Nov. 6, 2010
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Maryland Head Coach Ralph Friedgen
Opening Statement
"I don't know what to say. It was really disappointing. For our players, it was bad for them because they played their hearts out. They gave it everything they had. We made some mistakes, but that was a pretty talented team we were playing and I thought we fought them tooth and nail. I really felt we deserved to win, just disappointed that we couldn't get it."
On the roughing the passer penalty in the fourth quarter...
"The roughing the passer penalty wasn't a smart play. It was third and ten, and I believe in another similar situation we put a young kid in and he didn't blitz, and we didn't have a contain guy there, and he was able to run, and get out of bounds and get field position. Then there was that play they made at the end, and we had been struggling all day to contain their speed.
"They're very talented and I thought we hung in there pretty good for the most part. There was kind of a real chess game going on between [Mark] Whipple and [Maryland defensive coordinator] Don Brown as far as personnel groups. Whipple was running guys on and running them off, and we were trying to match up with their different types of unbalanced lines and then they would go hurry-up. We kind of screwed up on the one at the end and I had to call timeout because I didn't think the kids knew the call. Then we got the call right and we didn't run the play, and that's what's frustrating. I'm just disappointed for the players, because basically they worked all year for this opportunity and they were right there. I told them after the game that I think there's always things to learn, always things you can grow from; obviously we showed we can play with that team. I think we're a pretty darn good football team, but what we're going to be tested on now is our ability to forget this one and move on to the next one."
On coverage of Miami's wide receivers...
"We had good coverage; we always try to have the receiver bracketed. We also had a good opportunity at the end with the touchdown. We had him double-teamed and he went up and got it. We also had an opportunity at the end with the ball with 37 second left - came right down the field and gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game. Just got to make a play. I'm pretty proud of my players, the way we fought. We're dealing with some issues on the offensive line ourselves. I know they've got quarterback issues, but that kid [Stephen Morris] is a pretty good quarterback too. It's that time of the year and nobody really cares, you've got to find a way to produce, and I think our kids for the most part were doing that. I knew we had some serious mismatches, yet we held up pretty good."
On the philosophy to run the ball with five minutes left and up by two...
"I wanted to run the clock. They were out of timeouts and I felt like if I could get it under three minutes, we'd probably win the football game. I thought we had a shot on the last play. On the last play if they played cover two, we're going to run it and if they post up one on one, we're going to throw it, so we had an option to throw there, but I wanted to burn as much clock as possible. The other thing I didn't want to do is turn it over down there, and with them having no timeouts if we throw an incompletion, I'm helping them. In a perfect would I would have loved two first downs, took a knee and went home."
Offensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach James Franklin
On last drive and losing the game...
"We had a chance to win and that shows what type of kids we have, the fight we have. We missed some plays throughout the game. At the end of the game we had a chance to win against a very talented team on their field. I love our guys, our QB, our offensive line... We are heading in the right direction and will continue to grow. I thought we played fairly well in all three aspects of the game."
On the incompletion on the final play...
"If he [Adrian Cannon] had caught it then it would have been a great play. From where I was standing it was on the other side of the field so I couldn't see much. It is what it is. He went after it and tried to make a play."
On whether it was their intent to take deep shots...
"We were going to have to, they play press coverage. We had to be able to run and take those shots."
Freshman QB Danny O'Brien
On the interception...
"There was a little miscommunication, I left it short and inside. The DB turned around and saw it before our wide receiver turned around. It just wasn't a good throw by me and it cost us three."
If there was enough time on the last drive to score...
"We thought with 100% confidence we were going to score and win. We had a shot and that's all you can ask for on the last drive."
On whether he will feel good when he looks back at this game...
"We didn't feel outmatched at all. We competed for four quarters which is all you can ask for and gave ourselves a chance to win."
Junior RB Davin Meggett
On the loss...
"Not much we can do, on to the next one. What's done is done."
On whether they made second-half adjustments...
"We really just stuck to our game plan. We did what we came out here to do and ran the ball. I don't think we made any significant changes."
On the big runs...
"Sometimes even the big runs aren't even enough. It wasn't enough to put points on the board."
