Here are the quotes from Durkin's weekly Tuesday presser.
Maryland Head Coach DJ Durkin
Opening Statement:
“Getting ready to go out and practice here this afternoon. We’re looking forward to a challenge here on the road, going out to Michigan State. Obviously a very good opponent. They’re coming off a loss as well so I know their focus will be up this whole week. That’s a program with a lot of pride, for sure – won a lot of game over the past several seasons. Big challenge for our guys. I really believe our guys are up for the challenge and will respond. Looking forward to preparation.”
On mindset going into a game versus during the game:
“The difference… I don’t know. That’s a large thing that we’re working on as a program. I think when we’ve been at full strength this year, I think you saw what this team is capable of. It’s more than just… It’s a mindset at times, when you’re not at full strength, how you’re going to respond. I think that’s, as you’re changing a culture and building, you build that up. When you’ve got a team that can fall back on, ‘We’ve been here before, we’ve done that, we’ve won.’ You’ve got a group of seniors that can say, ‘We’ve won 30, 40-some games together,’ you have something. So when something big happens, everyone can fall back on that like, ‘We got this, let’s go.’ But when you don’t have that, you’re a team trying to find yourself. So we’re a team that doesn’t have that type of experience level and a very young team. That’s what we’re dealing with. It’s all part of the growing process. A lot of that helps when, again going back to our confidence, it’s built off of how we play and how our guys feel about it. You can’t be up and down throughout it. But that’s built over time. That’s a culture – that’s something you just keep grinding away and building at. Hopefully we can build on the positives that we just had – you need to. Because the evidence is there, it’s not. I tell them all the time, the difference between winning and losing is very small. It’s a fine line. But that little bit right there sometimes takes a lot to overcome.”
On QB Max Bortenschlager and other options at quarterback:
“[Ryan] Brand just played a full game. We don’t have many more guys at the position. We’ve had to use them all. That’s what we’ve got. I think we’ll be here, day-to-day going through the week with Max. But yeah, I anticipate he’ll be ready to go. Like I’ve said before, Max is a really tough kid, great competitor. As you make decisions as a coach, you always have to make the decisions of what’s best for the team. But you also have to keep in mind what’s best for a young man. That’s a lot of what it came down to last week – of is it the right circumstances to put him in or not. But I think as Max prepares through this week, we’ll see. We’ll make a decision later in the week but I think he’ll be ready to go.”
On WR Taivon Jacobs:
“He’s coming along, he’s playing. Although he’s an older guy, his experience isn’t equal to what his age is in the program, just because of injuries he’s had, what he’s had to overcome. He’s almost like a freshman or redshirt freshman that you can see having that much growth and development throughout a season. He’s playing really well. He’s making some big third down catches for us. His numbers are continuing to go up and he’s doing some things blocking on the perimeter and in the run game that’s really helping us. Very pleased with him, happy how he’s progressing.”
On minimizing players “pressing” to become bowl eligible:
“No. I think every week I come in here someone asks about the bowl eligibility and the bowl number. We don’t talk about it. Obviously our guys know it, but what are we going to do? We have to worry about Michigan State. We’ve got to worry about this game. We need to win two more, I don’t even know what that would do. It goes opposite of anything you would want to talk about as a coach, to play this game. No matter who you’re playing that week, if your focus isn’t on the team you’re playing, you’re going to have a problem. It’s all about finding a way to go get a win on the road at Michigan State. And once we do that, it’s going to be prepare for the next one, and so on. That’s how it goes.”
On what he’s expecting from Michigan State:
“That’s a program, like I talked about, that’s won a lot of games over the years. They certainly understand how to respond. I would expect they’ll definitely be ready to go. They’re at home and they’ll be excited to play – just as our guys will. I think it’ll be a really good football game.”
On deciding on a starting quarterback for Michigan State:
“We’re always going to play the best guy that gives us the best chance to win. In this case, right here, I think as we’ve all seen, Max has played a lot of football for us this year. I think he’s been very effective at times. Like anyone else, there’s times we wish we did a few things better. It’s more about going through the week and how prepared he is and ready to play. Max is the guy on the depth chart that, if ready to go, will be the quarterback.”
On challenges Michigan State’s offense presents:
“Their offense, I think, is able to beat you by running the ball or throwing the ball. They’ve been very effective in games by throwing the ball – they had a couple games of over 400 yards passing. They’re certainly, as always, built around running the ball and coming at you with it. They do multiple personnel groups, they’ve been having some success throwing the ball, their quarterback is playing well for them. He’s had a lot of games where he has run the ball very effectively as well. Preparing for them on defense is a big task. Because they’re multi-dimensional, they use different personnel groups, different formations, and they can beat you more than one way.”
