Bowden and Grobe Weekly Press Conference Quotes |
Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden Quotes
Q: Your approach after losing the conference game to Maryland. A: “You treat all the conference games the same. The circumstances change. Like I said, it creates a situation where the need to win is magnified. But, you treat them all the same. As the season progresses, the significance of a loss is magnified depending on how many you have.” Q: What was the intensity level at practice over the weekend? A: “It was good. Some schools practice on Sundays (and take Monday off), but we normally don’t unless we have to. There’s not a whole lot of excitement about practice on Sunday afternoon, but they came out and worked hard. We were pleased about it. They worked Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon.” Q: On preparing for Wake Forest’s offense A: “They ran a lot of option-type plays when Coach Grobe first came to Wake Forest. They still do, but not as much as they used to. It’s a different preparation. They put a lot of burden on their quarterback (Riley Skinner), who is an excellent player. He’s been a proven player for a long time. Their skill guys are good.” Q: Do you have a different approach since the Maryland game? A: “Anytime you play a game, you look to see what you did wrong and put a point of emphasis on that. That’s the biggest way that we’ve changed. Other than that, I don’t think we changed.” Q: Do you see this game as a crossroads for your team? A: “Every game is important. There is importance in this one. We play a 12-game schedule, not a six-game schedule. There will be a seventh, eighth, and ninth game, too. The most important game right now is the sixth one. Then it will be the seventh and so on. Regardless of what happens Thursday night, they aren’t going to call the rest of the season off. That’s the best way to look at it.” Q: On playing on Thursday night. A: “The players like it. They are the only game on and they like televised games. I think the players are really excited about it. Both teams will be excited.” Q: Does a bye week make a difference when playing on a Thursday night? A: “If both teams have a short week, it’s an equal problem. A couple of years ago, we played on a short week and the team that traveled was 0-5. I don’t know if that says anything other than the fact that it’s just one year’s statistical analysis on a Thursday night game on a short week. Anytime the opposing team has the same time to work, then there is no advantage or disadvantage.” Q: On both teams coming off of a loss. A: “They are going to be focused and we are going to be focused. The team that goes out there and executes the best is going to win. Whoever practices the best today and tomorrow and from an execution standpoint and repetition standpoint will win the game. It won’t be who is the maddest or who lost last. It simply comes down to a matter of execution.” Q: On Wake Forest’s players. A: “They do a great job at evaluating talent. Plus, he has a comfort zone where he redshirts just about everyone. That year makes a big difference. Some guys may be under the radar, but when you can give them that extra year, it makes a difference.” Q: On the atmosphere at Wake Forest. A: “It will be pretty electric. The Thursday night game will help it, too. Jim Grobe has changed that environment. They are winning games in the conference and doing things to get your attention.” Q: Are you pleased with how some of the upperclassmen are taking on the leadership role this week? A: “They’ve done pretty well. A lot of these guys were around last year. It’s important because you go out there and have a plan. The execution falls on the players. How you practice during the week is important to how you execute on game day. They had to practice this weekend and have to keep the energy up in preparation for Wake Forest. Our seniors have been jumping up at practice and showing their emotions.” Q: On running back James Davis. A: “As he has gotten older and more mature, he has practiced better. He surely came out last Saturday with a lot of energy and emotion. He has had a good performance in practice. His performance was a good indication on how he has been at practice. If you get your offensive line to stay healthy and be cohesive, then a running back increases his comfort zone.” Wake Forest Head Coach Jim Grobe Quotes *On how you coach the players when there is anger or resentment from a previous game…* “You know we’d like to be excited about playing the game, I think when you go through a twelve game schedule it’s hard to be as high every week as you’d like to be. But there’s a danger to being too high, you can be so excited that you don’t play well and you make too many mistakes. We’d like for our guys to be enthusiastic, but we’d like it to be a fourth quarter thing, not just a start of the game thing.” *On where you would like to see improvements, aside from not turning the ball over…* “I think we’ve talked about it forever now, but I think that we would like to be able to run the football better. I don’t know that there is any one area that needs the most improvement. Certainly we’ve put too much pressure on Riley Skinner and we need to balance out our offense a little bit.” *On the receivers in the Navy game…* “Well I think the problem was we worked a vertical game too much. We just spent too much time trying to work the ball down the middle of the field. I think Riley would tell you he pressed a little bit too much to make big plays rather than taking what they give us. We just need to be patient, we got behind early and I think we have the tendency to push the panic button. We just have to learn from that and in the future take what’s there.” *On the Clemson game, putting too much on it…* “We’re a third of the way through the season, and we’ve got eight games left, so we better put a lot into every game. So we’ll play our best Thursday night and also understand that there’s a lot of football left to be played.” *On Magnitude of winning the Clemson game…* “I think you have to be real careful about saying if, if we do this, if we do that. The bottom line is we’ve got a really good football team coming to town and we need to play great to have a chance to win. We’ve got to stay focused on that and know there’s a lot of season left.” * On the focus of the team…* “Well I want our guys to be pumped up, but I want it to last four quarters. We need to play at a high level with a lot of intensity for four quarters just to have a chance to win against this great football team Clemson.”
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