Bowden Teleconference Notes

Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden met with the media after reviewing film of the Maryland game, and also to look ahead to next week's contest against N.C. State.

FILM REVIEW: After reviewing film of the Maryland game, Tommy Bowden said the biggest thing his team needed to get the win was just one more big play on offense.

"Just looking at it, we held them to one touchdown and offensively we didn't get a touchdown," he said. "We played hard, held them to 50 yards rushing. Just two good teams playing and we lost on a last-second field goal.

"As you look through scores its two good teams playing. This is a tough conference and it's going to come down to someone making one more play. I don't want to minimize losing. I surely don't. Parity is here. And we have to make one more play and we just didn't do it. We don't have to reinvent the wheel, we just have to find another play."

RED ZONE PROBLEMS: The most painful of all the stats from Saturday's game had to come from the red zone.

The good news is kicker Jad Dean was perfect on all four of his field goal tries, but the bad news is the Tigers were 0-for-4 in attempting to score touchdowns.

"We had some chances," Bowden said. "They got one and we got none. We aren't going to get a lot against good defenses. The holes up front aren't going to be as big and you just have to figure out how to make a play."

Clemson entered Saturday's game third in the conference in red zone offense, converting 36-of-41 opportunities, including a league high 30 touchdowns. However the Tigers have now gone seven quarters without an offensive touchdown.

BOWDEN ADDRESSES CONFIDENCE: With two consecutive losses after a 7-1 start, Bowden said he'll address the team's confidence level this week during practice.

In fact, he said it's something that's always a concern regardless of the outcome of a particular game.

"That's always a concern whether you win or lose," he said. "Whether you win and you get over confident or vice versa. Now we have to battle keeping our confidence up.

"I want us to come out of this finishing strong, as we have in the past. You just keep playing hard and doing good things and it will eventually turn your way."

QUICK HITS: Bowden downplayed criticism of Will Proctor, citing a 66 percent completion percentage, but he did say improvement needs to come with "decisions in his progressions" as opposed to mechanics or footwork. ... The Tigers have one more game against N.C. State before having their first off-week of the season. Bowden said mental fatigue is generally his biggest concern under that scenario. "We try to watch the fatigue part but its more mental than anything," he said. "It becomes a physical factor when you have a lot of injuries. And you address the physical by the amount of time you stay on the film and the amount of hitting you do."