NORTHWESTERN COMMAND - Grobe is looking for his first win at Clemson. He is 0-3 at Death Valley during his eight-year tenure. This is what he had to say about Saturday's game - which could be a pivotal one in the Atlantic Division:

Q: What is It about [Clemson's] offense from your perspective that hasn’t been working? What do you see that they can correct that makes you nervous?

JG: Having two weeks to prepare that makes me nervous especially since we have eight new defenders on the team from last year’s team and you know we don’t adjust as well as we would with a more veteran defense. I think they thing you have to look at more than anything else is how tough their schedule has been. They have played some great football teams early in the year, I think that is what people tend to overlook. Their schedule has been one of the toughest [11th Sagarin Ratings] So I wouldn’t so much point to their offense as good teams they have played.

Q: You're passing game is much improved this season [Riley Skinner has a 180 rating over the last four games] where has the production jump come from?

JG: Last year we spent half a season trying to throw he ball more we were just thin at receiver. We just have didn’t have the footspeed we needed, we had kids who were either banged up or redshirting. This year we have little better speed at receiver …. I think it’s kind of a week to week thing, different defenses attack different parts of your offense.

Q: You've won two in a row [wins at N.C. State, vs. Maryland], where is your team?

JG: I think we are better. I like that we have improved every week. That heartbreaker up at Boston College [overtime loss Sept. 26] could have derailed a bunch of teams. I’m real excited that we bounced back and won against two great football teams. This will be a great test.

Q: What's one thing you could improve to maybe be the best team in the Atlantic.

JG: Certainly one of the positives we didn't have a turnover against Maryland, that’s real important. Defensively we are still giving up too many big plays. If there is one thing I could put my finger on to make us a better football team. Be a little more stingy on big plays.

Q: What's with the improved quarterback play in the ACC?

JG: I think experience has a lot to do with it. I don’t think there is any question about it. The ACC has always been a tough defensive league. If you’re a young quarterback in this league it makes it really, really tough unless with your supporting cast you can just hand the ball off, or spend all your time throwing low-risk passes. I think when you look around the league all the quarterbacks have at least one good year of experience under their belt. And like Riley Skinner this is his fourth year playing. Biggest thing is exp, but there is certainly a lot of talent.

Q: At 2-1 are you feeling good?

JG: I don’t; feel comfortable at all, one of players from one another teams said anyone could win this thing, I think you are probably going to be hearing the same thing 4-5 weeks from now.

Q: How contentious have some of your staff meetings been, have you ever had coaches come close to blows?

A: Not close to blows. We have had some pretty contentious meeting form time to time, coaches feel very strongly about things we are doing from time to time. But no matter how contentious meetings got we all went out and jogged at lunch. Coaches want to win on Saturday, but once the head coach makes call 'this is the way we are going' then you need to move on, get game plan ready and get on bard.

Q: Four of last six games are on the road, how do you prepare?

JG: The main thing is playing some guys that haven’t been there before. New experience for them .... you’d rather be on the road with a more veteran group of players.

Copy and paste the link:

Comments

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Postandcourier.com is pleased to offer readers the enhanced ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. Postandcourier.com does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not postandcourier.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website. Read our full Terms and Conditions.

Users can now build user-to-user connections, follow friends' recent posts, add an avatar that fits their personality, and more. If you have posted here before you'll need to sign up again, or if you've never posted before, start now by signing up!