On if he expects LB Shane Cockerille to return for the last two games:
“There’s a good chance of that, as long as Shane is fulfilling his obligations to what he needs to do. He’s been with us this whole time, been with the team. So yeah, there is a chance of that, certainly. It’s Tuesday of another week and we’ll see by Saturday. He’s been with us this whole time and we set some strict guidelines and obligations for him, that thus far, he’s been doing pretty consistently for a while now.”
On if he was impressed with the offensive line performance against Michigan:
“Yeah, I was. I thought we moved the ball pretty well in the second half in particular. We had a couple drives we didn’t finish, with the interception in the red zone and then the missed field goal. But we moved the ball well. There’s not many teams that have moved the ball on that defense like that, I think, in the second half. Again, there’s always many ways to look at things, I think for us, it’s a matter of – there are some things we did really well versus a group that’s as good as anyone you’re going to face. We need to build on that. It was good, part of that was that Marcus Minor played the second half at offensive tackle. You get to see a young guy, that was his first real extended time playing football. He’s had a handful of snaps here and there, he’s been on field goal protection. He went in there and played really well. That was a really bright spot for him, for our team, to see a freshman out there on the offensive line playing like that.”
On offensive line injuries:
“Neither of them are out. Damian [Prince] and Terrance [Davis] are both day-to-day right now. They’re banged up a little bit but they’re going to practice. We’ll just see how they go. They’re both day-to-day right now, but neither of them are out. Terrance went in, he came back in the game, he came off the field then he came back and he played the rest of the game. Damian did not when he came out, Marcus stayed in for him. Damian – he’s been battling things, we don’t talk about all that, but he’s been battling an injury all year long. Credit to that guy. He’s still played at a high level I feel like all year long, and he’s not been 100 percent really the whole time. He’s been dealing with some stuff and he got dinged up a little bit in that game so Marcus came in. But Dame will be back out there and we’ll see how he is today, tomorrow. I trust him to tell us how he feels. It means a lot to him, it matters to him, so he’ll communicate how he feels and what he’s able to do.”
Maryland Head Coach DJ Durkin
Opening Statement:
“Getting ready to go out and practice here this afternoon. We’re looking forward to a challenge here on the road, going out to Michigan State. Obviously a very good opponent. They’re coming off a loss as well so I know their focus will be up this whole week. That’s a program with a lot of pride, for sure – won a lot of game over the past several seasons. Big challenge for our guys. I really believe our guys are up for the challenge and will respond. Looking forward to preparation.”
On mindset going into a game versus during the game:
“The difference… I don’t know. That’s a large thing that we’re working on as a program. I think when we’ve been at full strength this year, I think you saw what this team is capable of. It’s more than just… It’s a mindset at times, when you’re not at full strength, how you’re going to respond. I think that’s, as you’re changing a culture and building, you build that up. When you’ve got a team that can fall back on, ‘We’ve been here before, we’ve done that, we’ve won.’ You’ve got a group of seniors that can say, ‘We’ve won 30, 40-some games together,’ you have something. So when something big happens, everyone can fall back on that like, ‘We got this, let’s go.’ But when you don’t have that, you’re a team trying to find yourself. So we’re a team that doesn’t have that type of experience level and a very young team. That’s what we’re dealing with. It’s all part of the growing process. A lot of that helps when, again going back to our confidence, it’s built off of how we play and how our guys feel about it. You can’t be up and down throughout it. But that’s built over time. That’s a culture – that’s something you just keep grinding away and building at. Hopefully we can build on the positives that we just had – you need to. Because the evidence is there, it’s not. I tell them all the time, the difference between winning and losing is very small. It’s a fine line. But that little bit right there sometimes takes a lot to overcome.”
On QB Max Bortenschlager and other options at quarterback:
“[Ryan] Brand just played a full game. We don’t have many more guys at the position. We’ve had to use them all. That’s what we’ve got. I think we’ll be here, day-to-day going through the week with Max. But yeah, I anticipate he’ll be ready to go. Like I’ve said before, Max is a really tough kid, great competitor. As you make decisions as a coach, you always have to make the decisions of what’s best for the team. But you also have to keep in mind what’s best for a young man. That’s a lot of what it came down to last week – of is it the right circumstances to put him in or not. But I think as Max prepares through this week, we’ll see. We’ll make a decision later in the week but I think he’ll be ready to go.”
