Sept. 9, 2003

Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden

Opening statement on the loss of Jim Phillips:
"There's been a lot of history and tradition here at Clemson, and surely he was a significant part of it. If you mention Clemson football in modern history, you mention Jim Phillips. He's been a part of this program for 36 years, starting with Frank Howard. I only knew him for four and a half years. He was very professional in how he handled his work. I've been with him through some wins and some losses, but there's no doubt he bled orange. He'll be deeply missed, and I'm sure by now he's already found Frank Howard and they're telling stories."

Overall impression of Middle Tennessee:
"The biggest obstacle for us will be that they spread the field and go no huddle offensively. Their quarterback has some escape ability and some running skills. It's always difficult when you have to be careful about staying in your rushing lanes and keeping containment. We're going to have to play very well defensively. We will have to create a pass rush. Offensively, we'll have to be more productive than what we have been so far.

"I believe they played Alabama close in the fourth quarter last year (39-34 loss). They usually have to play their big games on the road. They're a quality opponent, but just doesn't have a lot of name recognition right now."

On what he's noticed of Middle Tennessee film:
"I've been watching mostly defense up to this time. Their front four defenders are very athletic. They're not as high profile as what Georgia's was. But they're comparable as far as physical bodies and pass-rushing skills, strength, size, and things like that."

On the possibility of Yusef Kelly playing Saturday:
"He was a little bit better but still did not do much yesterday. Today we'll just see how much he can practice. If he can't practice very much on Wednesday, then he'll be doubtful or questionable. He'll have to get heavy work tomorrow to be a factor Saturday. If he does very little today and tomorrow, he probably won't be a factor."

On developing the killer instinct:
"You have to learn how to do that. It was discussed at halftime of the Furman game. It's an acquired trait. Winning is a habit, losing is a habit. It's a habit we haven't learned yet, but hopefully we will. We're hoping next time the response is more positive. It's a team mentality. It's more of a mental approach than anything."

On the running game concerns:
"The backs have run the ball pretty hard. I think we had 40 carries against Furman, and I want to say our longest run was 11 yards. Obviously that's a concern, the big play. The long run against Georgia was 11 yards too. That's two games where our longest run is just 11 yards. So that's the biggest concern."

Duke Head Coach Carl Franks

Opening Statement:

"I thought the coaches put together a good game plan for Western Carolina and I think the players executed it pretty well. Defensively, only giving up four yards rushing is outstanding. Probably one of the big parts of the game was when we were able to hold them to a field goal. We had a foolish penalty there that allowed them to keep that drive going. There was about 18 minutes left in the game and the score is 22-0, but if they score a touchdown they're within two touchdowns. I think that was a critical part of the game, especially for our defense."

"Offensively, we ran the ball just like we wanted to with 57 rushes and time of possession was 39 minutes and a few seconds. The fourth quarter was critical with 11 minutes and eight seconds holding the ball and no turnovers. I guess we are one of the few teams in the country that has played two games and hasn't had any turnovers."

"We are going to treat that game as something to build on. We went into practice and challenged our guys to practice physically and had a lot of competition. Sometimes I think we need competition. I think the guys handled well. Any time there is a chance that you're going to be demoted, you're going to be disappointed, but we didn't have a lot of guys that sulked and hung their heads. We had guys that went out in practice and tried to get better, knowing that they were still going to play in the game. Just because you don't start doesn't mean you see a lot of plays. We know we've got more games, certainly against more talented teams."

"If you figure that you improve between the first and second games, which we certainly have done, but Rice has only played one game and now they've had two weeks to get ready for their second game. I expect them to be a much more improved team than they were the first week."

On the improvements this week:
"I saw a lot more aggressiveness, a lot better tackling. We got lined up better. I saw some mistakes. The mistakes that we made were aggressive mistakes - effort mistakes. There was no problem with the effort we gave. That was something that we were looking for."

On winning this week:
"That game showed us that we are capable of doing it, but now we've got to show that we are capable of doing it consistently. We still have got to play better against the pass. We are starting to come around, but it is one game. We've got to show that we can do it again."

On Rice:
I don't know if it is a good match-up or not. They have a different offense than what we normally see. They run a lot of options with play-action passes. It's a tough offense to get ready for in a week. They have a lot of new players. There are going to be a lot of new guys out there that we are not familiar with.

On quarterback play:
"Mike (Schneider) practiced yesterday. I think he is going to be ok. We're going to see how things go in practice this week. We're going to let Mike and Adam (Smith) battle it out in practice. I will use them both if I need to. If someone is out there and playing well, they are going to stay out there for a long time. If we're struggling a little bit, then the other guy will come in."

"When you're going to play a new quarterback, you have to accept that he is going to be out there and makes some mistakes. Things are going to be different than in practice and I have to accept the fact that it is going to be frustrating. I have to remind him to listen to what I'm telling him and not how I'm telling him. As he plays more, he'll get better at it."

Rusty Wilson:

"Mike Schneider is a little bit more mobile of a quarterback. I don't think it really matters to the rest of us who plays. They both do a real good job of what they do. It is not like we change our game plan when one is in there. We run the same plays. It is the same offense."

"I don't really think it is that big of a deal to us as a team. They both do things well and we just rally behind the one that is out there at the time. I don't think there is a controversy really. I think they both have proved that they can play."

"It is one of those things that it is nice to get a win, but its not over yet. We beat a team that we were supposed to beat. We have to get ready for this next week now."

On running the ball:

"I think we are doing a pretty good job of running the ball, but you always want to do it better. We definitely take pride in leading the league in rushing attempts. I think that says something about the confidence the coaching staff has in our offensive line."

"Chris Douglas gives us another running back in the backfield that has a lot of speed. Obviously he is a different runner than Alex (Wade) is, but we have three really good backs on our team. When he's healthy he can definitely run the ball."

Matt Zielinski:

" Our student section was great. I think as we improve and win more games, we are going to get more fans there. It is great to see the fans come out and support us."

"I love hard-nose football and that is probably what its going to be this weekend. This is truly an assignment week. If we don't do our assignments we are going to have a lot of breakdowns."

"We feel pretty confident going into this game. They run a triple-option that is similar to Navy's. We can count on each other to do our jobs. I think I'm more comfortable playing with this defense than I ever have been."

On playing Rice two years ago:
"I remember that they are really quick. They don't quit. They just keep playing the whole game."

Florida State Head Coach Bobby Bowden

Q: When you look at what happened in college football this weekend, are you just happy you won, regardless of how you played?

A: There's no doubt about it. There is no doubt about it. If you play poorly and win, don't fret. Don't fret. Ohio State won yesterday when they didn't play well at all, not by their standards. Last year, they played that way and won a national championship. Just win the ballgame. Win the game. When you're not playing good, when you're making mistakes, be happy that you won that day.

We just got ourselves in a fix, right off the bat. I haven't looked at that first pass - I haven't studied it yet. I'm going to leave here and go get the film. I saw the replay on television while I was making the show last night, but I couldn't study it. I think we had a poorly conceived play, a play that was designated to do this, and it fell right into the hands of their defense. I've got a feeling that play will go out the window. There's a lot of times where we'll make a mistake and fix it - we'll do this, instead of that. I'm not sure if that one is well conceived. I could be wrong. When I look at the film, I'll find out.

Q: There were a couple times Saturday when Chris Rix intentionally threw the ball away when things weren't there. Is that still something that he's developing? There still seems to be times where he tries to do too much.

