Tommy Bowden Press Conference Audio

Sept. 2, 2003

Head Coach Tommy Bowden met with the media on Tuesday for his weekly press conference. Clemson’s head man discussed a variety of topics including positives from the Georgia game, playcalling and more. Click to listen to the audio.

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Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden Press Conference Highlights, 9/2/03

On film from the Georgia game: “From a protection standpoint, we were pretty good. We only gave up one sack and that was a coverage sack. Defensively, I thought we played pretty well up until right there at the end. For 52 minutes we held there offense to just one touchdown. It looked like we ran out of gas a little bit defensively after Pollack’s intercetpion. We need to make a play. But what pretty much hurt us the most were the turnovers (3-0). I thought the effort was good, though.”

On incorporating deep passes into the offense: “There are certain ways you can scheme it into your gameplan. But again, some teams will just back up and not give you the deep ball. Their secondary played at a depth where it’s tough to get by. Georgia, for example, rushed five and had three deep in coverage. You have to pick and choose where they’re coming from. It all depends on the structure of the secondary. But, if I would make one change offensive, it would be to attempt more deep balls. We had one called when we had the fumbled center exchange when Tommy Sharpe threw up while snapping the ball.”

On the play of the offensive line: “I would not say they were the weakest link, not with one sack given up. The one sack Georgia had was a three-step drop and the guy was covered. It was a coverage sack. It wasn’t the line’s fault. I wouldn’t think it would be a weakness to give up one sack against a pretty good defense.”

Overall thoughts on the running game: “There’s no doubt that we have to be productive in the running game. I think we have the potential to be productive, as the season progresses. The Georgia game wasn’t a good indicator. I thought Duane Coleman ran hard. He never really got knocked back, was aggressive, and broke some tackles. I thought Duane ran really well Saturday. “Yusef (Kelly) is a competitor. I hope he wants to come out this week and compete for the job in practice. I think he will.”

On the possibility of the Georgia loss staying with the players: “I think that’s a natural reaction for somebody that age. It’s a big game and a lot of disappointment. But I think our kids will respond well. We talk a lot about that; don’t let a loss beat you twice. It’s the first game of the year and there’s 11 left. At that age, it weighs on them. You can’t let it linger too long, or it will affect your performance the next game.”

On this week’s game against Furman: “They’re coming off a win and will come in here with a lot of confidence. Three years ago, they went up and beat North Carolina when they still had Ryan Sims and Julius Peppers on defense. It just shows you that mentally, if you’re not ready, you can get beat. We’ll have to be sharp, because they’ll come in focused and very motivated. We need to be more concerned about correcting some things we did wrong, as opposed to Furman and our mental approach to this game.”