Coach Bowden’s Press Conference

Watch The Video Of The Press Conference Here

Oct. 26, 1999

Clemson Coach Tommy Bowden’s comments on…

His decision to go for the field goal instead of the first down at the end of the game “There was a thought about going for it, but we had not been able to move the ball at all in the second half. I would have hated for our players to have gone for it and not have gotten the first down. The way we were moving it we would have had to kick in three more plays anyway, so I thought that was the best decision for our team at that time. I might, though, do it differently next time we are in that situation.”

His team, after a close loss to Florida State, having a let down against a good Wake Forest team “I would hope that after winning three games last year and having three wins this year that they would want to go ahead and get that fourth win. We have to win three out of four to have a shot at a bowl game. If that does not motivate our team then we need to go recruit some guys that get motivated with more than three wins.”

The importance of this year’s team making it to a bowl game “The first couple of games this year I thought it would be inappropriate to start talking about a bowl game. Especially after they went 3-8 last season. I am talking about it now with the team because it is a realistic possibility. It would be nice to go this year but I do not think that it is a necessity at this point of my career. It will definitely be more important in a few years that we go to a bowl.”

The keys to Wake Forest’s success on defense “I think there are a couple of keys to their success. They are second in the ACC in almost every defensive category and they are ranked in the top 30 nationally. They have eight returning starters and they are very familiar with their defensive system. Coach Caldwell is in his seventh year and that has brought some continuity and stability to their team. They have many players making plays and and their coaches do not ask them to do things they cannot do. They get 11 guys involved and they are overall very sound.”

When Dantzler got the breath knocked out of him against Florida State and freshman quarterback Willie Simmons was getting ready to enter the game “Willie was going into the game and I had no reservations about playing him. If you have ever spent any time around Willie Simmons you will see that he is a pretty cool customer. He does not rattle very easily. When he does get a chance to play he will have to go through a learning process, but I had no hesitations about him playing against Florida State.”

The status of Brandon Streeter’s broken collar bone “Brandon threw a nerf ball last week and he was throwing a regular ball yesterday. As we get closer to Saturday, I would say that it might be a possibility that he could play this week. With Woody not practicing yesterday, and Brandon being a fifth year senior I would not rule anything out. A lot of our offense is centered around short throws. If his injury doesn’t bother him too much this week and the doctors release him on Friday or Saturday morning, then he may play. I do not have to make the decision now and there is no way I can because I do not know the status of Woody either. I am, though, very satisfied with Woody’s performance this year.”