CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Highlights from Tommy Bowden Press Conference

Highlights from Tommy Bowden Press Conference


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Tommy Bowden Press Conference

- Real | Windows Media

On film from the Georgia game:

"From a protection standpoint, we were pretty good. We only gave up

one sack and that was a coverage sack. Defensively, I thought we

played pretty well up until right there at the end. For 52 minutes

we held there offense to just one touchdown. It looked like we ran

out of gas a little bit defensively after Pollack's intercetpion. We

need to make a play. But what pretty much hurt us the most were the

turnovers (3-0). I thought the effort was good, though."

On incorporating deep passes into the offense:

"There are certain ways you can scheme it into your gameplan. But

again, some teams will just back up and not give you the deep ball.

Their secondary played at a depth where it's tough to get by.

Georgia, for example, rushed five and had three deep in coverage.

You have to pick and choose where they're coming from. It all

depends on the structure of the secondary. But, if I would make one

change offensive, it would be to attempt more deep balls. We had one

called when we had the fumbled center exchange when Tommy Sharpe

threw up while snapping the ball."

On the play of the offensive line:

"I would not say they were the weakest link, not with one sack given

up. The one sack Georgia had was a three-step drop and the guy was

covered. It was a coverage sack. It wasn't the line's fault. I

wouldn't think it would be a weakness to give up one sack against a

pretty good defense."

Overall thoughts on the running game:

"There's no doubt that we have to be productive in the running game.

I think we have the potential to be productive, as the season

progresses. The Georgia game wasn't a good indicator. I thought

Duane Coleman ran hard. He never really got knocked back, was

aggressive, and broke some tackles. I thought Duane ran really well

Saturday.

"Yusef (Kelly) is a competitor. I hope he wants to come out this

week and compete for the job in practice. I think he will."

On the possibility of the Georgia loss staying with the players:
"I think that's a natural reaction for somebody that age. It's a big

game and a lot of disappointment. But I think our kids will respond

well. We talk a lot about that; don't let a loss beat you twice.

It's the first game of the year and there's 11 left. At that age, it

weighs on them. You can't let it linger too long, or it will affect

your performance the next game."

On this week's game against Furman:

"They're coming off a win and will come in here with a lot of

confidence. Three years ago, they went up and beat North Carolina

when they still had Ryan Sims and Julius Peppers on defense. It just

shows you that mentally, if you're not ready, you can get beat.

We'll have to be sharp, because they'll come in focused and very

motivated. We need to be more concerned about correcting some things

we did wrong, as opposed to Furman and our mental approach to this

game."

QB Charlie Whitehurst

- Real | Windows Media

On bouncing back..."I hope Saturday we go out there with something to prove and take the aggression out on someone."

OL William Henry

- Real | Windows Media

On Clemson not knowing how to win the big game..."It's sad but coming off Saturday's loss it may be true. We were in the game till late in the fourth quarter. We have a lot of chances to win the game and we just didn't get it done."

DL DeJuan Polk

- Real | Windows Media

On many big games Clemson has won since he has been here..."None. I think about it all the time but we just have got to get better. We play Furman this week and we just need to concentrate on Furman."

LB John Leake

- Real | Windows Media

On the mood of the team..."Of course we are a little angry. We just got whooped by Georgia. We didn't score and we gave up 30 ponts on defense. It's just one of those things where we need to improve things or things will go downhill. I feel our team has good chemistry."

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