Nov. 28, 2015 Recap | Box Score | Notes
COACH FLOOD: I just left a really emotional, really heartbroken group of seniors and a football team, but I think the focus today, because of the finality of the situation, is really with that senior class in the locker room.
We're disappointed. We didn't get it done. At times during the game, we played well. A 46-41 game, back and forth, took the lead, lost the lead in the fourth quarter, took the lead back in the fourth quarter. A lot of tremendous efforts out there.
A lot of credit to Maryland, the coaches and players alike. We knew it would be a tremendous challenge to be 1-0 today against them. They've got a talented football team. We're disappointed we didn't get it done today, and I'm disappointed for that group of seniors that this is their last game together. Questions?
Q. What did they do offensively in the second half that really gave you guys problems?
COACH FLOOD: They did a good job running the football, running the ball for 400 yards. They mixed in some quarterback runs, a little bit of option, explosive play by 45. He did that to us last year too, Ross, he's a good player.
I looked out at the field at one point, and I saw Jarius Adams out there as a true freshman, I saw Jon Bateky out there as a true freshman, and Najee Clayton out there as a true freshman, and I saw an 81-yard touchdown. It's hard on those guys. I'm certainly not putting the blame on them. That's not where it goes. It's just really hard for true freshmen, when you get them out there in those kind of numbers, individual and football.
For those guys, it will be an experience they can build on, but as I told you, sometimes when you put freshmen out on the field, some interesting things happen.
Q. Any clarification from the university about your status as coach?
COACH FLOOD: I haven't spoken to anybody in the university. Nobody has given me any indication that I wouldn't be the football coach. I get those questions, Steve, and I think the shame of those type of questions is they lead other people to believe that there's some question about it. To my knowledge, there's no question about it. I'm the head football coach, been here for four years now.
We've won the only Conference Championship in the history of this program. We've won the only Lambert Cup in the history of this program, and we've gone to three Bowl games in four years, and I fully expect to be the head coach here for a long time.
Q. What do you make of the meeting between Julie and President Barchi tomorrow?
COACH FLOOD: I don't make anything of it. It's not something that I've been made aware of, and it's not something I'm involved in.
Q. Coach, you had leads of 17 and 21 in the first half. Was it just the running game that allowed them to crawl back into it? Was there anything you could point to?
COACH FLOOD: We've proven on the other side of this there's really very few leads in college football that are safe. We've been on the other side of a couple of these games. When we came in at halftime, I told the offense, we need to continue to be aggressive. I felt like we were going to need more points.
We came out in the second half and, unfortunately, turned the ball over on the first play. Again, that's not the reason. That's just part of the story.
But when you get leads in college football, you've got to keep playing because we've proven that we can come back. We've done it twice in the last year in a game that we can come back from 25-point deficits, and I had no doubt that Maryland had enough fire power to do it.
Q. You said the questions kind of fuel speculation. Don't you think it would help if someone came out publicly and said, "Kyle's going to be here" to end that speculation, no?
COACH FLOOD: I don't feel that way. Does your editor come out every day and say Dan Duggan is going to continue to work for NJ.com? No, I'm the head football coach. We've got an excellent recruiting class in place right now. We've got a lot of exciting things happening in our football program.
This has been a tough year. We're all disappointed. In no way. I'm in no way trying to move the focus off of it. We're disappointed. We're a 4-8 football team. We're not happy about it, but we're going to go back to work tomorrow.
Q. If you were talking to the fans right now, how would you tell them the program is headed in the right direction?
COACH FLOOD: I think, when you're talking about the direction of a program, you can't just look at one year. I think you've got to look at the body of the work, and you've got to look at the young players that are in the program. When you take a look at this football team and how many players are going to come back next year, you feel great.
I don't really want to feel great right now. I'm really disappointed in today. I'm unhappy about today. I don't want to feel great right now.
But your question is about the direction, and I look at all the young players that contributed this year and got a lot of great experience, and there's some growing pains when you do that, but we're going to reap the rewards of that.
Q. You said you don't want to blame the young players. When will you begin evaluating your assistant coaches?
COACH FLOOD: It's way too emotional right now to even think about that.
