Tommy Bowden Tuesday Press Conference

by Dan Scott - Correspondent - Tue Sep 18 11:28:17 GMT-04:00 2007

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

- First road game: We'll have some guys traveling for the first time that will see it more of a pleasure trip, guys that haven't flown before and been in that kind of hotel environment. So our leaders need to step up. Our demeanor and concentration need to be very good.

- N.C. State has played two quality opponents. If we played them the record might be the same.

- Lloyd Carr: I was shocked. I called him yesterday. I saw one of the comments that said Bowden Rips Carr. Somebody put the article on my desk. I was going to call him anyway. After the Oregon press conference I was impressed with the way he handled himself.

- Mike Archer: His personnel probably a little different at N.C. State. His base is the same, but he's doing some different things on defense. They still have good speed. They challenge you in press man some, not as much as last year. Their down people rush the passer pretty good and their linebackers are very physical.

- Offensive line had a lot better game. We were real pleased. Didn't necessarily show in running game, but effort and intensity were better.

- Ranking: You realize how insignificant it is. I want the team to realize they have accomplished something, but it really is irrelevant at the moment.

- Haven't really talked to Cullen about his first road start. Rob probably will. Shouldn't be a big deal. We'll probably pipe in crowd noise on Thursday, but other than that our preparation won't be that much different.

- Special teams: Pretty much satisfied. Haven't gotten a lot of kickoffs. Furman punted away from those guys. Kickoff coverage and Buchholz, real pleased.

- Can't recall anyone ever cheating on game day, such as video-taping. We do have dummy signals on offense. Just in case.

- I highlight the fact that we need to make improvement week to week. We don't talk so much about rankings.

- Have made improvement in certain things. Cullen's made good improvement. Done pretty good throwing the ball downfield. Special teams is doing pretty good.

- We need productivity in the running game this week, regardless of what they do.