On WR Taivon Jacobs:
“He’s coming along, he’s playing. Although he’s an older guy, his experience isn’t equal to what his age is in the program, just because of injuries he’s had, what he’s had to overcome. He’s almost like a freshman or redshirt freshman that you can see having that much growth and development throughout a season. He’s playing really well. He’s making some big third down catches for us. His numbers are continuing to go up and he’s doing some things blocking on the perimeter and in the run game that’s really helping us. Very pleased with him, happy how he’s progressing.”
On minimizing players “pressing” to become bowl eligible:
“No. I think every week I come in here someone asks about the bowl eligibility and the bowl number. We don’t talk about it. Obviously our guys know it, but what are we going to do? We have to worry about Michigan State. We’ve got to worry about this game. We need to win two more, I don’t even know what that would do. It goes opposite of anything you would want to talk about as a coach, to play this game. No matter who you’re playing that week, if your focus isn’t on the team you’re playing, you’re going to have a problem. It’s all about finding a way to go get a win on the road at Michigan State. And once we do that, it’s going to be prepare for the next one, and so on. That’s how it goes.”
On what he’s expecting from Michigan State:
“That’s a program, like I talked about, that’s won a lot of games over the years. They certainly understand how to respond. I would expect they’ll definitely be ready to go. They’re at home and they’ll be excited to play – just as our guys will. I think it’ll be a really good football game.”
On deciding on a starting quarterback for Michigan State:
“We’re always going to play the best guy that gives us the best chance to win. In this case, right here, I think as we’ve all seen, Max has played a lot of football for us this year. I think he’s been very effective at times. Like anyone else, there’s times we wish we did a few things better. It’s more about going through the week and how prepared he is and ready to play. Max is the guy on the depth chart that, if ready to go, will be the quarterback.”
On challenges Michigan State’s offense presents:
“Their offense, I think, is able to beat you by running the ball or throwing the ball. They’ve been very effective in games by throwing the ball – they had a couple games of over 400 yards passing. They’re certainly, as always, built around running the ball and coming at you with it. They do multiple personnel groups, they’ve been having some success throwing the ball, their quarterback is playing well for them. He’s had a lot of games where he has run the ball very effectively as well. Preparing for them on defense is a big task. Because they’re multi-dimensional, they use different personnel groups, different formations, and they can beat you more than one way.”
On if he expects LB Shane Cockerille to return for the last two games:
“There’s a good chance of that, as long as Shane is fulfilling his obligations to what he needs to do. He’s been with us this whole time, been with the team. So yeah, there is a chance of that, certainly. It’s Tuesday of another week and we’ll see by Saturday. He’s been with us this whole time and we set some strict guidelines and obligations for him, that thus far, he’s been doing pretty consistently for a while now.”
On if he was impressed with the offensive line performance against Michigan:
“Yeah, I was. I thought we moved the ball pretty well in the second half in particular. We had a couple drives we didn’t finish, with the interception in the red zone and then the missed field goal. But we moved the ball well. There’s not many teams that have moved the ball on that defense like that, I think, in the second half. Again, there’s always many ways to look at things, I think for us, it’s a matter of – there are some things we did really well versus a group that’s as good as anyone you’re going to face. We need to build on that. It was good, part of that was that Marcus Minor played the second half at offensive tackle. You get to see a young guy, that was his first real extended time playing football. He’s had a handful of snaps here and there, he’s been on field goal protection. He went in there and played really well. That was a really bright spot for him, for our team, to see a freshman out there on the offensive line playing like that.”
On offensive line injuries:
“Neither of them are out. Damian [Prince] and Terrance [Davis] are both day-to-day right now. They’re banged up a little bit but they’re going to practice. We’ll just see how they go. They’re both day-to-day right now, but neither of them are out. Terrance went in, he came back in the game, he came off the field then he came back and he played the rest of the game. Damian did not when he came out, Marcus stayed in for him. Damian – he’s been battling things, we don’t talk about all that, but he’s been battling an injury all year long. Credit to that guy. He’s still played at a high level I feel like all year long, and he’s not been 100 percent really the whole time. He’s been dealing with some stuff and he got dinged up a little bit in that game so Marcus came in. But Dame will be back out there and we’ll see how he is today, tomorrow. I trust him to tell us how he feels. It means a lot to him, it matters to him, so he’ll communicate how he feels and what he’s able to do.”
