Clemson vs. Maryland Postgame Quotes

Clemson Head Coach Dabo SwinneyOn today’s game:”There is no doubt we came ready to play. We were ready from the opening snap. Our players are excited to play every week because we practice the right way. I’m proud of our backups because they showed our depth and took care of business.”We are a very focused program and we have had great leadership all season. This group of Tigers is the most consistent at home, with our 12th consecutive home win. It starts with how we practice.”We played well today. We got Andre (Ellington) good plays. Sammy (Watkins) was solid all day. I’m proud of our young guys getting opportunities.”On older players stepping up on defense:”They are a product of experience. They are not losing focus and learning. They are an easy group to keep focused and they are ready to play. We want to play with a hard edge and when we make mistakes, we always feel like someone will step up and make a play.”On the remaining two home games:”I’ve told my players that now is the time when top 10 teams separate themselves from the pack. The end of November is when it matters. We need to play our best football down the stretch.”It is a daily commitment to continue consistency. We have been lucky to have guys stay healthy, but even when players get injured, we can count on the rest of the team to step up.”

Maryland Head Coach Randy EdsallOn today’s game:”Give Clemson credit. That’s an outstanding football team that we played against today. They’re very, very talented on both sides of the ball. You can see why they’re ranked as high as they are, and they’re very deserving on that ranking. When you take a look at what happened today, we couldn’t get off the field on third down at times today. Against those guys, you have to be able to do that. Early in the game, we didn’t get off the field. Offensively, you just can’t turn the ball over three times and give one up for seven points. Of 21 points in the first half, 14 came off turnovers, I believe. You just can’t do that against a top ten team in the country. We’ll just go back and look at the film and work to get better and make the corrections and move forward. I thought that Brandon Ross had a good day. I thought he ran hard. I thought he showed something. We just have to go back to work tomorrow and get better.”On the gameplan against Clemson’s offense:”One of the things that we wanted to do as we came into the game was make them go the long way and try not to give up the big plays. We gave up a couple too many big plays when we didn’t use good eye discipline on some of the routes that they had when they got big plays. Nobody’s stopped them this year. We just wanted to make sure that we could try to slow them down, not give up the big plays, and play really good red zone defense and force them to kick field goals. That was really our gameplan coming in, but we just weren’t able to do that. We weren’t able to get the stops that we needed to make, and then when we did get the stops that we needed to make, we couldn’t make the plays. When you look at Boyd and Ellington and Hopkins and Watkins and Ford and those guys, they just have a lot of weapons and put a lot of pressure on you. I thought we had a good gameplan going in. We just didn’t execute it the way we needed to against the talent that they had.”On Shawn Petty’s turnover issues:”That’s what’s most frustrating. Shawn has been put into a difficult situation, no question about that. The one thing that we’ve tried to stress to him is, ‘Just don’t turn the ball over. Secure the ball.’ He’s got some bad habits that we haven’t been able to get him out of in the time that we’ve worked with him as a quarterback-carrying the ball too low, not putting two hands on the ball when he goes in there. So that’s something we’ve just got to continue to stress. But if we don’t turn it over, we can punt the ball and give them a longer field and be able to play better defense. Today, we gave them seven points on the fumble. That’s what we’ve really got to try to get him to eliminate.”On trying to help his offense build confidence:”That’s exactly what I was trying to do-to put ourselves in position so our guys could get a little bit more confidence so we could move the ball. We wanted to try and be able to possess the ball and try to use up as much time as we could offensively and shorten the game as much as we could. We knew what we were up against when we came in here. I mentioned what we wanted to do defensively. Offensively, we wanted to try to be able to control the football and get first downs and eat up the clock and all of that. But we just weren’t able to execute enough. We just stuck with what we came in to do from a gameplan standpoint because you can’t have a big manual of plays with a quarterback who’s just come to play quarterback in two and a half weeks.”

Clemson Player QuotesQuarterback Tajh BoydOn remaining focused:”There is always more room for improvement. I know we keep saying that every week, but it just drives you to go out there and score every drive possible. I don’t believe that there are too many people that stop us. As you can see…we stop ourselves sometime. There is more of a concentration on it. Heading to the week, of practice, coaches don’t let us get complacent. Not even to a point. We have to keep building and keep working.”On fumbling twice:”The one in the middle of the field was just a bad exchange. I don’t know if he thought I was going to pull it or just kind of clamped down on it. I pulled it and hit his thigh a little bit. The second one, sometimes you just give too much extra effort. I got to the edge and tried to get inside. I felt the drive and thought I was going to go ahead and try to get in here. I turned by back, to see what I could do. I tried to reach. It was not like Reggie Bush, I did not have any one pushing me, I was getting pushed out. It was just a bad deal.”Linebacker Spencer ShueyOn the defense’s improvement:”It comes down to our week preparation. Every week is just one more in the season, and one more week feeling comfortable with our game plan.”On the difficulty of preparing for a Maryland team with so many injuries:”It is pretty tough. There is a lot you have to take into consideration. Try and figure out what you think they are going to do to you. But just the same as any other week, just take the time by to study and try to master the game plan.”On forcing more turnovers:”It was definitely good to get a few turnovers. We even got that fourth down stop towards the end and were able to hold them to 10 points. It was a productive game.”Defensive End Corey CrawfordWhat it meant to score a touchdown:”It comes hard. Those do not come every day. The feeling is indescribable. I am just so happy right now. My tackle blocked down, so I had to squeeze. I saw the quarterback rolling out. I ran to make sure he did not get outside and try to make a play. It just so happened that he was trying to draw back to throw the ball and it came out. I just scooped and scored.”On the team’s momentum:”This is big. We set a new standard here at Clemson. When we play at home we win, not matter what. From here on, for Clemson teams to come, that’s the standard. When you play at home you win, or wherever you play, you give your best.”