Tommy Bowden Press Conference Quotes

Sept. 25, 2007

ACC Select Links for Tuesday’s Press Conference Videos:

Head Coach Tommy Bowden

Clemson players:

Cullen Harper | C.J. Spiller | Cortney Vincent

On Defensive Coordinator Jon Tenuta and his defense:“We know they lead the ACC in tackles for losses and sacks, so he brings multiple pressure looks, usually a five-man pressure, three deep, three under. His motive is to get to you before you make a decision and find out where the vacant holes are. He wins a lot more than he loses and his statistics show that. There’s going to be a little more pressure this week.”

On Clemson’s success against Georgia Tech last year:“I think it would be the same as trying to explain the success Virginia Tech had against us. It’s just one of those things we just showed up and everything we did was right. The year before we lost 10-9 and it was the same two teams and same two coordinators, so it was just one of those days when we were hitting on all cylinders.”

On quarterback Cullen Harper:“I cannot recall when we’ve ever had a quarterback with 12 touchdowns and no interceptions. Shawn King (at Tulane) would be the closest.”

On Clemson’s confidence level so far this season:“We know a lot more now than we did four weeks ago. We know Georgia Tech is going to be a better defense than we have faced based on statistics. They are ranked higher in pretty much every category defensively than we are, and we’re a pretty good defense. We’ll know more after this week, but every week that he (Cullen Harper) passes the test, then obviously your confidence level is increased. But after only four games, it is hard to speculate because the meat of our schedule is coming up.”

On the Clemson vs. Georgia Tech rivalry:“Since they’re not in our division, they’re our natural rival because we play them every year. We recruit from Georgia hard and many of our players know their players, so it is a pretty big rivalry in that regard.”

On recruiting the state of Georgia:“Other than South Carolina, Georgia is the second-most recruited state by us. We’re close to the state, so it’s very important.”

On maintaining the “high”:“I think the whole team has a different outlook at being 4-0 this year as opposed to last year when we were 7-1. We have talked about that when I met with the team last Sunday for the simple fact that when we played Georgia Tech last year I could just imagine how depressed they were to lose on national television. Then all of a sudden, they respond and win the following week. We go against Virginia Tech and we get humiliated on national television and we don’t respond. We lose the next couple, so I talked to our team about how to respond in this situation.”

On offensive guard Christian Capote (ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week):“I think it is a great example and great lesson, kind of like Christian Capote is a prime example of a guy, if he’ll just stay here and try hard, then you’ll play. I think it’s a prime example that if you have perseverance and patience, you’ll eventually play.”