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Via Maryland, here's the transcript of head coach Randy Edsall's commentary at his Tuesday press conference. The Terps visit No. 1 Ohio State for a noon kickoff on Saturday.
On playing Ohio State:
"[Ohio State is] a team that has won 18 in a row, 25 in a row in the Big Ten Conference. They've done it (won) to just about everybody, not only nationally, but also in our conference. You get an opportunity to go out there and play your best. We'll prepare well this week for this tremendous challenge but it's also a great opportunity as well."
On running back Brandon Ross:
"I'm extremely proud of Brandon in terms of how he has developed and how he's grown as a running back and young man here in our program. For him to only be that many yards away from 2,000, that epitomizes how he has gotten better each and every year. That's really what you want out of the young people in your program: to progressively get better each and every year. That's what he has done and I think that he'll end up having even more success throughout the rest of the year. I couldn't be more proud of what he has done, how he's come along and how he's handled himself."
On his focus:
"My whole focus will always be to make our kids better. That's the thing that I'll always do any always focus on. My job is to make them better on the field, make them better in the classroom and make them better as people. That's the total focus that we have, and as you continue to do that collectively, then the other things will take care of themselves. That's the only thing that I concern myself with, I don't concern myself with anything else."
On the quarterback situation:
"What we want to do is find a guy that we feel can help give us the best opportunity to win the ball game. That's what we're going to do through practice this week, and then we'll make a decision at game time on Saturday."
"I think we have three guys that can play quarterback, just like the other positions. I have three running backs that can play just as well. We have wide receivers that can play. We're just trying to find the guy who will give us the best opportunity and the guy that will go out there and execute what he's supposed to execute at his position - just like the offensive line, just like the wide receivers, just like the tight end. We're playing a lot of tight ends, wide receivers, running backs and defensive linemen. What we're trying to do is find those guys who give us the opportunity to win, and quarterback is one of those positions, just like a lot of others, that we have solidified. When somebody can take those positions over and produce and do the things that they're supposed to do, then you can settle with one guy. If they don't, then you have to use multiple guys."
"You have to be able to run the football, there's no doubt about that. We want to be able to keep our defense off the field for a little bit. You can run it, you can throw it, but you have to make sure that you're completing the ball so the clock continues to run because you don't want your defense out there especially when you're playing a team that has the skill and power that Ohio State has."
On establishing confidence on the team:
"It's a belief that you're going to go out there and you have confidence that you're going to execute the things you have to do, and you just stay focused and stay in the moment in terms of what's taking place. Don't look ahead, don't look back, just play one play at a time and focus in on what you have to do. That's anything; the keener your focus, the better the opportunity you'll have to be successful."
"You look at the film from last week and you see the mistakes and we know that the only way we can fix it is through ourselves. We have to go out there and fix it and that's what we're working on. That's what we worked on today. You have to stay positive and with the right frame of mind. It's the old saying, ‘you just keep sawing wood'. You keep going, stay positive, compete in every play and sooner or later you're going to come out of it. We'll get it straightened out and we'll all be better for it.
On preparing the defense for Ohio State game:
I think our guys saw in the game on Saturday that when we go out and play hard, execute, and have 11 guys running to the football, we play well. That's the thing that we've been coaching them to do, the thing that we're going to continue to coach them to do. They just have to play aggressively, they can't think or be tentative, can't do the things that will slow us down or put us a half-step behind from where we need to be. Just read your keys, be aggressive, attack, and play. That's what we did and that's what we need to continue to do as we move forward this week."