It has been 'Honors Week' as the Terps received three ACC Player of the Week accolades and earned six All-ACC nods on Monday, followed by Ralph Friedgen being named ACC Coach of the Year and Danny O'Brien being named the league's top rookie on Tuesday.
WR Torrey Smith, PR Tony Logan, LB Alex Wujciak and S Kenny Tate were first-team selections; DT Joe Vellano was a second-team pick and OT Paul Pinegar was an honorable mention.
Friedgen and the honored players visited with the media Tuesday at the Gossett Football Team House.
Here are a few of Friedgen's quotes:
On whether the winning the ACC awards this week helps in positioning the Terps for a bowl game:
"For our players, I want them to be able to get to a bowl that they want to go to and are excited about. Hopefully, we can compete against an opponent and get into the top 25. That was a goal of this team. We still have another game to play that our kids are excited about. If we end 9-4, and hopefully end up in the top 25, I think that would be a great thing for us."
On spending time thinking about winning the ACC Coach of the Year Award:
"I really didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it, to be honest with you. It's a nice award and I really think it's reflective of our whole program, it's not just Ralph Friedgen. [ACC Commissioner] John Swafford left me a voicemail yesterday that I really appreciated. I think that was the only time I thought about it, to be honest with you."
On Danny O'Brien winning the ACC Rookie of the Year Award:
"I think Danny more than deserved this award. How many times did he win the Rookie of the Week? I think it was about five times. The game he played Saturday, I've never seen a redshirt freshmen play as well as that. After the game when I watching the tape, there was one of his throws where he to his left and threw to Torrey [Smith] for the touchdown in the red zone. He had to take a little off of that, and off of that he had pressure, Torrey wasn't open quite yet and he made it happen. I can tell that If he can keep working like he's doing, he's going to be something special, as long as he keeps his feet on the ground. I think people should get real excited about this kid; he's going to be very special."
On getting four first team All-ACC selections:
"I was very excited about that. To me, that was big. Obviously, the way we select the all-conference team is that we can not (nominate) our own players, other coaches nominate them and the media picks them. To have that many guys picked after feeling like we haven't gotten the respect. Obviously, that's the highest level of respect, to have your opponents pick you for the all-conference team. Somehow I was a little disappointed, I would at least expect these kids to get all-second team but that's a great honor, especially for our seniors. They'll cherise that the rest of their lives."
On why the Terps should be picked high in the bowl selection process:
"To me we ended up tied for third. If you really wanted to it in the pecking order, we are really fourth in the ACC. So to me we deserve to go to one of those bowls and I know that other people can jump in but to me we're a heck of a story. We are a team that went from 2-10 to 8-4. We have some really skilled athletes both on offense and defense. We have a young quarterback, which is exciting and now we've got the ACC Coach of the Year. Come on guys come get us!"
Notes:
- The team will not practice this week, returning to the field Monday when the Terps will begin prepping for the bowl game. The Terps opponent will be announced Sunday evening with a number of destinations still in the mix. Maryland will practice next week and take the following week off for finals exams.
- Friedgen said he is hoping to get Justin Lewis back for the bowl game. He injured his knee vs. Florida State (11/20) and missed the NC State contest (11/27). C.J. Brown (shoulder) may return for bowl practice, while Dave Stinebaugh (shoulder) will have surgery and is done for the season. He hopes to return for spring practice.
Friedgen and the honored players visited with the media Tuesday at the Gossett Football Team House.
Here are a few of Friedgen's quotes:
On whether the winning the ACC awards this week helps in positioning the Terps for a bowl game:
"For our players, I want them to be able to get to a bowl that they want to go to and are excited about. Hopefully, we can compete against an opponent and get into the top 25. That was a goal of this team. We still have another game to play that our kids are excited about. If we end 9-4, and hopefully end up in the top 25, I think that would be a great thing for us."
On spending time thinking about winning the ACC Coach of the Year Award:
"I really didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it, to be honest with you. It's a nice award and I really think it's reflective of our whole program, it's not just Ralph Friedgen. [ACC Commissioner] John Swafford left me a voicemail yesterday that I really appreciated. I think that was the only time I thought about it, to be honest with you."
On Danny O'Brien winning the ACC Rookie of the Year Award:
"I think Danny more than deserved this award. How many times did he win the Rookie of the Week? I think it was about five times. The game he played Saturday, I've never seen a redshirt freshmen play as well as that. After the game when I watching the tape, there was one of his throws where he to his left and threw to Torrey [Smith] for the touchdown in the red zone. He had to take a little off of that, and off of that he had pressure, Torrey wasn't open quite yet and he made it happen. I can tell that If he can keep working like he's doing, he's going to be something special, as long as he keeps his feet on the ground. I think people should get real excited about this kid; he's going to be very special."
On getting four first team All-ACC selections:
"I was very excited about that. To me, that was big. Obviously, the way we select the all-conference team is that we can not (nominate) our own players, other coaches nominate them and the media picks them. To have that many guys picked after feeling like we haven't gotten the respect. Obviously, that's the highest level of respect, to have your opponents pick you for the all-conference team. Somehow I was a little disappointed, I would at least expect these kids to get all-second team but that's a great honor, especially for our seniors. They'll cherise that the rest of their lives."
On why the Terps should be picked high in the bowl selection process:
"To me we ended up tied for third. If you really wanted to it in the pecking order, we are really fourth in the ACC. So to me we deserve to go to one of those bowls and I know that other people can jump in but to me we're a heck of a story. We are a team that went from 2-10 to 8-4. We have some really skilled athletes both on offense and defense. We have a young quarterback, which is exciting and now we've got the ACC Coach of the Year. Come on guys come get us!"
Notes:
- The team will not practice this week, returning to the field Monday when the Terps will begin prepping for the bowl game. The Terps opponent will be announced Sunday evening with a number of destinations still in the mix. Maryland will practice next week and take the following week off for finals exams.
- Friedgen said he is hoping to get Justin Lewis back for the bowl game. He injured his knee vs. Florida State (11/20) and missed the NC State contest (11/27). C.J. Brown (shoulder) may return for bowl practice, while Dave Stinebaugh (shoulder) will have surgery and is done for the season. He hopes to return for spring practice.
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