Selected Comments from ACC Coaches |
CLEMSON - Tommy Bowden
The confidence of the team after a close loss: "This team has not shown any signs of wavering since I have been here, and I seriously doubt that they will over what happened Saturday. I don't think the players will let it happen and I know the staff won't. I feel like the way we lost on Saturday night was totally opposite to the way Clemson lost games last year. Instead of letting the other team score in the final seconds, we were the ones that took the ball down the field at the end and had an opportunity to win the game." His biggest concerns offensively after the Marshall game: "We are a little softer on offense than I had anticipated. We are not real big, therefore we need to be more aggressive and hard-nosed. That is something that we can correct in practice. It does not have alot to do with size, but with effort and intensity." The conditioning of the team and particularly that of the defense on Marshall's last scoring drive: "I don't think that we ran out of gas on either side of the ball. Chad Pennington on that last drive just did a good job. I think there were a couple of guys that had missed assignments, but it wasn't fatigue. We were chasing him out of the pocket and putting pressure on him, but he was making pin point passes on the run. When we look at the films, I do not think conditioning was a factor." The play of Clemson's young offensive line "The guys that were playing for the first time were a little tentative. Being tentative did not allow them to be as aggressive as they can and as they want to be. Their abiltiy to make calls and see fronts during games will improve as their comfort level with the offense is elevated." Concerns about facing Virginia's power running game: "Clemson has traditionally played well against these types of teams. We'll take our offense and put it in the I-Formation for our defense to practice against. Obviously it is not going to be the same thing, but we will do the best we can to service our defense. Thomas Jones is a pretty good sized tailback. In fact, he is bigger than two of our starting linebackers. He is a good tailback." The status of Clemson's kicking game: "We will have a kicking competition all week between the kickers and then pick a starter based on who ever wins the statistical battle during the week. We will have some pressure situations for them to practice under, but it is impossible to know the exact mind frame of your players." The return this week of last years starting tailback Travis Zachary: "His attitude has been good in practice and we'll see how he does the rest of the week in practice. If we feel like he is making his assignments in practice then he will probably play a good bit. He's got some skills, but how much action he sees in the game will depend on how productive he is on the field." DUKE - CARL FRANKS General Comments on East Carolina "I was very impressed with East Carolina. In (quarterback) David Gerrard, I tell you what, they've got a strong young man. He's a good runner and he threw the ball pretty well. He was very impressive. They should have won the (West Virginia) game by more points then they did. They were a very impressive football team. Defensively, their two linebackers, (Pernell) Griffin and (Jeff) Kerr, along with the rest of their defense busted up somethings to confuse (Matt) Bulger for West Virginia." On the Excitement Level in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium "I'm sure Gerrard and his center (Sherwin) Lacewell, two guys from Durham, are going to be excited to play Duke. I know it'll be an excitable crowd. Watching them on TV, those East Carolina fans were having a big time and I'm sure they will be fired up when the Blue Devils roll into Greenville. We're going to have to be ready for a hostile crowd." On Renewing Ties With ECU Recruiting Coordinator Cliff Yoshida "I'm looking forward to seeing coach (Cliff) Yoshida, who is their recruiting coordinator and he recruited me to come here to school at Duke. So, I'm looking forward to the chance to see him." On ECU Gaining Respect In North Carolina "I never really got the feeling growing up that East Carolina played second fiddle to anyone. They were pretty good. I think its good thing that we're going down there. They're a state school. They need to be recognized as such. We're going down there and N.C. State is going down there. It ought to be a great game for the sports fans from the Eastern part of the state." On Coaching His First Collegiate Game As A Head Coach "Before you ever play a game, you're worried about every situation that could come up. We tried to cover all of the strange things that could come up in a ballgame. Taking a safety. Kicking off after a safety. You worry about your football team looking like a well-coached team and knowing what to do in all kinds of situations. You worry about all the details." On The Advantage or Disadvantage of Not Playing Last Week "You can look at it in one instance that you get a chance to watch them on TV. You can get a little bit of an idea of what they're doing and they're still not clear on what we're going to do. They did a get a chance to go out and get the first-game kinks out of the way and iron out some of the things that coach Logan was concerned with in getting his team ready for its first game. At least, they will go out there with a game under their belts and I'm still going to worry about those things." GEORGIA TECH - George O'Leary On this week's game: "We're looking forward to getting down to Florida State in Tallahassee and playing the No. 1 team in the country. Obviously they're the top team in our conference and in the country right now. I think the ranking they have is richly deserved. In watching tape on them, I don't see a lot