Tommy Bowden Press Conference Quick Notes

by Dan Scott - Correspondent - Tue Sep 04 11:43:10 GMT-04:00 2007

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

- After watching film, just looked at offense so far. Watching the first half thought our offensive line did a good job of covering their guy up, and our backs did a good job of hitting the holes. Even on drives we didn't score, we ran an extra 2-3 minutes off the clock.

- Pleased with our staff and how they had the team prepared and the assignments were good against a quality opponent.

- Last year down the stretch we couldn't convert offensively and couldn't stop them defensively. Monday late when we needed a stop, we got it. When momentum was swinging, defensively getting that stop (was big). Shows a tremendous amount of composure and leadership by underclassmen.

- Injury updates coming after 3 p.m.

- Going to third right guard had some effect. Bobby Hutchinson did a pretty good job. He didn't have any of the holding penalties we incurred. You lose a little continuity because of personnel, but he did a good job based on what I saw on film.

- We called more routes of 18-20 yards than we ever have, but didn't get as many off because of pressure and sacks.

- Do another Monday night? Possibly. Depends on the opponent. I would consider it. The national TV exposure is really good from a recruiting standpoint. Advantages always outweigh the disadvantages.

- Won't practice today. Having a team meeting, go out and see who can jog. Wednesday is usually a long practice, so that will have to cut back. Thursday will change. Normally don't have a walk through on Friday, and this week we'll have to. So schedule definitely has changed.

- Real pleased with leadership throughout the spring and summer, their focus and attention and staying out of trouble. Think that showed in the way they played last night. Not many missed assignments, no stupid penalties.

- Kickoff coverage was kind of a tempo-setter. So much written about it, and rightly so because we were so poor. Mentioned Andre Powell's name a number of times. He's worked hard and brought a different perspective to how we cover it. And he's done a good job.

- Blocked punt was a counting error. Our guy blocked in the wrong direction. The bad snap was the first one in two years. I think we'll get those things corrected.

- Merling is a really good player. He was one of our captains. His work habits, his vocal leadership on the field...he played like he practices. Very talented player. He's a key ingredient as a leader.

- Anxious to see how the front four plays as the season goes on. Anticipated FSU would have some problems with inexperience. As we play more experienced offensive lines I'll be more interested to see how well we play.

- Two things I take away are the guts and determination of the game, and I think our leadership is a little better than I thought.

- Real pleased with Harper overall. Hard to imitate their speed in practice.

- Real pleased with Aaron Kelly, too. Continues to make big plays. Watch him run and he looks like Gumby. Like spaghetti. He's hard to tackle.