Clemson Head Coach, Tommy Bowden –
“You can tell our spirits are a little bit higher in the offices and out on the practice field after a win. At any level a couple of losses can hurt you mentally and last week helped us get some confidence back."
"This is going to be a challenge for us in that Maryland is very good defensively. When you watch them throughout the course of the season on defense they have never really had an off game. Coach Blackney has done a great job since he has been there and they have been very consistent on defense.
"I have had my own share of struggles offensively as do all coaches. Coach Friedgen has had so much success, not only in his time at Maryland, but ever since he has been a coach and I think maybe the media has made it more of an issue than it is. His track record shows that he will find an answer for it pretty soon.
"I hope we play with a sense of urgency every game. The players know that we haven't beaten Maryland in a three years. We are going to focus on the fact we played better last week and try and go from there.
"As I mentioned to the team our success last year came from the tempo set by the defense. Hopefully we can build on the momentum created by the defense last Saturday and that would be the key to our success the rest of the season and the seasons to come. We have to find some consistency on defense and hopefully it will carry over from the game this past Saturday.
"If we get into a defensive, low scoring game then I know that we have a chance to win. It gives
you a little more flexibility offensively to make a mistake here and here. If it is a defensive game this week it would prove that our defense has shown up two weeks in a row.
"I've got to put Charlie in a better situation to be successful. I'd like to have a string of about five or six games where we can go without having an interception. I'll have to coach a little harder and find ways to help him be successful. I watched the Florida State-Virginia game and Florida State hit a bunch of passes where the receivers were wide open, and I've got to find ways to put Charlie in those situations.
"Our special teams really have performed the best since I have been at Clemson. I think a lot of it is our personnel as well as our coaching. If you look at Justin's kickoff returns at Florida State he never got touched and that is good coaching by Burton Burns on the kickoff return team. David Blackwell does a good job with punt block (three blocked punts, most by a Clemson team since 1997) and Jack Hines has always done a good job with punt protection. We have preformed well in special teams."
Tommy Bowden
- Real | Windows Media
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