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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 22, 2010

Ralph Friedgen

THE MODERATOR: We now welcome Maryland head football coach Ralph Friedgen. We'll bring on coach, ask for a brief opening statement, then go to questions.
Coach.
COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, we're preparing. They had two very tough losses. Really had the games won, played well in both games. We're up for a heck of a challenge. After a disappointing loss to West Virginia, we got to rebound and get ready to go.
I'll open it up for questions.

Q. Torrey Smith is a great player. Is this a result of your schemes as well as his talents that he got the touchdowns even though the other guy knows he's a threat?
COACH FRIEDGEN: They had a substitute in there. We try to get Torrey matched up on him. Really should have had another touchdown with him. But Torrey and Jamarr Robinson really did a good job of executing the play. Torrey was able to win the one-on-one coverage.

Q. Obviously your opponent threw a scare into Texas A&M last week. What jumps out as you that causes concerns?
COACH FRIEDGEN: I think they're very good on defense. If you look at them, they're nationally ranked in quite a few categories. They have very good team speed. I've been impressed with No. 45, a very good edge rusher. No. 7, kind of a nickel back, Sam linebacker type. Then No. 25, the free safety, is very athletic and very aggressive.
They pressure a lot. They can run extremely well. They really were leading Rutgers going into the fourth quarter also. They've been playing very well on defense. They have some skill people on offense that are very much like West Virginia's guys.
It's a team that's very hungry, playing very hard, probably deserved to win two games that they didn't win.

Q. How concerned are you with your offensive line situation and your quarterback situation that you'll be able to protect the quarterbacks this week?
COACH FRIEDGEN: It's a concern, no doubt about it. Losing your left tackle is a concern to us. Our kids, we had two very good days of practice. Hopefully we'll go out today and have a good day of practice, and tomorrow, and be ready to play on Saturday.

Q. I understand both quarterbacks are a little banged up. How did they look in practice last night?
COACH FRIEDGEN: Limited but doing well. Both of them should be able to play this weekend.

Q. Ralph, just looking at the difference between the first and second half offensively, you obviously picked it up a little bit there. What was the difference and what do you need to do going forward to make sure you don't have that kind of a first half again?
COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, you know, we really went in there and I thought we lost our poise a little bit with the crowd noise. I think they had some jitters. I think it's something that we have to work to get through. I don't think we played as well as we're capable of playing. Kind of settled down at halftime.
I thought the first series of the second half was a very big series. We went three-and-out, punted the ball. They got a big punt return. Then our defense held for two downs. They scrambled on the third down and made a play.
That touchdown was huge because we had a lot of opportunities to score that we didn't take advantage of in the second half. We dropped a pass for a touchdown, ran out of bounds, were wide open, had a chance on a punt return, had a chance of an interception on the 12 yard line.
As poorly as we played, I think we were in position to really make a run at them; just didn't make the plays we needed to make. I think for this team, hopefully we'll be better prepared the next time we're in that situation.
Hopefully we can become successful because I really think that's what this team needs, is to be able to win a game like that to really start believing in themselves and having the confidence they need to be a good football team.

Q. Coach, I'm fascinated by the numbers. When I look at the ACC tackle list, not only is Alex leading the league in tackles, but you have four linebackers in the top nine tacklers in the league. Is that a testimony to the strength of that position or predicated on the scheme you play that gets linebackers tackles?
COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, I think we have three very good linebackers. I think we have some good backups behind them. I think linebacker is kind of the strength of our team. We've moved some of our linebackers to defensive line because we felt pretty solid there.
Alex has been doing this for three years. He just has a nose for the football. Actually I thought Saturday he missed more tackles than he usually does. I think he missed four, five, six tackles, which is not like him.
I think Demetrius Hartsfield, Adrian Moten, are two very good linebackers also. I think we have a good core of linebackers. I think Coach Brown's schemes accentuates those strengths.
THE MODERATOR: Coach, thanks for being with us. Good luck this weekend. We'll talk to you next Wednesday.
COACH FRIEDGEN: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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