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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 22, 2011Randy EdsallRANDY EDSALL: First I just want to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving, hope everybody gets a chance to spend it with their family and enjoy it, and no football that day, so happy Thanksgiving to all. Again, NC State is a team that's coming off a tremendous win against Clemson, played very physical, played very well. Tom and his staff do an outstanding job of coaching and teaching, and they're prepared, they're physical, and we look forward to the opportunity and know that we've got a tremendous challenge. Q. In the absence of an inherent geographical rivalry, and obviously it would take some time, but do you advocate or care one way or another about having NC State or any particular team in particular as the perpetual every‑year‑ending game to develop some sort of a tradition there? RANDY EDSALL: You know, I think it's‑‑ I think rivalries take a life of their own in terms of who they're going to play. But I think going forward if the ACC powers to be determine that they want to have all the games‑‑ have us play the same teams at the end of the year, then I'm all for it. Whatever the people in the ACC think is best for our league and what needs to be done, I'm all for it. Q. NC State is coming in obviously with a lot riding on this game. They need to win it to become Bowl eligible. What kind of extra edge does that add for them, if any? RANDY EDSALL: I think that would be a good question for Tom. You know, he's in that situation, we're not. The one thing I know about Tom O'Brien's teams, having known Tom for a lot of years, Tom O'Brien's teams, they're going to come in ready to play. They're going to be prepared. They're going to be physical. They're not going to take anything for granted. So I mean, I have a tremendous amount of respect for Tom and what he's done, and I haven't competed against him, but I know they're going to be well prepared, they're going to play hard, and I think that's the way his teams always play. I think that's the way they always are. Q. In what was obviously a standout game for them last week, what were the things that really caught your eye about the way they played? RANDY EDSALL: Well, they got turnovers. In the second quarter there I think they were down inside the 20‑yard line like four times and they got turnovers and they capitalized on the turnovers and they were able to make some big plays, and they played very well on defense. They shut a Clemson offense down that was really good, and I think a lot of that was due to how physical they play and the athletes that they have on defense. Q. Obviously you're finishing up a tough season there. Did you see this coming? Did you privately think to yourself in August that we could be in for a rough year, I don't like what I'm seeing, or did this take you completely by surprise? RANDY EDSALL: Well, I don't thinkwhen you come into a new situation you ever know exactly what could happen because you know, again, you're not around people when the real games begin. So you find out some things. But hey, the season is what it is, and as you go along and you see things, I think that's when you kind of see what could happen and how you move forward. You know, I don't‑‑ it was just one of those things that you get into the season, you see how it all happened. Q. Talk a little bit about some of the pleasant surprises that you've had going forward, some of the young players that have really developed for you this year. RANDY EDSALL: Yeah, well, you know, in answer to the question before, I mean, I didn't expect to have all the injuries. That's the one thing that you don't ever expect. That was the one thing that happened. You know, from a positive standpoint, we are right now the least penalized team in the ACC. We've gotten a lot of young guys experience this year in terms of playing. So you know, that should help us as we continue to move forward. But when you take a look at Alex Twine and A.J. Hendy, Keith Bowers, Andre Monroe, you see those young guys playing as true freshmen and red shirt freshmen, again, and you see how they competed. Still have to be more consistent, that's encouraging. And offensively playing some young kids there, Justus Pickett came along really well, I liked what Max Garcia is doing who's played this year really for the first time. So again, those are all things that were positive. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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