Tommy Bowden Tuesday Press Conference

by Dan Scott - Correspondent - Tue Oct 02 11:49:21 GMT-04:00 2007

Quick notes and quotes from Tommy Bowden's weekly press conference:

- Buchholz: Going to adjust the schedule a little bit. Usually we kick early in practice and then let him go. Now I'm going to keep him around and use him more like you would in a game. Kick him early, kick him in the middle of practice and then kick him later in practice. Try to create that environment during practice the best I can.

- Special teams: Don't think it's a consistent problem whole tenure here. Kickoff return has been improved. I think everyone here would agree with that. It was an emphasis, we worked on it. It has been improved. No field goal or extra point block after the third game last year. None this year. No punts blocked last year. For six straight years we had no punts or field goals blocked.

- I wish you could play error-free football on offense, defense and special teams. But no team in America will do that.

- Every head coach worries, too. Snap, punt, protection...there are so many components. You get real nervous as a head coach. I think most do, especially in that situation.

- Dropped passes vs. Georgia Tech was the most we've dropped in my nine years here.

- Rebounding from loss: Used Maryland losing to Wake Forest then bouncing back and beating Rutgers as an example. Used Georgia Tech last year as an example. Used Wake Forest last year as an example. I'm hoping this team responds after its first loss like last year's team responded after it's first loss. I think we ran off 5-6 wins in a row.

- Va. Tech quarterback: You have to be careful. If your linebackers drop back and he gets a crease he can cause you problems running. Vic will have a plan.

- Va. Tech defense: Expect them to do same thing as last year.

- Talent matchup: We're closing the gap. A lot closer than we were when we went up there a few years ago. Just a tad behind them now in overall depth, but we're catching them.

- Offensive line: Did not play as well as they did at N.C. State. If there are to be any changes, we'll address them later in the week. Some mental mistakes. Had some missed assignments. Two who are most consistent are Capote and McDuffie.