of flaws on offense, defense or the kicking game. We'll have our work cut out for us down there. Obviously you go into every game wanting to win, and that's what our goal is going down there. I think it's a very difficult place to play. We have to create some problems (for them) offensively, we've got to create some problems defensively and we've got to be error free in the kicking game. We have a task at hand, but the thing I'm trying to get done with our players is that the intensity they're showing this week, should be the same intensity they show every week. That's the major hurdle I'm trying to get over is to make sure every week that the same intensity and same focus is on each and every team you face." On using all four kickers in the season opener "We played all four of them in the Navy game. I wanted to just get them all into the play and see how that worked out. Right now I'll go into the game with (Philip) Newman kicking off. In looking at the punting game, I think Dan Dyke deserves that start. I think Newman has the better leg, and Dyke is more consistent. As far as field goals and PATs, right now I think Luke Manget kicks a better long field goal and Kai Cornwell is better on the shorter ones. I'm going to look at that as the week progresses, but I think both went in and kicked well with good timing on the kicks and good height. I think we have a luxury with two guys who can do it. Kai has kicked field goals in a game before, Manget hasn't, and that's something that well look at. I would say that we will continue to use both of them and just see how the game goes." On the impact of freshman defensive end Greg Gathers: "I think it was a different type of game for a freshman. There wasn't a big passing game involved there. It was more of running game, responsibility wise. I think he played well. He needs to play better, but I think he played well because three-quarters of his responsibility was just run. He wasn't involved much in the pass game because they didn't throw a lot. I'm anxious to see him more this week. He'll have his turn on the field, and that will be more of a measuring stick on where he is. I do think that for a freshman in his first game he played well. He's still learning what to get done. With Josephson coming back, we can keep him fresher on the field along with Josephson." On freshmen being able to contribute right away: "We went out and recruited people that could come in and help us at specific positions. Offensively, I think Will Glover is eventually going to be the Charlie Rogers type player for us. He played Saturday, we didn't get him the ball, but I think he has a bright future ahead of himself. As far as the freshmen that are playing, when Josephson went down, that opened the door for Gathers to show what he was about. He took full advantage. When I saw Recardo Wimbush last year, I thought he was the best linebacker in the Georgia-Florida All-Star Game from a speed and knowledge standpoint, so that didn't surprise me. At cornerback with Selwyn Scott playing out there, I think Troy Tolbert's suspension had a lot to do with that. I thought Troy had a good spring, and his suspension just elevated Selwyn Scott. I do think they're good football players, but injuries and suspensions caused them to elevate their talent level as far as getting a chance to see them a little sooner." On Peter Warrick: "Peter Warrick is probably the most talented all-purpose wide receiver/running back that I've seen. I say running back because I don't know that there is a running back as dangerous as him with the ball in his hand. He just does amazing things on the field, and he's probably and NFL player that's still playing in college. He's very talented and does a lot of things extremely well. He reminds me of Ronnie Harmon with what he does with making people miss and displaying great athleticism in going for the ball in the passing game." On the atmosphere in Tallahassee: "The noise is a factor down there, and we've got to be able to handle that. We've got to understand that the game is played on the field and not in the stands with the noise. There's no easy way. Experience is the only way you handle that." "To contain Florida State and Peter Warrick, the one thing you can't do is give up the big play whether it's running or in the air. We've got to tackle well. We haven't tackled well against them and credit them. I think they had something to do with us not tackling well. We've got to create some turnovers. They do a lot of things offensively, they have a stout offensive line, a very talented group of receivers and a quarterback who can get the ball downfield and knows where he's throwing it. He reads coverage well. Our offense has a chore against a great, great defense. We've played well at times against them defensively, but we haven't put a game together yet against them defensively. That's what my task is with our defensive coaches and players is to play a full 60 minutes. We haven't done that yet against them. We've played sporadically within that 60 minutes." On playing several true freshmen: "I think the freshmen who do play don't act like freshmen. They're a little bit more mature, and they separate themselves through speed, strength or athleticism. That's what the ones who have played have done. They've separated themselves from the rest of the freshmen. I think it's good that we can play that many freshmen. I think the biggest thing is those young kids weren't intimidated, didn't act like true freshmen, were very focused on what was going on and were quick learners. Those are the things I see that separate freshmen who play." On the Florida State defense: "They're not a big blitz team. They basically send four or five and I don't see that changing. I see them playing what they have played. You don't