Tommy Bowden And Clemson Player Quotes Following The Peach Bowl

Dec. 30, 1999

CLEMSON HEAD COACH TOMMY BOWDEN “I thought the key was obviously their defense. When you a play a team that is nationally ranked like that, it really surprised me that we were favored coming in. When you play in games like this when two teams are even matched, the priority is the defense and the kicking game.”

On failing to convert in the redzone “Your field is restricted so your play calls are limited. Somebody has to make the play. They played a lot of man coverage. We had a lot of balls batted down. I hadn’t had that many balls knocked down in about eight or nine years. They did a good job of that.”

What does the loss do to recruiting? “Being on national T.V. helps recruiting whether you win or lose. If you lose by a lot they think they can come in and play right away. If you lose close they will say I would like to be a part of that. I think we have an offense that will attract a lot of skill players. Defensively, we do what most defensive guys like to do, rush the passer and blitz.”

ROBERT CARSWELL “I felt that we were in the game from the beginning all the way to the end. They caught a touchdown, like a little screen play in the endzone. I believe that is what gave them the momentum. We were in it from the beginning, I felt we had a chance to win it, but they came out and executed better in the end.”

On the pass interference calls “The referees called it, there is nothing we can do about it. We just have to line up and play.”

Goal for the game “Coming in we wanted to win and send the seniors out with a bang. We wanted to get a win so that we could carry it into next year. I just thank God for the opportunity that we had a chance to play in it (Peach Bowl) considering what we had. It is a disappointing loss.”

BRIAN WOFFORD On Clemson’s six turnovers “I think a lot of times it was a bounce here and there. They came up with them, interceptions or a tipped ball. They were in the right place at the right time. That is basically what happened. With a defense like that…we knew stuff like that would happen if we made mistakes like that.”

On the Mississippi State defense “They were a pretty good defense. I think we made some good plays on them. We kept ourselves in the game up until late. They are pretty good, I can’t say anything bad about their defense. We moved the ball and we just couldn’t get it in when it counted. The guys played hard and we did move the ball. We did have an opportunity to get in the endzone.”