QUOTES – MARYLAND COACH RANDY EDSALL
Maryland 19, Wake Forest 14
Opening Statement:
“Where do you start? First of all, it was a good win and we are 1-0 in the ACC. We have a bunch of guys who are battling and want to compete for 60 minutes. What we have to do is get them better at the little things, like the fundamentals and the techniques, and not putting ourselves in positions that made it difficult to win. However, I am very proud of our guys for battling and hanging in there. We have a lot of things we still need to clean up, but I will take the win and know that the things we need to fix are things we can take care of and things the players want to take care of.“
“I would also like to make a special mention of Paul Velano being inducted into the Hall of Fame here at Maryland. He was an honorary captain this evening, and it is great to see former players coming back here and we welcome them back with open arms. I also thought the crowd was good. The crowd gave us some energy. Defensively, we played very well, except for a few plays. Offensively, we are very inconsistent and on the special teams we have things there we need to clean up also.”
On the play of the defense and the secondary:
“I thought that, other than the blown coverage early on, we started to do a really good job. I think that those guys prepare well. I was very proud of Anthony Nixon. Matt Robinson hurt his groin, and so we needed to move Eric [Franklin] over and have Anthony step up because we have been so impressed with what we have seen out of Anthony. In practice he takes great notes and he is very conscientious. I thought the secondary did play well. I thought we could have held on to some of those tipped balls for interceptions, but I thought overall our defense was outstanding.”
On the play of Perry Hills:
“Perry has to get more consistent. I love Perry to death, but he is missing some things out there. He could make it a lot easier on himself and be a lot more efficient offensively if he goes where he is supposed to with the ball and make some better reads. We just need to work with him and make sure he works to get better. As we continue to go forward, we need to eliminate some of those things.”
On the play of Stefon Diggs:
“I think one of the things Stefon has to understand now that he is here is that he cannot make a big play all of the time. He has the ability to make the big plays, but sometimes he hurts himself more than he helps himself. He gets so excited to play, we have to calm him down and tell him what he needs to do. With his punt returns, the thing he needs to understand is that the most important thing is getting the ball back and securing the football so we can get a chance to go and possess it on offense and do something with it.”
On the first Wake Forest touchdown and the defensive breakdown:
“There was a missed execution of a coverage that led to that touchdown. We would never play a coverage that would leave a guy that wide open. We had a breakdown.”
On senior leadership on defense, especially with the two late sacks:
“I think Demetrius [Hartsfield] is playing pretty well. He is a guy who is playing with a lot of confidence. He is vocal, he hates to lose, and I like how he talks and gets everybody going. With Kenny [Tate], you only want to play him so many plays, but when he is out there, there is a steadiness and fluidness. I just hope that tomorrow he won’t be sore. It got to a point in the game where I told the defensive coach to just leave him in there and just keep him going. When you have a guy out there with the intelligence that he has and just understands the game it helps you as a defense.”
On offensive identity and prospect of trying a different quarterback:
“We had talked about maybe getting Devin [Burns] in there before the game, but the situation never presented itself. I would have hoped that we would be a little further along offensively, but that is just something that we will continue to work on.”
On extra point versus going for two, and what he thought about the clock management:
“I thought that we should kick the field goal because our defense was playing really well. I guess I thought kicking the field goal was a safer option than going for two. The four minute drill was something we have worked on and I thought we executed that very well. We got as much out of the clock as we could and put ourselves in a good situation. We put Kevin Dorsey back there to get an interception and he dropped it. We were trying to get him on the stat sheet.
The thing that is so frustrating is that when you see these guys go out there and execute well, and then you see them go out there again and do some things that make you scratch your head and say ‘Where did that come from?’. That is our job as coaches to get that focus and consistency. We need to get to where we need to be as a team.”
QUOTES – MARYLAND PLAYERS
Maryland 19, Wake Forest 14
Senior Defensive Lineman A.J. Francis
On stopping Wake Forest’s offense:
“Our goal is to be the best defense in the ACC, and we have to come to work every day in practice and especially Saturdays. We still have a lot to improve on. We gave up a big touchdown on the first drive, and we should have also kept them out of the end zone on their second touchdown. Other than that we played a pretty good game, and we still have room to improve. I think we have the potential to be a really great defense.”
“On being 1-0 in ACC play:
“It is always huge to win conference games because they are the games that really matter. At the end of the day we really focus on winning conference games because it will help us get to postseason play. It is really good that we got one out of the way. We were able to pull it out, and it was a great win for our team.”
Senior Defensive End Joe Vellano:
On goal line stand:
“Everyone was really working hard on not letting their offense get in the end zone. On third down they went for it, and we were able to stop them. They went for it again on the fourth, and I think it was Dexter [McDougle] over the top who made a huge play. That really was a big momentum changer for our team.”
On being 1-0 in ACC play:
“It’s a huge win for us. Our biggest goal this week was to come out and win this game to get tonight and we were successful with that. We have Virginia next week, but this was a great start to open up our ACC competition.”
On your father’s induction to the Maryland Hall of Fame”
“It was a crazy thing being able to see my dad’s old highlights. It made me come alive during the game. Last night was a great event, and I was really touched by the support I received from the rest of the Maryland players. I never thought I would be able to be on the field with my dad, especially walking out to the coin toss with him. It was a dream come true. I am very humbled and proud of all that my dad was able to achieve.”
Freshman Quarterback Perry Hills
On how he’s progressed this season:
“I’m definitely starting to see the blitzes a lot easier; where they’re coming from, helping myself get picked up. It’s definitely slowed down a lot instead of everything happening in a split second, you start to see it a lot easier.”
On the touchdown pass to Dorsey:
“We knew the corners were going to bite on a little hitch route. So I took a three step [drop] and then just gave him a nice easy catchable ball in the end zone.”