A: Yeah, yeah. You're exactly right. That is not a lack of confidence on his part -- it's overconfidence. Thinking, as the Bible says, 'I can do all things.' There's some things - and he's finding that out - 'son, there's some things that you don't even try to do. Throw the ball away, and let's go to the next down.'

Last night, he made several plays like that, that Daryl (Dickey) does not want him doing. He'll learn it, because he's learning some things. Just like one time, he ran to the sideline, got trapped, ran to the sideline, and he lost three or four yards. All he had to do was throw it out of bounds and it goes back to the line of scrimmage. Now, the next time that happened, he did. He threw it out of bounds. He's learning. He's still learning the little things. The great thing is he's doing big things.

Q: Some of the throws he made to Craphonso Thorpe and P.K. Sam were right on the money. How has he improved making that type of play?

A: He can throw the ball. He can throw the ball, and he has a great touch. The pass he threw -- he threw one pass, as you remember -- it was early in the game, maybe the first drive for a touchdown. It was very wobbly out to somebody in front of (Maryland's) bench. It was very wobbly, but his timing was explicit. His timing was just perfect, you know? He'll do that. I've seen him do it before, where the ball will wobble and won't look like a well-thrown pass, and it's just laid right in there perfect. There are times you want to throw that pass. The first touchdown he threw was a well-timed pass.

Q: During the preseason, you said you didn't want to talk this team up too much, as you had the last two years. After two games, are you where you thought you'd be?

A: I would think we're where I hoped we'd be. It's way too early to say anything. We're no better off than we were last year. We were 2-0 last year. We were 2-0 the year before that. I don't think we were 3-0 either year (FSU started 4-0 in 2002 before losing at Louisville Sept. 26). Next game is a critical game.

Q: When your defense plays like it's played, how encouraging is that?

A: That's the best sign we've got going right now. The best sign we've got going right now. The worst thing we did last night was break down in the kicking game. Now, that's usually just because you're not focused. I mean, bad snaps, blocking on the field goal -- a field goal blocked. They just turned two guys loose. Those are things we can correct very easily, and we're going to have to do it. They'll slip up on you.

That's the only thing about when you play a game like (we played this season at) North Carolina, where you grade the film and 'Gee, there ain't nothing to improve,' that's where it gets you the next week. You start overlooking things. Just like our kicking game. We got relaxed on it -- didn't work on it enough last week, because it was good the week before, or something like that.

Q: Xavier Beitia has had an extra point and a field goal blocked so far. Do they have anything in common? Is he leaving them too low? Is it the blocking? The snaps?

A: I think it was No. 1, the procedure might have been slow. If it was, I don't think it was Beitia. It was a high snap. But, on top of that, we turned two guys loose out there. I think we can repair that. We're going to study that real hard, to be sure we're doing the right thing in there.

Q: He doesn't look like he's hitting the ball the way he was before. At what point does that become a concern?

A: There's nothing I can do about it. He's our kicker. There's nothing I can do about it. I think he'll be all right. I mean, just like he had 80 extra points in a row, and then they blocked one. He didn't miss it - they blocked it. And then, last night, he might not have missed that field goal. They blocked it. Anyway, there's nothing I can do about it. I ain't got somebody else -- we've got another kicker (Chase Goggans) out there on scholarship, but he's not as far along as Beitia. Beitia - I'll be surprised if he doesn't snap out of whatever - the percentages are not as good as they were when he was a freshman, but gosh, he set too high a standard for a freshman.

Q: You haven't had a whole lot of luck at running back when it comes to injuries.

A: That's why you need more than one tailback. Look at other teams. Something happens to the tailback. (Maurice) Clarett -- something happened to their (Ohio State's) tailback. Georgia Tech must have lost three tailbacks last year. We've always had a run of tailbacks being injured. I think Greg Jones is fine. (Lorenzo) Booker sprained his ankle. I don't know how bad, but once you sprain an ankle, it resprains easily, but it gets well quicker. Knowing him, maybe by next week he's ready to go. Maybe he's not. But knowing him, probably by next week, he'll be ready to go. (Note: This interview was before Booker checked in with trainers and learned he had a sprained MCL.)

But Willie (Reid) is still alive. Then of course, with Leon (Washington) out -- it's amazing. You have these strong runners, and then all of a sudden you've got two of them out.

Q: How careful are you being with Greg Jones, working him into the game? You don't want to give him 25 carries a game yet, right?

A: I won't mind later. I wouldn't mind working into that. What'd we go -- from eight to 15, something like that. He had 14 (Saturday). That's not bad. We can add more as we go. Last night, I don't know. He produces so dog-goned good when you get him in there. But gosh, we were moving the ball so well throwing.

Q: Did you keep him out of the second half intentionally? He said after the game that he was ready to go back in and was surprised he didn't.

A: Yeah. No. 1, we saw Booker go down, and you've got Leon Washington out. Booker's down. Now you've got Willie Reid and Greg -- you've got two. So let's save Greg. Let Willie get the work. Just think: What if you put Greg in there, and he gets hurt? Now you're playing your fourth-team tailback, who is good. That was that. That was just a protection thing.

Q: When it became clear that Leon would miss this game, you moved Willie Reid to tailback. If Lorenzo misses next weekend's game, would you move somebody else to tailback, or just go with Greg Jones and Willie?

A: I don't know who else we could move in -- we could find somebody. On top of that, we're talking about tailbacks -- the next tailback has been out with broken ribs for two weeks. That's Ryan (Reynolds). He played a little bit last night but not much. We'll have Greg, we'll have Willie, and I think Booker'll probably be back. Then Washington will be back - I don't know when, but it's not like he's out all year.

Q: You started James Coleman over B.J. Dean. What is James' injury status after hurting his ankle Saturday? And what moved him ahead of B.J.?

A: He played better against North Carolina. He beat (Dean) out. That doesn't mean that Dean can't beat him back out. In fact, with that sprained ankle, I imagine he did. Coleman just played better the week before, blocked better. Dean had a couple of busts, went the wrong way on a couple of plays, and Coleman didn't. He won the starting job for that ballgame. Then, of course, he gets hurt. I don't know how badly injured he was. He's had a bad ankle off and on.

Q: How encouraging was it to get some big plays from P.K. Sam?

A: He's had a good spring training for us, and he's been good in the preseason. It doesn't surprise me. He's a dangerous receiver. He's beginning to be a dangerous receiver. He's right in between game-breaker and possession receiver. People don't like that name. Receivers don't like that 'possession' name. That means you can't run. (Laughs) That means you ain't got no speed. But I was glad to see him (play well.) He plays a big role on our team.

Q: Was the touchdown pass that Chris Rix threw P.K. his best of the night?

A: Yeah, he really stuck that thing in there. He fired that thing in there, right between the safety and the corner. They worked on that all last week. I watched them in practice. I kept worrying to myself, 'Oh, my gosh, if he underthrows that thing, they're going to get it.' But he stuck it right in there.

Q: Chris said Saturday that P.K. came up to him last week and asked him to look for him. Do you encourage that kind of thing?

A: I think that's good.

Q: The tight ends have catches in your first two games.

A: Yeah. It was the first time their linebacker caught a ball, too. (Laughs) We work on that a lot during practice. We get in the game and just don't do it as often. I hope we can work 'em in more and more.

