Clemson-Georgia Tech Post Game Coaches Quotes

Oct. 28, 2000

Clemson Coach Tommy Bowden “They’ve had a tendancy to stop us. They are a wel coached team. They made one more play than we did right there at the end. We brought Willie in off the bench with Woody going down and I thought he did a good job of bring us back. Again, they made one more play.

I was kinda disappointed (with Clemson’s defense on Georgia Tech’s final drive). I did not think they would be that productive, but they were. We played hard., It was a 60 minute game, we’ve told them it’s a 60-minute game, it was going to be all four quarters and it was.

I don’t know that they manhandled us. I think most of their production was on the short passes outside. To me Tech’s (454 yards passing) was more of a skill problem than an upfront problem.

Toure Francis blocked one and gave us the ball on the 6-inch line and then Brian Mance returned a punt for a TD. When you block a punt and return one for a touchdown, you should win the game. Georgia Tech is a good team. I don’t know how good we are, I really don’t. I guess we’ll find out here in the next two weeks, I don’t think our players quit. We’ll have to learn from this and go on.

QB change – Woody could not go. His ankle. Had he been healthy, we would have played him. He could not run on his ankle.

There was a lot of momentum swings – which to me tells a lot about a team’s ability to bounce back and retake control. That hasn’t happened a lot this year with this team this year. Hopefully we can learn from it and put it to use over the next two games.”

Georgia Tech Coach George O’Leary “Let me just say this: it was a great college game. Either team could have won it. I think that’s what college football is about. Both teams fought extremely hard. I think both teams played well on defense. I think the offenses were optimistic as far as getting some points on the board. Obviously special teams had a factor in the game.

I think it was a great win for Georgia Tech up here. It was a tough game for Clemson. It was a great college game, and I’m extremely proud of our players because they have handled setbacks extremely well all year. And when we’re down with 1:56 left, they just found a way to come back and get the win. It was a great college game, a great win for Georgia Tech.

On Defense – I thought the defense played well. They went out there against a very good Clemson team and never gave up. They gave up a couple of plays. I thought they tackled better against a team that puts a lot of points on the board.

Godsey came up with some big plays on third down when we had to have them. We were running some timing routes and were able to get a lot of yards on just underneath stuff on two very good corners. We were able to do some things against a very exceptional football team and we just happened to have the ball last.”