Q. Without making a Bowl game this year, what changes in terms of what you're going to be able to do this December?
COACH FLOOD: We're going to hit the road recruiting. I'm going to hit the road tomorrow. I'll be out at a Long Island championship game tomorrow to watch somebody play. We're going to hit the road immediately and spend the time we would spend practicing, we won't need to do that, so we're going to spend it on the road recruiting when we can.
Q. Coach, Tyler Kroft left early last year. Will you spend any time re-recruiting any underclassmen? Do you foresee any guys declaring for the NFL draft?
COACH FLOOD: It's not really about re-recruiting them. To me, it's about the best decision for their family. Tyler made a decision he thought was best for his family. It seemed to work out pretty well. He seems to be in a good place in Cincinnati.
Leonte made a decision that he thought was best for his family. I think ultimately, when we see where he is drafted and what the reports last year were of where he could have been drafted, I think ultimately that will be a good decision for him as well.
And any player that has an interest in pursuing that, I think it's important they get evaluated by the NFL. I think that's an excellent process. They've done a good job of fine tuning that process to make it really good. And then make the best decision for their family. We want to help them do that.
So my job, my role in that process is really just to provide them as much information as I can.
Q. And just to follow up with Leonte Caroo, he had a great day today. You think about the Rutgers legacy, Kenny Britt and Brandon Coleman, Mohamed Sanu, now Leonte Caroo, will you use that as a recruiting tool for other receivers?
COACH FLOOD: When you recruit a position, that part of the conversation always comes up, the players in the past that have come through your system and really what they've developed into on the other side.
Q. Is there any player moving forward that you think is going to take a leadership role next year?
COACH FLOOD: Certainly Darius. Darius will be back with us. We don't control that process. It's a conference process, but my experience tells me that that will go the way he wants it to go and that he'll get his redshirt year, and he'll be a three-time captain here. So it will begin with him.
We've had a lot of players that I think have stepped up this year as upper classmen now and are moving in that direction.
Q. You spoke about the youth on the team, a lot of freshmen playing. Obviously, injuries wore the depth thin. What would you say about the secondary's play, especially the younger players, throughout the course of the year?
COACH FLOOD: I think they played like a young secondary. At times I thought they made plays and they flashed and they did some really good things, but it's hard for young players to play at a high level of consistency consistently. It's just really hard for them. I'm pleased with how they've continued to work. They've never allowed themselves to get frustrated. They've continued to work. And now, as we go through the off-season, it's going to be important that they continue to do that as well.
Q. What was your reaction to the fans booing when Chris came back in after he got knocked out?
COACH FLOOD: I don't react to it. I thought Chris reacted to it, and I think, as he matures, he's not going to react to it.
But I don't think it affected his play at all, and that's the most important thing.
Q. What about his play? Chris' play?
COACH FLOOD: Without look at it on the film, just on the surface, 344 yards passing, four touchdowns. The interception at the beginning of the second half, he left the ball inside a little bit. You'd like to see Andre knock that down so it's not an interception, but I thought he played well today.
Thank you.
Senior Linebacker Quentin Gause
On today's game…
"Very emotional, we wanted to go out the right way but we didn't get it done. It was a crazy ending to the game. They capitalized and they won."
On not being able to win it for Coach Flood…
"Disappointing. I also wanted go out there and do it for the family, teammates, and everybody. We weren't able to accomplish it today."
On the LB's stepping up for next year…
"We've got some hungry guys that want it and are going to give it their all on the field. I have no worry about that."
Senior Running Back Paul James
On playing his last game as a senior…
"It was a hard one and very emotional out there. I know for me it was very emotional. It was my last game here at Rutgers. It hurt a lot. These guys and I have a brighter future to look forward to."
On Coach Flood's message after the game to the players…
"Keep being a family no matter what happens after this and how we dealt with adversity. We're such a strong team together. It's a true thing. These guys are very close and it's the closest team I've ever been on."
On embracing senior leadership…
"I embraced the senior leadership. I was never really a vocal guy until this year. I've always been a lead by example type of guy, but when you become the captain of a college football team that changes."