Q: Your team was sort of overlooked in the preseason, with all the hype around teams like Maryland, Virginia, and N.C. State. With all those teams losing over the weekend, are you concerned about their struggles?

A: Well, there's too much football out there ahead of us right now, and there's too many teams in our conference that are capable of beating us. If you play your best -- that's going to be the key, if you play your best -- you'll probably be favored over everybody you line up against, except maybe Miami. You'll be favored. It doesn't mean you're going to win. We know that some of these ACC teams are good enough to beat you. And the thing about it, Virginia hasn't lost a conference game, they lost to a non-conference team. Maryland was that way, except they lost to us yesterday. We've really got to be careful, or one will get us.

Q: Did some of yesterday's games surprise you - Wake over N.C. State, especially?

A: The biggest surprise -- a couple of the biggest surprises of the year -- is Wake Forest beating Boston College and N.C. State. The reason I say that is Wake Forest lost everybody. You look at your schedule, and you say, 'Gee, there's not but one team over there we can count on beating.' And dang if they ain't playing better than everybody. They beat somebody (Oregon) in a bowl game. They must be on a three- or four-game win streak. That guy does a tremendous job of coaching, (Jim) Grobe. He's probably about as good as any of them.

Q: How many scholarships do you have? Ralph Friedgen was wondering if you could possibly just have 85, given all the talent you've got here.

A: The thing that you see, when we got into the conference, we probably had a better first team, and definitely better reserves, than anybody else. Now, they've got as good a first team as we've got, and we've still got better depth than anybody else. That's why we play so many people, so we can stay fresh and try to win that fourth quarter. I think that's what he's alluding to there. 'How come we've got 11 and they've got 22?' I don't know that we have that, but that's what he's saying.

Q: Isn't this the first year in four or five seasons that you've had that depth? And how much has lack of depth contributed to your losses the last two seasons?

A: Lack of depth? I think lack of experience probably meant just about as much, but that depth had some role to play in it, too. This team here -- if this team here can get by without getting any offensive linemen hurt -- that's a big one. We do not have depth there. There's certain positions we don't have depth. That's one of them, the offensive line. When you start substituting, you're talking about pure freshmen at tackle (Mario Henderson), at guard (redshirt freshman Cory Niblock), at center (John Frady) -- and then inexperienced sophomores (Ron Lunford and Eric Broe) at the other two sides.

Now you've got some depth at tight end, you've got some depth at wideout, you've got depth at running back, and you've got depth defensively everywhere. But offensive line is one place. But that's so much better than it's been in the past.

Q: Have you tried to look back and pin down how that happened, how you were put in a situation where you didn't have good offensive line depth for a couple of years?

A: Offensive linemen -- Blake Williams is one. Blake Williams is Brett's younger brother. He was a heck of a prospect, hurt his back, can't play football anymore. It seems like we lost some other guys like that (on the) OL. With that, we lost some guys that could have played. Then of course injuries came in there. Brian Ross is a very good prospect, broke his leg last spring, and we haven't had him a day yet. Now, we should be getting him back in a couple of weeks, if his leg will hold up. He's 295 pounds, played center in high school. He'll make a good offensive lineman. Matt (Heinz) would have been a potential starter. He comes down with a bad back, and he'll be back maybe midseason - maybe. That's where we lost. Matt would have been a redshirt sophomore. That, plus Blake Williams was a real good prospect, plus there might be somebody else in there that we lost somewhere along the line.

But really, you look at it from our standpoint -- offensive linemen, inexperienced, but if they stay healthy they can be good -- backed up by freshmen. But everybody else is the same way. I bet Glorida don't have two lines, either. I bet Miami don't have two lines, either. I bet Ohio State don't have two lines, either. It's just a common problem we've all got.

Q: If there's an area where your defense looks really improved, it's that you're covering people much better in the secondary. Maryland tried to test your corners deep, but it seemed that you had pretty good coverage throughout.

A: That is such a big key. Us giving up the long plays the last two years -- it just kills you. Everybody playing hard, and you give up a bomb. I told the players, told the team this -- it's nothing like brilliant thinking, but I've told our team, and I believe this: 'If you don't allow a long pass, I don't know how people can score on us. If you don't allow something big, I don't know if the other team can score on us.' I think we've got that good personnel. I don't think you can take that ball and stuff it down our throat for 80 yards, unless you get a long pass in there, or something somewhere. The last two games have been examples. Nobody's got that bomb on us. Gosh, I hope that thing don't jump out -- (it's) just like cancer.

Q: Is some of that just guys playing together, communicating better?

A: A lot of that. Just like North Carolina. When they threw that post route for a touchdown, and the guy got by omebody, and No. 24 (B.J. Ward) responded and hit him on the baseline. If they hadn't been doing like they're supposed to back there, where he's over covering that thing, it would have been a touchdown. Playing together probably helps that.

Q: Bryant McFadden has really jumped out this season.

A: Yeah, and that doesn't surprise me. I've always felt like he's one of the most talented corners we've had.

And I tell you who's a heck of a prospect, that's (Antonio) Cromartie. He is a big-time prospect. The question, 'Why don't you play him more?' Well, he's not sure where to line up. He's not sure whether to play back, or close. But six-foot-three, 200-something pounds -- he's an intimidating corner. Boy, once he learns what to do, everybody else better watch out.

And Pat Watkins -- we're beginning to get those players back. You take Pat Watkins, as fine a young safety prospect as there is in the country. And Cromartie's as fine a young corner prospect as there is in the country. Ernie Sims is a mighty fine prospect. They're young, they're mighty young, but they've got ability.

Q: One thing those guys all have in common is that they're local kids.

A: That's true. Leroy (Smith) got that interception, he's from Quincy. Pat, Cro, (Claudius) Osei's playing a lot.

Q: It's very seldom that you talk that glowingly about true freshmen. Are they real close to playing a lot?

A: It used to be, in the old days, we'd redshirt those kind of guys, and save their eligibility. But if they have talent, if it looks like they'll come out after their third year, if they decide to, we might as well be playing them. If we don't, you'll waste them.

Q: Speaking of first-year players, you'll be facing one at quarterback next weekend against Georgia Tech. What are your recollections of playing a true freshman at quarterback, as you were forced to do with Chip Ferguson?

A: I haven't talked to Coach Gailey. I imagine, when he looked at his quarterback situation, he saw limitations in this one, he saw limitations in that one, and he saw this kid here who had no limitations at all, except that he was inexperienced. And he decided, 'I'm going to with him. I'm going to go with him and build off him.' That's probably where he's going. He's going to have another one like that one they had up there three years ago (Joe Hamilton). This kid (Reggie Ball) looked mighty good.

Q: Chip Ferguson played as a true freshman, right?

A: I think he played, but he came in (into the starting lineup) midyear. His last game of the year, he was Most Valuable Player in the Gator Bowl. But then he got beaten out by (Danny) McManus the next year. McManus had gotten hurt. That was the only reason he was playing.

Q: You wouldn't have felt real comfortable going into the season-opener with Ferguson, right?

A: No. You'd rather have experience, if you can get it. What's going to happen with a freshman is this: They're going to win some, and they're going to lose some. They're going to have that great game, and they're going to have some games where they have problems. That's just inexperience. Somewhere along, it'll catch you. It's about our luck it won't be against us -- he'll probably have a great game. He's capable. He can scramble so good, he'll escape and make some plays.

