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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 23, 2010

Ralph Friedgen

COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, we're preparing for N.C. State, a very, very good football team that's played extremely well. Coming off a tough loss to Florida State. Had a good practice last night, and looking forward to practice today. Open it up for questions.

Q. How's the team's morale doing after that game against Florida State last weekend?
COACH FRIEDGEN: I think we were down. We had a team meeting yesterday, and I was very pleased with our practice. I didn't know how that was going to go. But I don't think there was a lot of cheering or anything, but our effort and execution was very good, so I was pleased with that.

Q. Russell Wilson always seems to find a way to keep his team in those close games, especially of late. Is there anything you'll be doing different in this week's practice to prepare him for this weekend?
COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, you know, he's such a great quarterback. He has tremendous vision, he's very, very mobile, has a very strong arm. He can beat you with his arm, more with his legs.
Basically you try your best to contain him. I don't know if you can do that. I don't know. North Carolina did a pretty good job. Then he ripped off a 34-yarder that really won the game for them.
So we're going to try everything we can to keep him in the pocket, but that's easier said than done.

Q. This sort of follows up on the morale question a little bit. N.C. State has a tremendous amount at stake whether or not they go to Charlotte. Do you feel like your team, even though you can't win the division now, still have something at stake in this game and what would it be?
COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, I think there are a lot of things at stake for us. First of all, it's our last home game by our seniors who have made a tremendous contribution to our football team.
Second thing is we'd like to get to the best bowl possible for us. Being 8-4 and beating a quality team like N.C. State, I think would help us do that, with a chance to be 9-4 which is kind of a special team. And I think this team is a special team, and that's why I'm pulling very hard for them to realize what we're capable of doing.
We've had a very good year. We've lost a couple of tough games here down the stretch. But I thought Saturday our kids played with everything they had, and I think they're willing to come out and do it again this week.

Q. Considering the kind of season you were coming off of, would you have thought that 8-4 was a possibility?
COACH FRIEDGEN: Oh, yeah, I did. I was very optimistic about our chances this season because I know the type of kids we've got and I know how hard they work. I'll be disappointed if they don't play well Saturday. I really will.
I have a tremendous amount of confidence in them as people, and the character that they have that they'll come out and play.

Q. Coming off that last week's game, I guess, any certain things you were focusing on this week that you need to get better at offensively or defensively from last week?
COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, the biggest thing we did that we haven't been doing is we turned the ball over. We had four turnovers in the game. We didn't play as well special teams-wise as we have been playing. Gave up a fake punt in a situation we were on punt safe. Then we got a turnover on one of those pooch kicks down there.
Other than that, I wasn't displeased with the way we played both offensively and defensively. We gave up two big plays on defense, other than that, I thought we contained Florida State pretty darn well.
Offensively we moved the ball. We had over 450 yards total offense. We dominated the possession time. Probably could be a little bit better in the red zone and scoring touchdowns instead of field goals.
Other than that, I wasn't displeased with the way we played. The turnovers are what killed us.

Q. I know in preseason the media had you pretty low in the ACC?
COACH FRIEDGEN: About as low as you could get.

Q. They're best guesses, obviously. But what's been different about your team? Why is it your team has turned out to be so much better than what other people would have expected in preseason?
COACH FRIEDGEN: We have experience. Last year we played 24 freshmen. This year we're still a young team. I've got only 12 seniors. But we've got kids that have played before. They're getting better and they're building every game they get a little more confident. They're growing with each and every experience.
I think we're playing pretty good right now if we just don't -- play smart and take care of the football. But I think we're a good football team. We need to go out and play Saturday and win Saturday so that people start recognizing what kind of team we have.

Q. Tom O'Brien talked about a lot of elements of your play. One thing he mentioned in particular is your defense is coming together under the second year under your coordinator. Has that made a big difference that those kids have more experience in that system?
COACH FRIEDGEN: Yeah, that's kind of what I'm saying. They've all played the defense now. They know it a lot better. We've kind of got a little more speed on that side of the ball, little more athleticism than what we've had before.
Offensively I think we're struggling with our injuries in our offensive line. But even there we played pretty well Saturday against a very good football team.

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