people and most especially your next door neighbors that are going to come in here and recruit. You see it from Virginia, West Virginia, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Penn State; all those things. They are going to be down here. It's just one of those things and what you have to do is go out and play to the best of your ability and win. That way you can probably keep more of those guys here at home."
On the impact of kicker Brad Craddock:
"Brad is one of those special guys, one of those unique guys. From the standpoint of coming over here, really as a punter, but because of our need in the placekicking, we had him do that without him complaining or anything along those lines. It was kind of on the job training his first year and then he's just gotten so much better. He's worked extremely hard, he's very prideful and professional in terms of how he goes about getting better at his craft. He has tremendous, tremendous work ethic; tremendous drive and competitiveness. I don't know if I've ever been around a placekicker with that kind of mental makeup that he has. To me, he's an inspiration. If you take a look to see where he came from and where he was, it's a great lesson to everyone that if you just work hard and take advantage of the resources and opportunity that you have available here you can make yourself a really good player, a really good student, and a really good person. He's done that. The other thing that's unique is that sometimes people don't think kickers can be the leaders of your football team. To me, he's one of the leaders of our football team. If you talk about the respect that he's earned from the rest of our players, I've never been around anything like that in all my years of coaching from a leadership standpoint. When you get in a room, he's like E.F. Hutton; when Brad speaks people listen. That's a tremendous credit to him and his upbringing. He's a pleasure to be around. You'd love to have 105 guys that have the same competitive drive, the same work ethic that he has. The good thing about him is he's not afraid to speak up and let people know that they need to work harder and do more things to get better. I'm glad he's here and I'm so happy for his success and hopefully he'll continue to have that success. He's earned it through his hard work, dedication, and his ability to be coachable."
On the Ohio State vs. Penn State game:
"I think you saw a defense that played very, very hard and they were opportunistic. They got a pick-six that changed the momentum and I think 106,000 people really helped them out. Then they got another pick that led to another touchdown so that's 14 points off of turnovers. It looked to me that there was a defense out there that was executing at a very high level and a defense that was playing with tremendous emotion and feeding off of their crowd."
On if Penn State played into his childhood sports fandom:
"I was always a Maryland fan. Where I grew up, I was closer to Maryland. So I was always a Maryland fan, I wasn't a Penn State fan. I never as a kid went to a game at Beaver Stadium."
On what the team can improve on:
"It just comes back to executing. Guys making sure they're one step closer here, one inch closer there. Basically, it just comes back to executing your schemes and everyone going out there and playing with a lot of confidence. Just playing with confidence and playing as hard as you can. Those are the things you have to do and I'm sure we'll be fine this week. That's the thing, guys are working hard. You don't have to tell them, we all know what we have to do. We're out there practicing, and with this bunch I know they'll bounce back."
-Maryland-
