Tuesday 09/17/2002
Sept. 17, 2002
Clemson Football Press Conference Media Player EventDownload the Free Real Player.Tommy Bowden (25:00) Download the Free Real Player.Willie Simmons(13:18) Download the Free Real Player.Rodney Thomas(10:00) Download the Free Real Player.Jeff Davis(8:39)
Tommy Bowden quotes
On the possibility of Clemson players looking ahead to Florida State: “I wouldn’t think this team is looking ahead. We’re sitting here at 2-1 and unranked, so there is a lot of business to take care of this Saturday. I would be surprised if this team is looking forward to anybody. I think we’ve got a pretty good mindset right now, which is take one week at a time. I base that on performance over the last three weeks.”
On overall feelings so far this season: “We have done a good job so far this year of taking one week at a time. The results will merit where you are. Our focus seems to be on improvement and reaching our potential from a team standpoint. The important thing is where you are ranked at the end of the season, not so much where you are after Week 4.”
On offensive line changes for the Ball State game: “We felt like we had an awful good athlete sitting on the bench in Vontrell Jamison. We have decided to see if we could find some way for him to get in. Right now it would be really difficult to get him in on defense. We have an open date coming up and felt it would be good to get him on the offensive side of the ball as soon as possible. There is an awful lot of potential talent not getting in.
“How much he plays this week will depend on how much he can retain over the next few days from an assignment standpoint. It is a pretty tough position to learn in just a few days, and I don’t think he’s ever played the position before. He will play right tackle.”
On the play of Derrick Hamilton: “He will not line up at tailback because it will scare him to death. He needs green space. When we gave him the ball on that play (77-yard touchdown run), it was designed to go wide. He is an aggressive runner and he also has some toughness. He has great vision.
“We have more plays designed for him to run the ball than a lot of other guys. We have a comprehensive system and within that system is a way to get each guy the ball. He has run those plays before and got five yards. He just made a guy miss and ran a long way. When he makes those long runs, it registers in your mind that you have to get this guy the ball some more. We try to be more creative each and every week during practice on finding ways to get him the ball.”
On a possible letdown against Ball State: “It is hard to describe how you have a different feel about different teams. This team has responded well against Georgia. All of a sudden, we have a couple of starters knocked out. Going into the Georgia Tech game Derrick Brantley, Toure Francis, Bernard Rambert and Chad Jasmin were out. When you see things like that and how your team responds it gives you a good feeling about not allowing a letdown to happen.”
December 8, 2024