Q: Did Maryland present some new looks on defense, things you hadn't seen on film? You had a little lulon offense at one point.

A: You know what? That lull was Robert (points to himself). Really. I mean, that's why I've got no business. I don't want to call plays, if I can help it. Because they see up there what's happening. I'm down here guessing. We're guessing on that sideline. Up there, they can see. And I got involved in, 'Jeffrey, do this. Jeffrey, do that. Jeffrey, do this.' Finally, I just backed off, and he took 'em right down the field about 99 (yards), and after that I stayed out of it. That's hard for me to do, after you're calling plays all your life. I haven't in the last 10 years, regularly, but sticking my nose in. I probably hurt Mark Richt a lot when he was calling plays -- certain stuff, he's got something going, and I interrupt the flow. I interrupted good last night. (Laughs) That was one of my best interruptions.

Q: Last year against Florida was Jeff's first experience from the press box. Prior to that, Daryl Dickey called plays. Is Jeff calling the plays now?

A: Yes. The guy upstairs calls them. What you do, is the guy up there, he can see. So he makes calls. Downstairs, you send them in. They can converse, and the guy downstairs might have a better suggestion than he does. But the guy upstairs is the guy that's supposed to see it.

(Jeff) is initiating things now. Still, I think it's even better thay Daryl's down there talking to his quarterback, where he can communicate with his quarterback. Instead of being up there and the quarterback down here, now he can get him right as soon as he comes off the field and get him corrected on some things.

Q: Is the improvement this season also a matter of increased experience on your coaching staff, as the newer hires like Daryl and Kevin Steele get more acclimated to their responsibilities, as well as Jeff being more accustomed to his new position?

A: That's generally the way it goes. You work with people longer, you begin to gel longer. That's what happened here. I've said this before, because I've had people say, 'Well, they lost Coach Amato, so that's their problem.' Or, 'They lost Coach Richt, so that's their problem.' Well, yeah, sure, you lose two guys like that. But there are a lot of good coaches out there. You hire two more, now give them time to gel. I mean, the first year Chuck came here, I don't remember us winning a national championship, do y'all? When Mark came, his first year, I don't remember us winning a national championship. What was it? Five years, 10 years later? One of the strengths of us the last 15 years has been continuity of our coaching staff. So now you lose good, quality people like Chuck, quality people like Mark, then you replace them with good people. They've got to get this thing together, and gel, and understand each other. Just like moving Jeffrey there and Daryl here was an adjustment we made last year in the last game, and probably a pretty good adjustment.

Q: How tough has that adjustment been for Jeff?

A: Well, I might have suggested it. I don't know. He's the coordinator. He's the guy who's going to get blamed if everything doesn't go good. I told him he better get up there before he was hung like I (was).

Q: How topsy-turvy a year has it been already in the conference?

A: I tell you, there's been a couple of great coaching jobs in our conference this year. The guy at Wake Forest -- that's just a phenomenal coaching job. Then Chan (Gailey), Georgia Tech doing what they did. I mean, losing all the kids he lost, that's just amazing.

Q: They were ready to fire Chan at the beginning of the season, right?

A: Oh, yeah. Then, consider that Virginia lost their quarterback. Here's one of the best quarterbacks in the United States. I think he's going to be a great pro. He's big, and he can throw. They lose him. They'll get him back. Gosh, one guy like that going down, it hurts. They might be undefeated today, if he hadn't gotten hurt. Chuck (Amato) had to play without his tailback (T.A. McLendon). That's happened to us all the last two years. It's amazing. I think teams that win a national championship, most of them are very fortunate that they don't have bad injuries, season-ending injuries to a super player. Ohio State lost (Maurice) Clarett for two or three games, but they did get him back. And if you watched him in that national championship game, he was the difference. He was the difference. A couple of those runs he made, an ordinary back couldn't have made.

Q: The ACC athletic directors are meeting this week to try to assemble a schedule. Since you won't be able to play everybody every year, are there any series that you feel like FSU has got to have?

A: I think all of the A.D.s will definitely keep in mind what brings in the most money. That's nearly behind every decision that has to be made -- how are you going to pay your bills, you know? You can't afford to drop a team that brings -- Clemson, for example, bringing all the people they bring. Georgia Tech, because of their closeness. I think there are going to be some natural people that they're not going to want you to lose. And of course Miami -- we'll always play Miami in the conference.

Q: You've got a nice rivalry going with N.C. State right now. Is that one that you think needs to be kept?

A: I'd say drop them. (laughs) That's too good a rivalry. Let's drop them.

Georgia Tech Head Coach Chan Gailey

What different thing did you do defensively against Auburn than BYU?

Well it was a different type of team that we played. It was a totally different scheme and again, you normally make your most improvement from your first loss to your next game. That's normally when you make your most improvement. I think we had a lot of new faces playing different positions in the first ball game. They had to go play a game. So I think that they were a lot more comfortable. If one game can create some experience, it did. And I think that they saw on film, 'ok, if we had just done this, if we had just done that against BYU, how things might have been different there as well.'

Importance in the win and seeing a difference in players?

Oh yeah, I think you can see a difference and I think it is important. Anytime you can win, it boosts everyone's confidence in what's happening. Nobody likes losing. You learn something from losing, but winning is a lot better.

Any phone calls from friends in Alabama?

Most of them from the University of (Alabama), but there were a couple.

Does this game present the most challenges so far this season because BYU was predominately passing and Auburn running, and FSU is very good at both?

This is our biggest challenge so far, and I think that's an understatement probably. I don't know, I have not looked at the rest of the teams. But I can't imagine there being a lot of overall teams better than this football team that we are going to play this year.

Coming off the win, still being a couple of touchdown underdogs to Florida State, are you using it as motivation?

Sure. If you're a competitor, you don't like people telling you that you're not good, you can't, or you won't be able to, whatever the situation is. People use that stuff. I don't get up and talk about it everyday, it's not one of those deals. But those are the same folks that predicted Auburn to win too.

Did you feel pressure going into the game against Auburn, with things not going well?

No, I didn't.

You enjoyed the new environment?

Yes, I really did. That was great. It was a beautiful, beautiful place.

This season seems to defy predictions across the (ACC) board, do you tell your team that they're just as capable of winning the ACC?

You know, I don't focus on what everyone else is doing with our football team. I talk about us, and what we need to do and how we need to improve and what kind of effort we give. I very seldom pay attention and talk about that. If we get to the end of the season and you get close to something like that, then yes, you may talk about it. Right now, though, we're a very young team. We try a bunch of guys on the football field that don't have very much experience, so we're trying to get better each week ourselves. The next thing for us is to win on the road with these guys. That's the big step for us now, to go win on the road.

Talk about Greg Jones and his play.

It looks like fully recovered from all of the injuries that he had last year. He is what everybody thought that he would be. Size, speed, he's got it all. He's got some wiggle to him, and lot of times those big backs don't have that. He's got a little bit of that. This will be the stiffest challenge by far that we have had so far. Like I said earlier, possibly could have the whole year, with this offense.

You were quite the gambler with fourth downs this past week. Have you ever taken that many fourth down tries?

