Opening Statement: “I’m proud of our football team; they got us back in good position. It was a really good victory, but it won’t mean much if we don’t finish this thing off. We know as well as anyone that it’s what happens on Saturday and you have to go play the games. You look at the video of Syracuse vs. Maryland, and it doesn’t match up with how the game ended up. Maryland was moving the football and playing good defense, but they turned the ball over a few times and that was kind of the difference, so we have to get ready to play a football game.
On the last time playing Maryland as a conference opponent: “Yeah, I’m really sorry to see them leave. I started out as a G.A. there under Coach [Jerry] Claiborne and it seemed like they had a lot of good rivals in the ACC. It seems like they added a lot of travel going to the Big Ten, but that’s their decision and I’m sorry to see them go.
On the improved running game vs. Miami: “We really came together. The blocking up front was good, they really stayed after them, the perimeter guys, D.J. and Demitri, they got out there and stayed with their blocks. Our backs ran harder than I’ve seen them run, we made some great catches and Logan [Thomas] played a terrific game. I told Logan and the team yesterday that we could all learn from Logan because, the week before, Logan had played a terrific game except for a couple plays. Even with all the flack he got, he kept his focus and came back this week to play a really great football game. I’m really proud of him and when he plays like that and we help him, we have a pretty good football team.
On wide receiver Joshua Stanford’s drastic improvement: “We watched the game film yesterday and that guy has come a long, long way and I think it’s totally confidence. He wasn’t really confident early in the year, but then he made a couple catches and all of a sudden he’s catching, he’s blocking and he’s running. He’s turned into a terrific player; I’m really happy for him and us because we needed it. He needed confidence and, when he got it, he really started helping this football team.
On calling a timeout vs. Miami when Logan Thomas’ helmet came off: “There’s no question that we have a lot of confidence in [backup QB] Mark [Leal]. I think he’s a good, good quarterback. The situation dictates that decision. It was third down and a critical situation, so I felt like we needed to keep Logan in the game. We came back and made a great play on the next play.”
On the injury situation at the cornerback position: “We’ll see how we are at the end of the week. [Antone] Exum’s x-rays are negative, but we’ll see how quickly he comes back. [Brandon] Facyson gives us something and Kendall [Fuller] gives us something. They both got in the game and they hadn’t practiced like they practice when they’re starters. They didn’t get as many reps and, with a freshman, that kind of shows up on Saturday when you don’t get as much work during the week. They’ll get a lot of work this week and I have a lot of confidence in those two. [Detrick] Bonner came in and played three positions on Saturday and made calls. We were scrambling, but he and Kyshoen [Jarrett] did a heck of a job. We hope to get Chuck Clark back this week; that’s still a question mark, but we hope he’s back. Between Exum, Kyle and Chuck Clark, we’re going through the week with three guys that we aren’t sure about on Saturday.”
On Brandon Facyson’s occasional over-aggressiveness: “He’s a smart guy; he’ll learn from Saturday. They put a double move on him on the first one, the guys made a good throw and a good catch, and he misjudged the second one a little bit, he probably needed to keep the receiver a little bit more in front of him. But, he’ll learn from those and he’ll be better because of those plays.”
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