fix what's not broken. We haven't gotten a lot done against them offensively. We've had sporadic moments, but we haven't put a full game together against them. Credit them for making adjustments and doing things to take us out of some things." MARYLAND - Ron Vanderlinden On the Terps's defensive effort against Temple: "Our defensive performance was simply outstanding. Everyone was solid. We had 13 hits on the quarterbacks. Aaron Thompson was all over the place and I was really encouraged by the play of our other linebackers, Marlon Moore and Kevin Bishop." On the Terps offensive effort against Temple: "We played it a little close to the vest with Calvin McCall at quarterback. I felt overall Calvin played well. He executed our check package relatively well. He ran the ball decently and had some big hits. He threw the ball fairly well. We had five balls that really should have been caught." On how the offense can improve: "My biggest concern on offense right now is our offensive line. I felt our performance (against Temple) was very inconsistent. Although we rushed for 200 yards, we had a difficult time sustaining drives. We have got to play harder for our offense to improve. I am disappointed that we did not play better up front." On the current quarterback situation: "Trey Evans and Latrez Harrison will split the second team snaps. They will be competing for that spot (behind starter Calvin McCall). Certainly Trey has the benefit of experience but I expect Latrez to really pick it up quickly.* Updating the injury situation: "Mukala Sikyala is nursing an ankle injury. If he can*t go full speed tomorrow, he will not play in the game on Saturday. LaMont (Jordan) had a thigh contusion and was slowed yesterday. He should be close to full strength and I expect that he*ll be at full strength if not close to full strength on Saturday.* On facing Western Carolina this weekend: "They are a good team. They finished up on a high note last season by beating Appalachian State. They were 10th in the nation in total defense last season. On offense, Shawn Snyder, their quarterback is a good player and was a national recruit. I think we are going to have to make drastic improvements on offense for us to have a good performance on Saturday." NORTH CAROLINA - Carl Torbush "Virginia. I felt like they have a good, solid football team. I thought it was two evenly matched football teams. We felt like it would probably come down to the fourth quarter if we played well, and it did. The most disappointing thing about the loss was how we lost. We had some opportunities to make some plays, and we have some things we'd like to do better. But on defense I was impressed with the way our secondary competed. I thought Billy-Dee Greenwood and Quinton Savage had outstanding games, and they'll need to continue to play that way the rest of the year for us to be successful. "I thought our linebackers were very solid. Merceda Perry was very active. (Brandon) Spoon made some plays. He had a tight groin, but I still thought he played well and made some big, key third-down stops when he had to. Up front, I felt like our three tackles did a good job inside. Coach Browning did a good job of mixing those guys up and trying to keep fresh guys in the game. And our defensive ends made some strides. Ross McAllister continued to play well, and you can look for him to play more. "Overall defensively, we weren't perfect. To win the ball game, we still felt like we needed to stop (Thomas) Jones, but we didn't. I think we slowed him down, but we did not, by any means, stop him. He's a very fine football player and I have no doubt he'll be a first round (NFL) draft choice. "For us to be a good football team, we have to show more consistency on offense and I feel like we'll get a lot better this week. It was not just one guy here or one guy there, but there were lots of situations we can improve in. If we can play well this week, I think we have a great opportunity to improve as a football team. "Nobody should take Indiana for granted. They are a very solid football team. If you look at what they did against Ohio State and Michigan and some of the better football teams in the Big Ten last year you will see that they were very competitive. Their quarterback is an outstanding player with great running skills, and he throws the ball well. He reminds me of a smaller, younger Donovan McNabb. He's that type of athlete, very quick, very elusive, very exciting and he can throw the ball deep. "They are a very experienced football team, and defensively they are a much faster team than they brought down here two years ago. They've substituted a lot of bulk for speed, and on speed-wise on defense you're seeing a team that's a lot more like an ACC team than your typical bigger, stronger, more physical Big Ten teams. We'll have our hands full this week, and this is without a doubt the most important game of the season at this point. We need to come out of these first five games with some success and it needs to start this week." NC STATE - Mike O'Cain "Saturday's offence performance you have to sort of throw out the window. For us to be a good offensive team, we have to spread you out, we have to throw the football, and we have to run the ball all different kinds of ways. Saturday night, our passing game was taken away, and when we took the three point lead I became conservative. I said our defense is going to win the game for us. I said we weren't going to drop back there and throw an interception or do something stupid. We were going to make them drive the ball 80 yards, and obviously they couldn't." "We can't be solely dependent on our defense like that. Had it been a dry field, I wouldn't have been so conservative. That game was a field position game. You just have to play the percentages in