Here's the transcript from Q&As with Coach Rod, as well as the inclusion of my personal questions to Randy Edsall and Greg Schiano. I asked Coach Rod one too.

Opening remarks on Maryland
"Obviously, our players understand what a big game this is... each and every year. It's got a long history of being an outstanding rivalry. Both teams have short weeks. It should be a great atmosphere here Thursday night. Our players, and I’m sure Maryland’s players, are excited about it. It’s going to be a great challenge. We’ve had some very, very physical ballgames with them over the last couple years, and I’m sure this one will be no different."

A student reporter from Syracuse was doing a story on the usage of text messages
"There’s no question that text messaging is something that all coaches have to learn and be involved in as a way of communicating with prospects. I think in a lot of ways it’s been good. I think there’s obviously some legislation that probably needs to come to curb some of it. But at the same time, it’s a lot easier to communicate with the young people with that."

"Now I don’t know if it’s changed us much other than the fact that all of our coaches and myself have had to learn how to do it. We’re not quite as proficient… at least I’m not… as some of those young guys are. It would take me an hour to text message 2 or 3 guys. I haven’t learned the slang and the shortcuts yet. But, it’s a way of life right now in our profession and you’ve got to learn how to do it."

"I don’t know about the rest of the guys… I think all of my coaches are doing some every day. Myself… I’m probably doing it twice… two or three times a week, and probably twelve to fifteen kids at a time. So I’m not doing it as much as maybe some other head coaches are. It does keep you busy and it takes away some of your other time."

Reflect on Maryland rescinding offer to Steve Slaton?
"To be honest with you… Maryland and the situation with him and Steve’s offer… it wasn’t as big of a factor, from our standpoint, as far as how we would approach recruiting him or not. We liked him from the first time we saw him. He was committed to Maryland, but it was kind of a soft commit anyway. So, I don’t really know all the details… I really don’t care… and obviously until you sign, you never know for sure where a guy is going to go. We felt comfortable in our recruiting process. We had a great visit with him and his family… and fortunately for us he decided to be a Mountaineer."

Comments on Sam Hollenbach?
"Sam… I’m really impressed with him this year. He’s got a command of the offense. He’s a big, strong guy. He made some nice plays against us last year, and I think he’s running Ralph’s offense the way he wants it to be run. He’s obviously one of the big keys to their offense. They’ve always had great success when their quarterback has played well. They’ve won two games because Sam has played pretty well."

Has Pat's injury been hampering him?
"Actually he’s better now in the warm-ups. We were concerned going into the last game… in the warm-ups he didn’t do anything at all. He said I feel like a liar because he’s been telling us it’s been bothering him. I didn’t know if whether his adrenaline was pumping or not. But, he zipped the ball around in warm-ups, he had no issues at all in the game, and we practiced yesterday… and he threw the ball well and was running around and stuff good. We’re hoping, obviously, it’s subsiding. It’s probably still going to be sore for the next couple of days. He’s feeling better now than he has in several weeks."

Like what Jarrett did?
"I was really, really pleased. One of the concerns coming in… we had to develop a backup quarterback, and Jarrett Brown has kind of taken control of that. He’s gotten to play a good bit in the last two games… and he played really well. He’s still got a little ways to go, but he makes a lot of plays with his athleticism. I think he’s understanding what we want as well."

Many facets of Owen Schmitt?
"There’s no question. In fact, he did that last year. As the season went on towards the end of the year, he was developing into a guy that was more than just a lead blocker or a true fullback… he became a guy that we could hand the ball off to, throw it to… and he’s just a good football player. He’s got all the skills you want out of a running back. He’s a big, strong guy and he’s a physical player. There’s no question we could use him as a weapon in different plays that we have."

More reps for Steve?
"Yeah. Stevie… we rested him a good bit Saturday after the first couple of series. For us to be an effective offense, the way we want to run it, we need explosive players playing. Steve Slaton is obviously one of the most explosive we have."

Restored our prowess versus Maryland?
"We got really disappointed the first few times we played them. Even though they clearly outplayed us with a better team, we made a lot of mistakes. We weren’t giving them our best shot."

"Two years ago when we first beat them, I told the guys whatever we do…just play hard… we’re going to make mistakes. But, let’s make sure they get our best shot. At least the last couple of years we’ve been able to do that."

"The history of the series between West Virginia and Maryland has been very physical, very close, and been a great rivalry. It’s been very, very intense, and I’m sure it will be again Thursday night."

Comments on Syracuse signing deal with Boston College?
"I think that’s up to the individual institution. From a scheduling standpoint, with the 12 game thing, you’re scrambling to find games… maybe not in the next year or two, but four or five years down the road. If you find somebody that's relatively regional, that’s close to you that will draw a lot of fan interest… I think teams will look at that. So, what’s in the past is in the past."

[Jim to Rich Rodriguez]:
Maybe it’s because we’ve won 94-13 so far, but we’re seeing a lot of new guys on the field. After fall camp, I know Quinton Andrews was a starter. We’re seeing some Wes Lyons, and we’re seeing some Tito Gonzales… in terms of new players. Anybody else that’s kind of shaken up the depth chart a little bit?
"Well you mentioned three that we felt after camp that had a chance. Greg Isdaner is a guy, with the injury to Damien Crissey, who has now been thrust into the starting role. He’s done pretty well. I’m pleased with that. Some other guys defensively, like Doug Slavonic who probably would have been a starter… he’s been out for a couple weeks. As he gets healthy… probably not for this game, but for the next game… he’s another guy that’ll be in there as a young guy that hasn’t played a whole lot. Jarrett Brown and some of the guys…"

"One of our goals is to play with more people, and we’ve been fortunate to be able to do that so far."

[Jim to Randy Edsall]:
Your preparation for Wake Forest… how valuable is the fact that Syracuse has already played them? Have you talked to Greg Robinson and his staff... is there a lot of camaraderie within the conference when it comes to prepping for teams you both play?
"No, I haven’t talked to Greg and things. We’ve seen the game… it was on TV, and we watched it and everything else. A lot of times you’re not going to share a lot of things with other people in your conference because you’re telling them what you’re doing against another team… well guess what… then they’re going to know what you’re trying to do when they might play you."

"No, I haven’t talked to him, and I don’t plan to give him a call to talk about Wake Forest. And I’m sure, like I said, he wouldn’t share a whole lot of information with me in terms of how they tried to defense them, and give away any kind of secrets that could help us down the road… and I probably would do the same thing."

[Jim to Greg Schiano]:
It was well-publicized last year how the fans really attended your bowl game and about the increased amount of fan support. How would you compare two game in this year to the atmosphere… the environment… the fan support… two games into the season last year?
"I tell you, it’s hard to even remember two games into last year. I know that’s bad on my part, but I think we have real excitement in the New Jersey – New York metropolitan area about Rutgers football. That’s something we’ve been working towards. It was a great crowd Saturday, and we expect another great crowd this Saturday. So, that felt good. That was a real sign that we’re moving the program in the right direction."

[Jim to Greg Schiano]:
Are you selling out?
"We were just below. I think we had 41,000, or something like that. Hopefully this week we will sell out, and hopefully try to start a trend that way."

Same time next week.