Tommy Bowden Tuesday Press Conference

by Dan Scott - Correspondent - Tue Nov 13 11:42:44 GMT-04:00 2007

Quick Notes and Quotes from Tommy Bowden's weekly press conference:

- No overlooking BC for USC (laughs).

- Winning the conference championship is the top priority. The other game (rivalry) has to be secondary.

- Rivalry with BC? In order to be a rivalry there has to be some history, and right now there is no history. Only played two games.

- Last week's practice a different scenario. Florida State last week gave us some light at the end of the tunnel...This Monday's practice wasn't necessarily bad, wasn't necessarily good...Biggest thing is concentration. Emotion was channeled in the right direction last week. I'd think it would be this week, too.

- Front four: Played bits and pieces, but never a full game like vs. Wake Forest. Surely need a duplication of that effort. Players that get to the next level, that's how they play week in and week out.

- Wake win probably shows good focus and concentration during the week. Emotion will be there on Saturday for the most part. But you have to arrive at the right place at the right time...Team prepared well. What coaches told them was absorbed.

- Matt Ryan: Hard for the scout team quarterback to do what he does. One thing is velocity and accuracy of the passes. His height will allow him to be more effective stepping up in the pocket...We'll have Willy Korn play Matt Ryan in practice the next three days...He'll be limited on the throws he makes (because of shoulder), but his presence back there will help us.

- Can't just flush him out of the pocket. You have to finish the rush.

- Looks like statistically Harper has had a very comparable season to Ryan.

- Been several stadiums I've walked in and it's like walking into a thicker air...This one will probably bypass all of them. Both of us communicate at the line. Noise will be a factor at some period of time. From our fans standpoint, if we kickoff to them we need it to be loud so they have trouble communicating. When we have the ball we need to tone it down so we can communicate.

- Harper: He's not a guy to do cartwheels after a TD pass. He has a very consistent, even temperament...It's very sincere. He's not trying to be somebody he's not. It's good for us...Shows he's not trying to be something false to his teammates...Demeanor similar to Whitehurst. Not real verbal. More ability. More consistency...Charlie's demeanor was very similar.

- James Davis' leadership: Some guys respond to vocal encouragement and some don't. James is a little more vocal, so there are certain members of the offense who that helps.