On Senior Offensive Tackle Keith Lumpkin
On being a leader on the team…
"I personally tried to help the younger guys. A lot of them are going to step up into new roles. Just had to help them prepare better and stay focused throughout the season."
On how he feels for the seniors…
"I wish we could have won the game, but hats off to Maryland they played hard."
On what he is going to do now…
"I'm going to rest, it has been a long five years. I have to let my body rest."
Senior Wide Receiver Leonte Carroo
On the last game…
"It's unfortunate. We just came up short and ultimately didn't win the game. I'm proud of how the guys played. They played hard. Just came up a little short."
On coming up short, despite putting up career high numbers in the game…
"Yeah, that's what hurts me the most. I'm a guy that looks to make plays for my team and I wasn't able to ultimately make enough plays in the second half to win the game."
On his success today…
"Just being out for a while I knew I was going to come out and play a good game with a lot of emotion. It was also my grandfather's first time watching me play in person. I wanted to play well in front of him. I also wanted to play hard for my teammates and Coach Flood."
Interim Head Coach Mike Locksley
Opening statement
"First of all, I want to commend our players, our staff and everyone affiliated with the program. Things haven't gone our way all season. Today we got down 21 points. They could have just went through the motions but they didn't. It's something they've shown all year long. I felt like they left it all out on the field. As a coaching staff, that's all we've asked of them the last six weeks. I'm really proud of the way those guys fought. You look at last year, we were up 18 and then we lost the game. This year, we were down at the half at 18 and we come back and win. It shows resiliency. It shows what being a Terp is all about. I have to thank our seniors. Those guys have done a tremendous job in terms of leadership for us through adversity and I really think they understand what it's all about to pick yourself up by your boot straps when things aren't going well and somehow put your nose to the grindstone and keep grinding. That's what the seniors did and that's what permeated throughout our team. There's a lot of people that we need to give credit for the work they did. Again, it starts with the players and it will always be about the players. I couldn't be more proud of a bunch of guys. We'll enjoy this one and use it as a springboard to the future. As I've said before, I believe there's a big future within the nucleus of this team. I love them and I'm proud of them."
On Maryland's run game
"Four hundred yards, man, that's huge to be able to have that type of rushing yardage. But early in the game we were just missing on some big runs there. The big thing, the difference, was the threat of the pass was ontoday. I often say that [Caleb Rowe] is a true gun slinger. When he's on, he's on and obviously when he's off, he isn't very good. But today he was on and I was really proud that he opened up some things. When you have the ability to throw the football and go tempo and spread people out the way we were able to do today, that's what it should look like. I think our fans were able to see what it should look like when you have a quarterback who can execute it. Today, Caleb executed and opened up some big spots inside, whether it was Brandon [Ross] or Ty [Johnson] or Caleb pulling it and running with it. Again, we felt like we could go fast and we got 80 plays in and played with tempo. Today we were able to get it done and execute. We played hard and the right way the last few weeks but today we actually executed especially when we needed to do it in crunch time."
On the fourth down stop at the end of the game
"We say it all the time that the game of football is a game of inches. That thing was as close as it could get. We finally got a break. We didn't get a break on D.J. [Moore]'s touchdown that was called back and we winded up having to kick a field goal. A fumble there right before on the kickoff that we didn't get, so we got one out of three opportunities and it went our way. But our defense today gave us some yardage. But I tell you what. There was a string of about three or four series where they were able to get off the field with an interception and then go down and score. We had some drives of 40 seconds, a minute 40 and it's because our defense in the third quarter was able to get off of the field. It really exposed us with number four. We had to take number four away from them on offense in the second half. I felt we did a good job of that in the second half on defense."
