Oct. 3, 2009
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Postgame quotes following Maryland's 24-21 win over Clemson.
Maryland Head Coach Ralph Friedgen
On the game:
"I thought our kids played with tremendous heart today. I was praying we'd find a way to win this because of how hard they have worked. They needed to experience some success, and this was a good football team we played."
On offense:
"In the first half, our offensive line played very well. They protected well and we ran the ball well. They had some pressure on us in the second half and we lost Bruce (Campbell), but I don't know how long he is going to be gone. Da'Rel (Scott) broke his wrist so we probably lost him for the season. We have a couple other bumps and bruises, but I don't think it's anything serious."
On defense:
"Our defense played well the whole game, especially at the end of the game when their backs were against the wall. The fourth down probably wasn't a smart call by me. I went over to Don Brown and he says `time to make a statement.' I think he was aware we didn't have Campbell. James (Franklin) wanted to go for it, the kids wanted to go for it and I knew the defense was tired so I went for it. I let my emotions get involved and not my brain."
On Tony Logan:
"He's a guy that can make some plays. I worry about him when he carries and catches the ball, but he made plays today and gave us a spark."
On the fourth-down call:
"That's why I ran the clock down; I wanted to think about it and took the timeout. That's why I wanted to talk to Don; he felt the defense was tired. The thing that was really tough for me was I knew they were in field-goal range. So I knew even if we held them, they were going to get a shot at tying the game and going into overtime."
On fumbles:
"We've been emphasizing it in practice. We run 15 up-downs for the entire offense per turnover in practice. Tuesday we had four turnovers so we did 60 up-downs. I told them either we start winning or we're going to be the best conditioned football team in America. From the technique standpoint, we work it 10 minutes every practice and have the scout teams try to strip the ball. I am trying to make a conscious effort to make everyone aware to take care of the football."
Maryland Offensive Coordinator James Franklin
On the offensive surge:
"First of all, that defense held Boston College to 54 yards total offense. We were just going to try and be as patient as we could, run the ball down hill, get the ball out quick, try to help our line from a protection standpoint and try to play physical. The last two years, we've been able to score points and make plays when we needed to against them. I'm really proud of what we did. I think the coaches did a hell of a job of getting us in a situation to have a chance to be successful and our kids played hard. Although the scoring hasn't always reflected as such, we've improved every single week. And although there are still sometimes when we hurt ourselves, it was dramatically different than the last couple games."
On Turner's game management:
"I thought it was better. He was getting the ball out quick. Our guys were making some plays for him; even the end of the game, trying to milk the clock as much as he could. Early in the game I thought he missed some throws he could have made, but other than that I thought he was pretty sharp."
On Turner running the ball more this game:
"Obviously you go back and study the last opponents. You look at TCU. TCU had as much success against them as anybody running the quarterback ... You're going to steal little ideas here and there. We're going to run Chris a little bit to keep people honest, but that's not his bread and butter, obviously. But, I do think the few things we did helped us today."
Maryland Defensive Coordinator Don Brown:
On the defense in the fourth quarter"
"In the fourth quarter, it was all about finishing. We put ourselves in bad field position. I was going to be the shortest-lived defensive coordinator in Maryland today because I was pushing coach to go for it when it was fourth down and I was just glad my guys held my back and we were able to stand up and come up with a huge stop there ... I'm really proud of the young men and their resolve. They hadn't given up on each other. They hadn't given up on me. They hadn't given up on the defensive coaches. The proof's in the pudding. Today we played 60 minutes."
Maryland Players
Senior Quarterback Chris Turner
On what the team needs to improve on for the next game:
"It is the turnovers that get us every game; that is what we need to improve on. With three minutes left in the game we have penalties and turnovers. Those are the things we need to keep from happening, but overall we need a better job with the mistakes."
On the importance of winning the first ACC game:
"This game was huge for us. We really tried to approach this game as the first game of the season. We are 1-0 in the ACC and that feels pretty good. We need to capitalize on the momentum and get a win on the road next week."
Freshmen Linebacker Demetrius Hartsfield:
On the play of the defense today:
"This is by far the best four quarters we have played. I don't think they had over a hundred yards rushing, and as a defense we just played our assignments and made plays."
On the final Clemson play of the game:
"Coach Brown called a blitz and I was going against the tackle one-on-one and I made a move inside, and then came back outside and I was free."
Senior Offensive Lineman Phil Costa:
On the difference in play in the second quarter:
"The first half was the best half of football from an offensive-line perspective. The biggest change was the communication we had on the line and we played very consistently. I don't think we had one substitution in the first half."
Sophomore Wide Receiver Torrey Smith:
On gaining confidence from today's win:
"Anytime you win it's definitely a positive and we just have to keep on building on it and get ready for Wake Forest."