A couple of times I have, yeah. You do what you have to do to win the game. We went out and had a less-than stellar practice and I went out and talked to the players about the fact that you have to go out and sell-out to what you're doing, you can't do it halfway. You have to take risks, throw your heart out there, go say that you're going to commit it all to being good and being a player. I can't go out there and talk about it to them and then me not be willing to take some, what I determined to be, calculated risks. I mean, we didn't go for every fourth down, but when we thought that you had a situation that was a good situation, we took the chance. I told the team and offense yesterday that we we're going to do it again. I've got to trust the players. It's fourth-and six inches, I've got to trust that they're going to make that for us

Third down conversions is important, talk about it.

It is, and we just missed on a couple here and there. But we still missed. Third downs keep drives alive, and keep the other team's offense off the field, and that's something that we need to improve upon for sure. We finally got in the red zone and made sure that we scored both times in the red zone. We need to turn those field goals into touchdowns, and that's something that we need to do as well.

How long had the opening play (the 54-yard pass to Nate Curry) been in?

Probably since about Wednesday. I'd been thinking about that one as being a good one.

The fourth down, the quarterback sneak, did you think that Reggie got that?

Yeah, why don't you ask me about third down? I mean, I thought he got it on third down.

How is taking Reggie into a defense like Florida State compared to taking him into BYU?

It's totally different. The only similar thing about that is that they are away stadiums. That's it. Other than that, there's nothing the same about those two places playing, the atmosphere, and the defense that we will play.

Is he ready for that type of challenge?

We'll find out at eight o'clock Saturday night. I tell you what though, he's done okay in the first two. I know one thing, he won't be shaking or quivering or backing down, he'll go play.

Measure his poise and composure on the recovered fumble and can you see marked improvement from week one to week two?

There are some things that he improved upon. And then there are some things that, because we added some things, we forgot some basics we had learned back in the second week of practice. So there is that line that we are always walking about expanding but not giving too much and forgetting the basics that we had to start with because he doesn't have that much experience to draw upon to call back, 'okay I've got this firmly in place in my mind and in my mechanics.' You have to add some without adding too much, but he his making improvement. It's going to be back-and-forth work all year long. The play he made getting back on the ball, that's just awareness. The one Freddy (J. Smith) let go, when he ran around down there, Reggie's the one that jumped on that ball too. They called it down, but he is the guy that recovered that one too. He's just aware. He's around the ball, he understands, he's not running over there to the side, staying out of traffic. He's trying to win football games, and he's excited about winning.

Watching television replay, he doesn't go throwing his arms in the air. When he throws the long pass or makes a long play or something like that (except for the TD pass), he doesn't go celebrate, he tends to drift towards the sideline, looking like he wants to know what's coming next?

Right. He did. He wanted to know what the next play was. He's smart enough to realize that if he gets it early enough, he can think about it a little bit more before he has to go get in the huddle and get into the line. If it's a long play, he knows he's got a little extra time. And we tried to help him. One thing that you can say is that he really didn't come close to a delay of game in this last game. We didn't even come close. He handled that process very well during the course of the ballgame this last week.

For the BYU game, he seemed to lean on J. Smith, and this past week he seemed to spread the passes around more. Was that a point of emphasis?

No, not really. When those things happen, it just happens. It's not that we go out and try to get Jonathan (Smith) ten passes in a game. That's not the scenario. It just so happened that, in that game plan, in the way that they played, he went to the open guy, and that's where the read took him. We very seldom design tons of passes to go to one guy. We would rather run routes until Reggie takes what they give you, whoever it might be.

So with the Curry pass, was he the target all the way?

No. He (Reggie) had to read the safety, and the safety bit on Jonathan (Smith) and so he threw the post over the top to Nate Curry.

It's pretty obvious that you're excited when you talk about Reggie. How many players have you seen over the years that merit that special feeling to the program?

I've been around a lot of players, and I've never been around two that are exactly alike. They are all special in their own way. Reggie has got his own temperament, he own way of approaching things, his own maturity level, and I don't try to turn him into something that he's not. We take what he is and try to use it to help the team win ballgames. He does have a little charisma about him that allows him to play at this level at this age. To me, you build on that, you use that, you try to develop that. He's a competitor. That's what you like to see, the guy is competing. He wants to win, he wants to make every play, he wants the ball in his hand, he loves challenges. If you challenged him in Monopoly, he'd probably want to take all of your money. He's that kind of guy. That's fun to go out on the field with guys who will accept challenges.

Did you make a point of it, or of big emphasis?

Well, I told them that they already did something that hadn't been done in 25 years last week. This one ought to be easy, it just hasn't been done in 11 years. I didn't use the term easy, but this is another challenge for us, to do something that hasn't been done in a while.

When was the last time that you had/saw a player carried off the field on the shoulders of fans after a game?

You know, I have not seen that, ever, in my whole life.

Was it nice to see though, the reaction from fans?

You know, the first thing that comes into the coaches head is, 'how do we keep this guy humble?' That's the first thing you do, that's the coach coming out in you. You're happy for the guy, you're happy for the team, you're happy for everybody involved, but as a coach, that's the natural reaction. Ok, make sure we keep this guy's head on straight and keep him humble because he's got a long way to go.

Did you ever think that the defense could shut Auburn down like that?

I tell you, I knew how good Auburn's line and backs were, that they could block and they could run. I didn't know that we could shut them down like that. I thought that we would play good, but I didn't know that we would hold them to 40 yards.

When you brought Tenuta to the staff, did you know anything about him?

Not a lot, no. I just knew that he was a good coach and he'd been recommended by some people that I respected. You have to remember that I hadn't been in college coaching in a long time when I was taking on a staff, so I had to take some people's word on some guys as football coaches.

Did you see the students carrying him (Reggie) around? Did you think he'd get hurt?

Yes I did (see him getting carried around). No, I figured that if Auburn couldn't hurt him, then they couldn't hurt him.

Talk about the job that Tenuta has done. He hasn't made excuses about the problems that they've had in the past year.

If you know him, if you know him at all, you know that's the way that he is. He's 'let's get the job done, no matter what the circumstances.' Get excited about what you do have, and don't worry about what you don't have. You can't control that. He's very good about that.

Talk about Henderson.

For a guy that's not the biggest or fastest guy on the field, he is around the football a lot. He understands the game, and he has a very good savy for the game. I think he understands blocking schemes and understands protection schemes and realizes where he can fit and how he can create problems for the offense. That's a great knack to have for a defensive lineman and a pass rusher.

Chris Rix. Talk about him.

The thing that he'll do is that he doesn't mind pulling it down and running with it and making some things happen as well. When he gets flustered, he doesn't take the sack very often, or throw it away, he'll make something happen with his feet. It poses a different set of problems for us this week with him at quarterback. As we've stated before, Jones is a great runner, they've got a good offensive line, they've always got a stable of good receivers, and Rix, for the first two games, has played very well this year.

When Ace (Eziemefe) was in, was that a normal rotation, or what was going on?

Those other two guys had put the ball on the ground too much. We couldn't afford that, so were going to see if Ace could go in there and run the football, hold on to it, and make something happen at the end of the game for us.

Are you changing that, going into this week?

Not right now, no. I don't think you change what you've evaluated for five weeks in just one game. But you start to look at some different things, but it's not going to change you completely.

You haven't had a lot of success running the ball, does that become a bigger point of emphasis?