On his last six weeks as the interim head coach
"With me, it always starts and is always about those kids. I'm all for it. I told them before the game that I grew up without a dad and he wasn't very active, so my coaches played that role. Everything I do as a coach, whether it's the head guy or as an assistant is treating them as my own. I told them today that it's not about doing what's popular. It's about doing what's right. Those kids, we made the right decisions with them during the last six weeks and I'm proud of the staff and everyone affiliated with it. For me, what I'm going to remember most is a bunch of guys grew together from adversity and as I told them, it's amazing when 105 guys work together in unison and put their personal things aside for the good of the team and that's what we're able to do. I know we didn't have a lot of wins on the board to show how much we've grown, but if you take a look at it and now that the season is over and we close the book on 2015, we should be able to look back and see that there was some small victories within it. We may have not won the battle, but we ultimately won the war because our guys now understand as we move on to other areas of life, what being a man is all about. What being a man is all about is taking advantage of opportunities no matter what happens, showing up and being professional and doing a great job with it while having fun. All these things that I've said, I've been let go before. I was let go at New Mexico and the one thing I said is I want to have fun. I truly enjoyed and I had a great time with these guys. I've really enjoyed the last six weeks."
On the future of his role with the program
"Again, as I said, we'll worry about it when that time comes. We're not going to look too far in the future and worry about what's happening in the past. I'm going to enjoy today. That's how I live. Enjoy the present and enjoy the gift of today. That's what it's about today. I'm going to have a nice bus trip home and enjoy it."
On changing the moral of the team
"We didn't have to change it. Those guys led themselves. The mark of a man is a guy who can lead himself. That's the part that people outside the program can understand. The first mark of leadership is a man who can lead himself and these guys led themselves. We provided the blueprint and the structure and they bought into everything we said, but there wasn't a lot that needed to be said. A year ago, we were up and allowed them to come back and take victory at home. Today we're down 18 and those guys kept fighting. We spoke about taking four away from the game and then just executing. We felt we could move the ball on offense. We were confident with that."
Sophomore linebacker Jermaine Carter Jr.
On the fourth down stop to end the game
"Well it was something that coaches instilled in us all week, certain things when like third-and-one or fourth-and-one, it was either quarterback sneak or power. So we aligned the D-lineman to take away the sneak, and force them to run the power, and I kind of knew they were going to run the power and expected and they ran it and just happened to be at the right place at the right time."
On what went through his head during the measurement
"It's like 'please please stop him.' After a long season like that, I had confidence that if we had to go out there we would stop them again."
On how the win feels after a difficult season
"Its great man, it's our first win since September 19th, and in high school I didn't come from a losing program...it was a humbling experience but feels great to be on the winning side again."
On playing Leonte Carroo
"He is a great player but we prepared the same as we prepare for anyone else, you know. We prepare hard, every day, every week, so we didn't really prepare any differently. He is a great player, hats off to him."
Junior quarterback Caleb Rowe
On staying in the game despite being down by a large score
"I mean we have battled through so much, you know, from my freshman year four quarterbacks going down to this year. We all knew we were going to come back; no one was down on themselves. It's something that we've been through before."
On being a hard worker and a "gun slinger"
"Honestly, this was probably one of the hardest years of my life, and I have had to deal with a lot. You learn from your mistakes and you try to move on and you know my teammates really helped me through this process and through this year and its good to just not hurt my team, and really help them win."
On attitude of the team during the second half
"We're going to win. There was no doubt in our mind. We felt like we had the momentum and its just you got to give your play makers to make a play and that's what Ross did. I was expecting a kind of long drive but to get him to break one is a good feeling."
Senior running back Brandon Ross
On wrapping up his senior season with a victory
"It felt good, man, that's really how we wanted to end it. We just wanted to end it with a win. It didn't go the way we wanted it to, but to send the seniors out with a win is really all we wanted and to go out as winners, that's how we wanted it to end."
On his 80-yard run
"I had a strange feeling before the play it was going to be open because we were running stretch all game out the gun, so I knew if we just sell stretch it would probably open up on that back side and it did and the line did a great job as always and I just saw the opening and creased it."
On what the senior class can pass on to the younger teammates
"Just to never stop fighting, no matter how things are looking, whether its looking good or bad, just to keep fighting. Through every game, the whole game, the whole season. You know, we wanted this game so bad, especially after how they came back on us last season, so we really wanted this one pretty bad and we came back and got it."
On winning for interim head coach Mike Locksley
"I wanted it really bad for him. Throughout these six weeks, man, he has supported made things fun and us for us. He stayed the same the whole way, he stayed up beat and he encouraged us."
On what he plans on doing next
"I'm going to take the game as far as I can take it. Train, pro day, all that."
