Tommy Bowden Press Conference

"Coming from 1-4 to all of a sudden winning four in a row, we went into Duke needing a lot of support from the fans. We weren't sure how they were going to react, but coming out at kickoff there was probably 10,000-12,000 fans in orange. I was really amazed at the number of Clemson fans not only in that one section behind our bench but around the stadium. I heard Duke sold out of general admission seats because of our fans. Probably 74,000 of the 82,000 fans that will be here Saturday will be Clemson fans and its important that they help create a home field advantage for us and make it difficult for South Carolina from a communication standpoint."

"There was a lot more at stake professionally coming into the South Carolina game last year. This year there are much different stakes in that we have to win to have a winning season and get into a bowl game. Last year those things weren't at stake there were some different things. This is always an important game and the opportunities this year just add to the intensity."

"I want to get to a bowl game for the seniors. I will get another chance to go to a bowl game but this is their last shot. I have been to a bunch of bowl games and hopefully I will go to more in the future but I am most interested in helping the seniors get to a bowl game."

"Coach (Lou) Holtz has done a great job and is one of the all-time best coaches in college football. He is #3 among active coaches in wins and is in the top 10 all-time. That speaks volumes for what he has accomplished."

"I know it sounds like a coaching clinic as far as coach speak, but in the last year in college football there have been many upsets and it shows you the state of college football. It shows how much parody there is in the sport, and it shows you have to bring your offense, defense, and special teams to win every week."

"One of the things we have struggled with on offense this year is turnovers. I never envisioned that, and we have struggled offensively more than any other year I have been a head coach. We have played some good teams, but everybody plays good teams, and the turnovers early on really led to us struggling. I never anticipated we would struggle like we have on offense."

"We had to replace two offensive tackles, we had some problems with some dropped passes earlier in the year, Charlie has probably not performed as well, although he played very well at Miami. We have had some protection problems, so there are a lot of variables as to why we have not been successful."

"Its unique that we have had six games that have come down the last minute and five of them have come down the final play. That's unique in this profession to have five games come down to the very last snap of the game. It has never happened in the history of Clemson football and I doubt any other Division I team has had five games come down to the last play."