We've not had the running game that I think that we would like, and last week we had too many negative yard runs. The first week, we didn't have those, but last week we had too many negative yard runs. That's something that we have to eliminate. The way that you get your statistics up is to have a 30-yard run to have your statistics look good. Everybody is going to have a two-, three-, or four-yard run, but you have to have the bigger one to make the statistics look good. Right now, we're running well enough to keep them off balance because we're able to do so much bootleg and play-action off of that, that it's sort-of our run play. Our boot, and throwing the football quickly to our fullbacks in the flat and things like that, it's become part of our running game, so to speak.

With the offensive line coming back, does it surprise you that the running game has not been better?

Well, they're doing some good things. Obviously, we're not doing them exactly right, so there are some things that we can improve upon. But I have a great deal of confidence in where we can be with our line, even though we're not there right now. They can watch the film and see that.

FSU has a certain swagger when they have those great teams, are you starting to see that on film?

I don't know about swagger, but they sure are playing good.

Do they have those corners again?

Yeah, they have those good corners. Just name a spot, they're good.

How do you prepare Reggie for what FSU might throw at him, defensively, this week?

Well I think that the first thing you do is you don't clutter Reggie's mind with what-ifs? If you start cluttering his mind with what-ifs, then you're going to have a paralyzed quarterback out there. You have to let him watch the film, and we'll work off what we've seen on film, and if something new is thrown out there, then we'll adjust in the game. If you start the what-if question with him on Tuesday and Wednesday, then all of a sudden, you've got a guy that's confused walking into the game. If a guy gets confused during the game, we can solve that problem, but you don't want a guy confused walking into the game.

Kenny Scott evaluation. Is he pushing Houston or Cox for a starting job?

He's not right now, no. Reuben (Houston) and Jonathan (Cox) are both playing very well at this point, but Kenny is playing on special teams and will possibly get in on some nickel packages down the line. He's going to be a very good player before it's over with, he just needs to keep working and keep competing.

Have you seen the FSU defense enough this week and seen what they're doing differently from last year?

I think their corners are playing a lot more aggressively than they played last year, taking more chances, and they're able to make things happen. I also think they're using a little bit more stunning and blitzing than they did last year. They have played somewhat vanilla last year, in watching their film, and this year they are moving a lot more and stunning a lot more, which creates problems for offenses.

Have you watched enough film of FSU to comment on the secondary, specifically, improvement in secondary?

Really, the biggest key is the way that they are playing those guys. They are using a few more disguised coverages this year than they did last year. They'll show you one thing and end up in another. So between the disguise and playing more aggressively, that's the biggest changes that I see from last year to this year.

Do you see a difference in FSU's depth, especially on defense, as far as the talent that they're using later in games?

I guess I don't really pay attention. I look more at schemes than I do at whether a guy is a first-, second- or third-teamer, but I know the level of play doesn't drop much when they go to the second half. And with the leads that they've had, they've probably played a lot of other guys in the second half, so obviously there are some very good young players and backup players on that football team. If Ernie Sims is third-team, you've probably got a pretty good football team.

Maryland Head Coach Ralph Friedgen

On team's injury situation:
"Ed Tyler, who started for us at right guard against Florida State, is out with an injured elbow. Patterson is doubtful, he has a high ankle sprain. Bruce Perry has reinjured his ankle, he also is probably doubtful. Justin Duffie is still out. Lamar Bryant is walking but he'll be out another week."

On the Florida State game:
"I thought our players played hard especially on defense and special teams. We're struggling on offense right now, part of that is because of our injuries. We practice better than we play right now. We're better than what we've shown and we just need to get it right. I have every confidence that we will do that."

"I told our staff I don't think I've ever been in a game like Saturday night where we got beat 35-10 and I wouldn't change what we did on offense. We had a lot of things there that we just didn't take advantage of. When I watched the tape Sunday morning, I actually felt better than I did Saturday night. There were some real battles going on on the field. I saw our kids giving everything they had and that's all I really ask. Was it a lack of effort? No. As long as you play hard for me, I'm right there with you all the way."

On his team's morale:
"I watch our kids and it's almost like they're trying too hard. Our guys have never had to play with high expectations before. We have to challenge people. We have to go out and play to win, not play not to lose. It's something we need to work on. We're thinking about bad things instead of good things. We have to expect good things to happen, and right now I think our confidence is a bit down. If you're going to be successful you have to believe in yourself."

"Where do we go from here? We're not going to practice any differently and I am going to demand we do things exactly right. It can't be almost, it can't be about. And I'm going to get behind these kids, and I'm going to keep being positive and believing in them."

On Scott McBrien:
"Scott McBrien is a guy who has won a 11 games for us. I have high hopes that he could be an NFL quarterback. He has that type of arm and that type of ability. Scott has handled all of this very well and I've gained a lot of respect for him. He's showed great maturity. Quarterbacks get too much credit and too much blame, that's just the way the position is. Scott is determined to get this right and I'm going to stand right with him."

On The Citadel:
"I was at The Citadel for seven years and I've played in games like this and won some of them. Coach (Charlie) Taaffe was the winningest head coach at The Citadel. We know what it's like. They are very capable of beating us. Hopefully we'll have a good week of practice and hopefully we'll be hungry. We need to go out and play to the best of our ability and get better."

"They've got a good receiver in Scooter Johnson and their secondary is an aggressive bunch."

On comparing last year's 1-2 start to this year's start:
"We need to win this week so I can say 'We're 1-2, same place we were last year." The approach we took last year is the same, we take one game at a time. There's been so much hype after the Peach Bowl that there's an expectation level that we're not used to. We're playing too cautious, we need to go out and have fun playing and expect good things to happen."

NC State Head Coach Chuck Amato

On Philip Rivers:

He's off to a pretty good start. Eighty-one percent (current pass completion percentage this season). I don't know very many people that get involved with that thing that goes on at the end of the year that start off like that. He's the man. He is the guy that makes the team go. He loves to shoulder it and without T.A. (McLendon) in the lineup last week we really had to put it all on his shoulders. But what better person to put it all on his shoulders than Philip Rivers. Contrary to what most people want to say, if you look at the people involved with the award, his stats are as good as anybody's. We've got to win for that to happen, but if he continues at this pace he'll deserve anything he gets and it couldn't happen to a better person.

On if the team's confidence grows with Rivers as the game progresses:

Our team is confident with him whether it is early, late or in-between. The team knows what he can do. Some of the things he did the other day were unbelievable. He came up with a new pass the other day. It was a new flick. Flick your Bic. I mean he did it. Does it surprise any of us? No. He works the pocket as good as anybody. If there is anything, it might be that he leaves the pocket too quick, but he's not unlike a running back where you try to tell them 'don't do what your instincts tell you to do.' He knows where everybody is on the field. He's something.

On whether the loss at Wake Forest was a blow to the team's confidence:

Our team is not going to stop being confident. One game doesn't make a season. There was a lot of hype around this team and a lot of that is based on last year's team. We are so young. I shouldn't even say that word because we're not really that far away defensively as it may seem. We really aren't. We're not where we were last year, but we played with five seniors last year on the defensive line. That's huge.

Ohio State has everybody back and their defense was so good last year. They've got three of the four starters back in the defensive line and that's where football games are won, in the line and up front. If you can control the line of scrimmage, you can do about anything you want behind them - on either side of the football. Our kids are resilient. Kids get over this stuff. I bet you half the football team, maybe even more, came in on their own yesterday to watch film of themselves to see what they did right and wrong. That is a great thing because that shows you that they are into it. If they had come back to the lockerroom after that game all happy and smiling then I would be concerned, but there were tears shed. We're going to be fine. We'll show up.