On how Maryland’s defense played:
“The defense won the game for us. The defense played a great game. They’ve played well all year and I’m glad to have a defense as good as they are.”
Freshman Receiver Stefon Diggs
On the 63-yard receiving play:
“I had a little underneath route, caught the ball, and did my job. Everybody else had some great blocks on the outside. I ran out of gas a little bit, but I pretty much just did my job and did the best I could.”
On the muffed punt:
“I had time, but I peeked. I took my eyes off of it, and I saw that I had at least one second. There was a little bit of wind, but there’s no excuse at all; I should have squared it up. It drifted a little bit and got away from me, so I was more concerned about the ball than the hit. It happened, I tried to move forward from it. It got down on myself a little bit because that’s how I play. I love the game and I believe stuff like that shouldn’t happen. It wasn’t the worst game of my life, but we have to move on to next week at Virginia.”
On how big the win was:
“It’s good to open up the ACC with a ‘W’, so it’s a big win. We pride ourselves on not beating ourselves, but we made a lot of mistakes. If you make a lot of mistakes you can’t expect to win games; there’s a small margin of error. We’re going to hear about it tomorrow, but it’s good to get a ‘W’ battling adversity. It’s big and it builds team camaraderie and chemistry.”
Senior Linebacker Demetrius Hartsfield
On Wake Forest’s final drive in the game:
“I definitely knew what they were running. It wasn’t anything new; we just did what we had to do.”
On the play of the secondary:
“I think all of our DBs played great. I think Anthony Nixon stepped up as a freshman, and I think Jeremiah Johnson played a heck of a game. They had a handful of PBUs”
On how it feels to be 1-0 in the ACC:
“It’s good to be 1-0, but of course it’s just one win. Now we have to get ready for Virginia. I’ve yet to win down there.”
On how they were able to counter Wake Forest’s offense:
“We knew they were going to try to run the ball, and base their offense off of the run. That was the big emphasis we had, stopping the run.”
Postgame Notes
Maryland 19, Wake Forest 14
Kicking Off: Maryland (3-2, 1-0 ACC) won its conference opener for the fifth straight year by defeating Wake Forest (3-3, 1-3 ACC) 19-14 … the last time the Terps didn’t win their conference opener was 2007, a 31-24 overtime loss at Wake … Maryland leads the all-time series with the Demon Deacons 43-17-1, including a 22-8 advantage at home … the Terps have won three straight over Wake at home and 10 of the last 14 overall in the series … Maryland’s .717 winning percentage over Wake is its best mark against any ACC school.
Defense Steps Up: Maryland’s defense held strong after surrendering a 73-yard touchdown pass on the third offensive play of the game. The Terps allowed just 241 total offensive yards, the fourth time in five games they’ve held the opponent under 300. The secondary, which had 11 pass breakups, helped hold Wake Forest quarterback Tanner Price to a .342 completion percentage. Maryland came into the game 18th nationally in passing defense (177.8 ypg) and surrendered 170 to Wake. The Terps also held the opponent under 100 yards rushing for the third time this year as Wake finished with 71 rushing yards.
100-yard Game for Diggs: Freshman receiver Stefon Diggs had his second straight 100-yard receiving game by hauling in a season-high five passes for 105 yards. Diggs’ 63-yard reception in the fourth quarter was the longest by a Terp this year and set up the game-winning touchdown by Justus Pickett. Diggs also had 113 receiving yards against West Virginia two weeks ago.
Defensive Notes: Demetrius Hartsfield recorded double digit tackles (10) for the second time this season (also 13 vs. William & Mary) … Hartsfield’s sack on 4th-and-15 late in the fourth quarter sealed the victory … Darin Drakeford and Kenneth Tate also recorded sacks … Jeremiah Johnson had four pass breakups and now leads the team with six this year.
Big Leg: Brad Craddock connected on two long field goals for Maryland of 49 and 52 yards. He is the first Terp to hit a 50-yarder since Travis Baltz had a 52-yarder on 11/27/10 and the first Terp to hit two field goals of at least 45 yards since Baltz had a pair of 47-yarders on 9/11/10.
Dorsey in the Scoring Column: Wide receiver Kevin Dorsey recorded his first touchdown reception of the season when he caught a 33-yard pass from Perry Hills with 2:19 left in the second quarter.
Goal-Line Stop: Maryland came up with a big goal-line stop in the second quarter. Wake Forest had third-and-goal at the 1-yard line, but was unable to score. WF quarterback Tanner Price fumbled on third down and Bradley Johnson came up with a tackle at the line of scrimmage on fourth down.
Nixon Starts: With Matt Robinson out of the game due to a groin injury, true freshman Anthony Nixon drew the start at safety opposite of Eric Franklin. Nixon is the fifth true freshman to start on offense or defense for Maryland this year (Stefon Diggs, Albert Reid, Perry Hills, Sean Davis). Additionally, Brad Craddock has served as the starting place-kicker every game.
Hall of Fame: Eight new members were inducted into Maryland’s Athletics Hall of Fame of this weekend, including football alum Paul Vellano. Vellano, a first team All-American in 1973, is the father of current Terp Joe Vellano, a second team All-American last year. The father-son combo represent one of four known father-son All-America combos to attend the same FBS school (also Lee and Travis McGriff at Florida; Kevin and Drew Butler at Georgia; Archie and Eli Manning at Ole Miss).
Tidbits: Maryland won the time of possession battle, holding the ball for 35:48 compared to 24:12 for Wake Forest … Diggs finished with 132 all-purpose yards (105 receiving, 20 punt return, 7 rushing) … there were seven fumbles in the game (four by Maryland, three by WF), with each team recovering two.