On needing this win:
"I mean we needed it because guys were starting to get down, but it's a whole lot easier, I don't like saying this, but it's a whole lot easier to lose when you know you're beating yourself. And you can always improve. That's basically what we were trying to do today; just fix our mistakes and go out there and get this win. We did a good job. We've still got a lot of things to work on as far as turnovers and stuff, but overall we did a good job."
On preparing for this game:
"Probably the biggest change in practice was Coach Friedgen just emphasizing turnovers and mistakes. We didn't get off the field until we did a perfect play. Each play had to be executed correctly and if we turned the ball over it was 15 up-downs, so we didn't want to be doing too many of them after practice."
Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney
On Clemson's 2-3 record:
"I'm very surprised, but that's where we are. We have two weeks to get ready for [Wake Forest]. We'll play the way Clemson should; we'll play the way our fans deserve us to play. We'll see if we can win; you either quit or keep working."
On energy:
"In the first half, I didn't think our defense played with great energy at all. I think we missed tackles, they out beat us for a jump ball. But I thought we matched their energy in the second half. I thought we came back, especially defensively; we really played with a lot of fight. You have to give Maryland credit."
On missed opportunities:
"There were some sacks and drops; special teams mistakes. [The offense] had the three opportunities at the thirty yard line. It's very disappointing."
On coaching:
"There are a lot of things that we can do just a little bit better. We can be fine; it's not like we haven't been in a position to win games. As a coach, you don't panic. You can't throw away everything good that you did; we just have to get better."
Clemson Players
Senior Tight End Michael Palmer
On the loss:
"We've got to grow up a little bit. We've just got to get a little bit tougher mentally and make some better decisions. We've just got to grow up."
On the coaches:
"They put us in a position to win. They called the right plays, we've got to execute. We can't be jumping offsides. We can't be getting stupid penalties. We've got to execute and that's on us."
Freshman Quarterback Kyle Parker
On Coach Swinney:
"I think that's what a head coach does - stands up for his players and takes responsibility, but at the same time, I think we can play better. "
On their `many' mistakes and penalties:
"I wouldn't really say a lot of things. To tell you the truth I thought we were in a good position, but we let them come back into it and that's the biggest reason."
"It's hard to say. I think their offense really controlled the ball. We had a lot of stupid penalties that we could control. It just makes you feel real sick knowing that we could have played a little differently and the outcome would have been different."
On Maryland's defense:
"They were doing the same thing the whole game, a lot of the things we've seen on film. It's kind of tough ... We really hurt ourselves on some drives and things like that kind of came back and nipped us in the butt."
On the final drive:
"I felt good about the drive going into it. I knew that we were going to have to go down there and score again, but we made back-to-back plays or whatever. We're going [well], but unfortunately it just didn't turn out the way we wanted to. "
Junior Punter/Kicker Richard Jackson
On the fourth quarter field goal attempt:
"Yeah, they called time out. It comes with the game. They can give their coaches credit, I couldn't make it twice."
On bouncing back from this performance:
"I've had some tough situations before. Hopefully I don't lose too much faith. I'll work hard and I'll come back."
Senior Running Back C.J. Spiller
On the loss:
"I mean, they won. They just outperformed us today."
"Everybody is stunned. We're stunned, Clemson fans are stunned. It is what it is and we can't control it. We've just got to get everybody healthy this off week and get back to work."
On his guidance as a senior:
"I just make sure there isn't any finger pointing [and] understand that every game we've lost, we've had the chance to win. I think right now we are just a team that needs to find a way to win. We say every time we go out we've got a great match-up and we've got great athletes, but we just have to find a way to win and that's the thing that we've got to do."
On "blaming the coach":
"It isn't on Coach Swinney. Coach Swinney isn't even out there playing. It's on us, plain and simple. Being the coach, of course everyone is going to take shots at him, [but] I don't remember Coach Swinney playing one down today."
On moving forward and defenses performance:
"The only thing we can do is to keep trying; just keep going. We would love to come out with a win, but unfortunately we didn't, so we've got to find a way. The defense played well. They gave us multiple opportunities to win the game. We just let those guys down. We've got to pick it up on offense because our defense, they're playing phenomenally and we're not responding when they are giving us opportunities to go take the game over."
On his touchdown return:
"[I was] running without a shoe. Since they [were] up, I guess they got real brave to kick it deep and my guys did a good job on holding them up. I just kept my feet moving like coach always tells me, to just keep my feet moving. To their surprise I just got loose and I didn't know where anyone was at, so even without my shoe, I just kept running. I saw my teammate Jacoby come make that key block."