On the status of injured players T.A. McLendon and Chris Colmer:

It's pretty much the same as last week for both. No change really. T.A. may be a little bit better, but we'll know more tonight. Odds are, going into this game, that neither one of them will dress. They may not even go on the trip, which would tear their hearts out. I say that now, but I know that I would bring them anyway just because they are a big part of this football team. If you look at his (McLendon) knees they look like scrambled eggs. He scored 177 touchdowns on those knees in high school and 70 of those in one season. He's hurt and we'll just have to let it run its course and we've got to go on. If he plays it is a bonus for us.

On defensive concerns about stopping Ohio State:

What concerns us is stopping them. They run a very basic and simple game plan. I tell you what, I bet Coach Woody Hayes is looking down on them right now and he's saying "That a boy, that's the way you win national championships. You pound 'em and you pound 'em and you pound 'em and then you stop them on defense and you've got a great kicking game and then you come back and pound 'em some more." They are huge up front. They're running backs are very good. You've got the threat of play action, which makes things very difficult. They've got two big wide receivers and then you add Gamble to that and that makes things very tough.

On the Wake Forest loss:

That loss is history. That is yesterday's news. Let's talk about Ohio State now. It's time. It's win, lose or draw; guess who's on our schedule this week? It's Ohio State. We're the same bodies, we're gonna put them on the same airplane and we're going to go out and play the game no matter what happened last week. Last week we're playing Wake Forest and everyone wants to talk about Ohio State. This week we're playing Ohio State and everyone wants to talk about Wake Forest. I don't understand. Now somebody is going to write it wrong in the paper and put the whole story about Wake Forest and the coach is going to read it and tell the players 'they're not even talking about us.' I just don't understand.

On matchup between Ohio State's defensive end Simon Fraser and NC State's offensive tackle John McKeon, who is filling in for injured three-year starter Chris Colmer:

That will be the matchup, that's for sure. But we aren't playing with a backup, we're playing with a starter. McKeon has been our starter the last two games. He's our starter like Colmer just graduated. We'll try to figure out a way to neutralize him and he is an outstanding football player. He can be anywhere too. He is going to be all over. They take great advantage of his ability. They are very aggressive up front. The zone blitz has really come back, all over the country, on both the pro and college level. People are doing it from all different angles. Luckily we have Philip Rivers and he has seen it all. There better not be a hole because he'll probably get it there.

On Ohio State's running back situation without Maurice Clarett:

They won five games last year without Clarett. They're (running backs) not bad. Maybe they didn't come in with the same credentials that Clarett did from high school, but they wouldn't be at Ohio State dotting the "I" if they weren't good. I can guarantee you that. A lot of schools wanted those backs. They are shifty, they have good vision and they can break tackles.

Virginia Head Coach Al Groh

Q: How did this game against Western Michigan get scheduled?
Groh: We needed two games for this season, and Western [Michigan] called and asked if we'd be interested in doing a two-for-one which sounded like a good deal, so we made the deal.

Q: Did the fact that Western Michigan head coach Gary Darnell was there make you more inclined to do it? They were assistant coaches together at North Carolina in 1976-77. Darnell was the defensive coordinator on Groh's staff at Wake Forest in 1986.
Groh: I could tell he was anxious for us to do it, and it was a little easier to say, 'yes.'

Q: Were you and Darnell on the same defensive staff at Carolina?
Groh: Yes, I was coaching the outside linebackers and he was coaching the inside linebackers.

Q: What are your impressions of Western Michigan's DE Jason Babin?
Groh: He's a lot like Shawn Johnson from Duke last year, except he had three more sacks than Johnson had. Johnson led this conference in sacks last year. I think any guy who gets 15 sacks has got a chance to be [an NFL] prospect.

Q: Marquis Weeks has started the last two games in the backfield. He is listed as a tailback and fullback. Is fullback an accurate description of what he's playing when he's out there?
Groh: He's like a lot of players that have multiple roles on the team. In a sense, that gives us more playable depth for the numbers that we have. All of his carries have come as a tailback, but he's probably had an equal amount of plays in the game as a fullback. He's got good skills, he's got ability to make some plays for us, and this just doubles up our opportunity to get him in the game. He's on four out of six special teams units, so by the time he gets those plays, he's already played 35 or 40 plays in the game. That would put him up there amongst the most active participants in the game. He's an important guy in our rotation.

Q: How does Weeks block?
Groh: Good, he's done a good job with it. If we were playing against ourselves, we wouldn't give him too many plays in which he was blocking (linebacker) Kai Parham. There's a guy that I remember, who was Terrell Davis's lead blocker, Howard Griffith. Howard Griffith was a tailback at Illinois who I think in one game at one time scored (eight) touchdowns at tailback. He was one of those guys who just didn't have enough juice to be an NFL tailback and he didn't have enough bulk to be a power fullback. He was wise enough to figure out who he was as a player, and he embraced the role of being fullback for Terrell Davis and was widely regarded as one of the better blocking fullbacks in the league. He built that reputation on blocking cornerbacks and strong safeties. He didn't take on too many linebackers. They were wise enough to set up a scheme that as a former tailback, maybe he wasn't dynamic enough to be carrying the ball, but he had enough athletic ability to get through the same creases that the back was going to be finding-in between linemen to get to the strong safety and make those blocks in the open field. That's how he built his reputation and a fairly significant NFL career. Those would be the kind of jobs that Marquis would take on when he's playing fullback for us.

Q: Can you talk about getting QB Anthony Martinez ready as a starter?
Groh: It's not any different than week one-come in, get the game plan, try to get him ready for the plays, try to define things as precisely as possible for him. He's probably got a little bit of carry-over - both from an emotional standpoint and a scheme standpoint. If you're going to get experience, every game should build on the previous one. One game's experience means you're one game experienced. Hopefully you'll have two games worth of experience after two weeks.

Q: Did you go into the game last weekend planning to run more up the middle than you did? Or was the game plan all along to go to the corner?

Groh: We'd had a lot of success the week before going against the force. Despite the fact that our offensive line was characterized last week as 'mammoth,' it is in fact not mammoth, but we're athletic and we run well. If you have a team full of 330-pound offensive linemen then you better stay inside a lot because they probably can't get out in front fast enough. If you try to get them out in front too much, they're going to slow down the pace of the running back. These guys can get out and run pretty well, whether they're on toss plays, screen plays and so forth, so we try to take advantage of their ability to do that. You can't be out there all day long. You've got to be inside some too, and actually we did pretty well inside the few times that we went up in there.

Q: Can you talk about Western Michigan QB Chad Munson?
Groh: This guy's a real good player. I was trying to think when I looked at the tape this morning when was the last time I saw a quarterback throw for 450 yards and these weren't on catch and run plays. The big chunks were on vertical balls where even if you're throwing them against the air, if the guy's running full speed and the ball's 55 yards in the air, he catches it and keeps on running-that's a well-thrown ball. He's very impressive. He's got a very quick release, he's got a fast arm, and he's got a real tight spiral. A lot of guys who pile up a lot of numbers aren't real good deep-ball throwers, but this guy's a real good deep-ball thrower.