those kind of weather conditions." "We need to have a good offensive day this weekend. When I look at the game film, I see a lot of good things. I have a lot of confidence that we are getting better, and I know we can still be a very good offense. We seem to have six or seven guys doing everything right, and maybe one or two not doing it right. Its just little things like that that we need to correct." "I expect us to go out there this weekend and play very good. I don't expect us to go out there and slop around. I believe that we have the talent, the people, and the makeup. We do need some confidence, there is no doubt about that. We have to make sure we don't get frustrated." "We have to make sure the game this weekend is more important to us than it is to William & Mary. We have to make sure this game means a lot more to our players than theirs." VIRGINIA - George Welsh On the North Carolina game: "North Carolina was geared to stop Thomas Jones the way they played their linebackers and the way they played their defensive linemen." "I didn't want to kick a 50-yard field goal. I told Gary (Tranquill), let's see if we can get the right one for five yards, then at least it's a 45-yarder. I didn't care about the first down--it would have been nice to get the first down--but I wanted to make it a 45-yard field goal. That¹s why we rolled out and tried to get that one in the flat for five yards. And we just didn't execute it right or they covered it better." On running back Thomas Jones: "I think that Thomas (Jones) is capable of carrying the ball 35 times. If he has to do it then he has to do it. You have to do what you have to do to win. Hopefully we¹ll have a little better passing game this week and the week after that and then you don¹t have to run him 35 times." "We need to have a better passing attack as the weeks wear on. Hopefully, this week, we have to get up in the 55% range and reduce the interceptions." On quarterback Dan Ellis: "He did a good job running the team, we didn't have procedure calls.......three penalties, but we are going to have to be smarter this week.² Comments on upcoming Clemson game: "They [Clemson] have always had good defensive players, you name them--look at all those kids last year, first round draft choice from the secondary, an end who was a second round draft choice and then they had a couple of fifth-round draft choices. They¹ve always had good secondary play--good defensive backs. That¹s their tough part, their defense." WAKE FOREST - Jim Caldwell On The Injuries at Linebacker [Moses, Lyman, and Guice]: "We're going to certainly have to overcome some adversity. But nevertheless I think we're fortunate, primarily because of what happened to us last year. We ended up playing quite a few guys that we did not anticipate playing a lot, that being Nick Bender and Marquis Hopkins. They were able to get a lot of valuable playing time last year. So we pretty much have - except for Abdul [Guice] - the same group of linebackers that we ended the season with. We were thin then, and we're thin now." On Avoiding What Happened in Last Year's Season Opener (a 42-0 Loss to Air Force) "It's a different team, a different time, a different setting ... We don't necessarily just reflect upon a game from a previous year, but nevertheless we think we're better equipped to deal with some of the things that happened to us last year in that first game. I don't think there's any difference between Army and Air Force. They're both very, very talented. They both have a good nucleus of guys coming back. They both give you all the same kinds of problems, and we're not as healthy as we were going into our first game last year. So it's going to be a real test for our football team." On His New Role as Offensive Coordinator: "I just think that in order for us to get ourselves in position to win consistently, we have to run the football better. Often times I think that, in particular, guys in the coordinator position succumb to pressures of crowd noise and writers and media folks about what's best for our football team. They kind of adjust and maybe put the ball in the air maybe a little bit more than we should. I don't bend, and I'm committed to seeing our team get better in that particular area. So I decided that the best guy to do that and make certain that happens is me." On C.J. Leak and James MacPherson's battle for the No. 2 QB Spot: "Right now, both of them are doing a nice job for us. They're both learning. They're both obviously inexperienced, and they're both good players. But we're going to play C.J. in the first game. There's no question about that. I've stated that all along ... A little bit later in the week after we've gone through the final phases of putting our game plan together, we'll settle on that in terms of exactly when we'll put him in the game." On QB Ben Sankey's Progress: "I've been extremely pleased with his progress, but you and I both know and anybody that's ever watched college football knows that there's going to be that little bit of an adjustment period that he goes through. But I think you'll see him catch fire, because he is very capable. He's a strong leader and a guy that wants to win in the worst way." Caldwell on Army: "They are one of the better rushing teams in the country, obviously, and they present quite a challenge for you in terms of the ball-control offense. They do enough misdirection with their option attack to give you problems. They motion a little bit, they keep you off balance, you have to balance up against them. And then they obviously know all the tricks of the trade in dealing with that particular offense. They're crafty enough to A good solid kicking game, just a heck of a punter. And obviously their defense is one th
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