Q: How do you approach a team that throws that much?
Groh: The volume of what this team does on offense and defense is tremendous. I don't really think we would be capable of carrying this amount of volume in-in schemes and in looks. It's a very sophisticated passing attack. Obviously, it's been in place for a while, so it's more than just the quarterback who's got a comfort level of what they're doing. It presents a lot of diversification. In a week's time, we can't attempt to match that level of diversification, so the best place to start for us is to be sound in our coverages and our approaches. There are so many different patterns that we wouldn't be able to get them all in practice and certainly wouldn't be able to get repeat reps on the core pattern. You just have to let the accumulation of your system take place a little bit, which is why you've got your playbook and you stay with it from week to week.

Q: How do you expect the team to respond after its loss last week?
Groh: I'm interested in how the team responds collectively and what their resolve is as a result of it. This team has always had a pretty strong resolve. This is not the first time that this team has lost a game. It's always had a good resolve afterwards. Whether that resolve resulted in winning or not, it's always had a good resolve afterwards. These are many of the same players who have been part of that resolve in the past. I would anticipate much the same, but then again, you've got to see it for yourself every year and see where that resolve is.

Q: Is it possible that you would point out to the team that the loss wasn't in the conference so the team's goals are still intact?
Groh: We start every year trying to be the Atlantic Coast Conference champions. We're 1-and-0. We'll remain that way within the conference for a few weeks yet. By the time we get back to that [conference play], it's quite apparent from last week's results that things are going to be pretty lively. In terms of reaching the overall objective, we're 1- and-0. We went into the type of place that we're going to have to go on a number of occasions this year, and we'll see what residual effects that has.

Q: Is it realistic for Marques Hagans to only get a week of practice in his old position at QB and go into the game and have an impact?
Groh: I hope that he does, but to be in perspective, I don't think that we'll be conducting two Heisman trophy campaigns here this year. I think we had one player [Schaub] who was a candidate. I don't think somebody is going to suddenly rise to that level. I'm very confident that if we play Marques [Hagans] there that he'll play well for us, but remember a couple of things: One, that as dynamic as he was in the first game [last year vs. Colorado State], in his only start [at Florida State], he was equally ineffective. I don't say that as a negative about him. He just faced the same circumstances in a similar surrounding that [Anthony] Martinez faced the other day. Unless you really have someone like Matt Schaub in college or Carson Palmer or Drew Bledsoe or whatever, it's pretty common that everybody always wants the 'other' quarterback with the assumption that 'obviously' he'll do better. Obviously. So just put him in and he'll do better.

Q: If you were to play freshman Kevin McCabe this year, you'd have three quarterbacks in the same class. Is this something you would like to avoid?
Groh: In a perfect world, yes, but obviously the way things have gone, they're not perfect. Every week it's the same thing -just make the decisions to coach the team the way it gives us the best chance to win that week. We don't want to say 'the future be damned,' but it will be this way around here all the time. The bullseye for us is always winning the next game.

Q: How did S Willie Davis do last week?
Groh: We try to emphasize this to the players: If you have two fumbles in the game, it's hard to say you played a good game-no matter what else you did. A player may have had some good plays in the game, but you give up a play like that [99-yard touchdown pass play vs. South Carolina] and it's hard to say you had a good game. If he had two fumbles in the game, you can say he had some good plays in the game, but it's hard to say you had a good game. An offensive lineman, he blocks a lot of guys. If he gets two holding penalties in the game, he made a lot of good blocks, but he didn't play a good game. An accumulation of those things are the things that make teams lose games. Everybody has to be responsible and accountable for those things. Good teams have lots of players who don't make mistakes.

Q: Has Matt Schaub assumed a coaching role while he's out with injury?
Groh: Mentor would be a better [way to describe his role right now]. Matt has great ownership in this team and what happens to the team. Since he can't physically be out there to impact the performance of the team, he's trying to do it in whatever way that he can.

Wake Forest Head Coach Jim Grobe

On the team's mentality after last weekend's big victory over NC State:

"Hopefully, the guys stopped celebrating the win over NC State last night. They had Sunday off, but we went back to work Monday night. Their focus is fully on Purdue. We definitely have a target on our chest right now. We were able to somewhat sneak up on our first two opponents, but that will not happen this Saturday with Purdue."

"As a coaching staff, we definitely try to put the players in the best position to succeed, but the kids deserve all the credit. They are the ones that make all the plays. We felt like we had a good game plan, but the players still have to execute that plan. And, there was no question they did last Saturday."

On the decision to take the ball after winning the coin toss last weekend against NC State:

"The first thing we look at is the wind. It was not that strong either way and we were not sure we could kick the ball out of the endzone. Plus, we felt going into the game that the NC State defense was a little young. We felt for momentum's sake it would be best for us to match our offense against their defense on the first drive."

On the play of the Wake Forest special teams:

"We just had tremendous special teams play the entire game. Most of our kicks were not returned and we had great coverage on the other kicks. We were able to pin them deep most of the time. We worked so hard on that facet of the game heading into Boston College, but then did such a poor job. It was nice to see that work pay off."

On the preparation for Purdue:

"Now that we are going into our third season, hopefully our players have adopted the coaches mentality that we do not look past anyone. We do not play anyone that we can afford to take for granted. This is not getting any easier, either. We are still somewhat banged up this week and we have to play another great team this weekend in Purdue."

On the injury filled offensive line:

"It is a miracle really. Our coaches have had to piece work some guys together. It is our philosophy, though, that when guys go down it gives someone else the opportunity to step up and get the job done. Those guys have gotten the job done and, hopefully, we can get back to having six or seven guys to plug into the holes."

Sophomore Running Back Chris Barclay

On the banged up running back position:

"We take a lot of pride in going out and getting the job done. Coach Grobe emphasized to us before the game that guys who were hurt were going to have to play through injuries."

On winning the opening coin toss and choosing to receive:

"It showed a lot of confidence that Coach Grobe had in our offense. To be able to take the ball and score on those guys on the first drive was a trend-setter for the game. I think most of that attitude we're going to try and take into this week and the rest of the season."

On the Deacs' status after week two:

"We're doing really well at this point in the season. We have a lot of confidence and Coach Grobe has shown a lot of confidence in us as well. We have a lot of talent and we have the right guys in the right places to make plays. Offensively we're really quick, and defensively, we do a good job. We're looking forward to a good team coming in this week in Purdue. We know that they can click on all cylinders of the game. So we're just trying to get ready for them."

Junior Defensive Back Caron Bracy

On Purdue:

"We give everybody we play a lot of respect. Purdue has a lot of older guys coming back, so they're a real confident team. In some places I think they were picked to be a sleeper pick in the Big 10, and they have a lot of good teams in the Big 10. I'm pretty sure they're a little upset that we beat them last year in their hometown. And they're coming off a big loss, so I'm pretty sure they're going to come in here pretty angry."

On being ranked nationally:

"Its an honor, but now we're not the sleeper team anymore. We're getting national recognition so everyone's going to be coming out and giving us their best shot. It's a little different, but we're not going into the game any different. We're going into the game trying to play our best like we do every week."

Junior Defensive End Jerome Nichols

On Purdue:

"Purdue is a great team. We went there last year and they gave us a real good game. It came down to the wire, and now they're gunning for us this time. So I think it will be tough going into that game."

On the Deacs' offense:

"Its great to watch them move the ball and get first downs. And knowing they're hurt just makes it better. They're playing well right now, so who knows what they can do when they're healthy."