Oct. 19, 2010
Opening statement:
"Boston College is a very, very good defensive football team, probably the best defensive team we've faced. They rank 12th in the country averaging 7.5 tackles for loss per game. They're very strong against the run. They lead the ACC in rushing defense. Their middle linebacker, Luke Kuechly is very good. He leads the ACC in tackles. (Mark) Herzlich is another good player. They have two really quality linebackers, good cornerbacks and secondary - big, strong and physical upfront.
"Offensively their line is typical, big and strong. Where they're struggling a little bit is they lost their best wide receiver and they have young wide receivers and a young quarterback. Montel Harris is still an excellent running back. He had a very good game against Florida State. He seems to always fall forward, he's got amazing talent. He's not a very big guy but he's a very, very good running back.
"Special teams they're really solid. They have two good kickers and they execute very well.
"Last night I thought we had one of our better practices of the season. Looking at our tape I thought we played hard (Saturday). We didn't always play smart. We have to eliminate the penalties. We had a poor game in special teams, which we hadn't been having. I thought special teams has won a lot of games for us and we have to get back to doing what we're capable of doing there."
On the kicking competition:
"(Travis) Baltz won the contest in practice last night. Nick Ferrara could win that job but has seemed to be a little off lately. He had a kick blocked last night. He would be playing if he were kicking the way he is capable of."
On his frustration following the Clemson game:
"There were a lot of good things taking place in that game. I really felt that we were in situations to win the football game on Saturday. After an excellent drive we were up 7-3, and then they caught up. After what I thought was another very good drive, we were third-and-1 on the 9 yard line, took a sack, missed the field goal and were unable to execute. The momentum of the game changed at that point. The frustration I had was seeing a young quarterback making plays under pressure; cool, calm, with an offensive line competing against All-Americans. We received (false start) penalties and part of the reason for those were trouble hearing the quarterback and crowd noise. These can be resolved through maturity. What frustrated me was that mistakes like these can cost the game. We're a better football team than the way we played Saturday."
On his assessment of the team halfway through the season:
"I think we are doing some very good things. Our turnover ratio has been good. Even though we did not play our best Saturday, we did have some interceptions, which I believe played a large role in what the score of the game was. If you looked at the statistics from Saturday's game, you would not have believed that we lost 31-7. We have got to stop these penalties; many of them are foolish penalties. We need to hang in there and keep working hard and find a way to win on the road. We have six more games, and we need to win on the road."
On road woes:
"It is never easy to win on the road. I think that the younger your team is, the more difficult it is to do so but I know we are capable. It's about time we start maturing and be able to do that - that is our next big component as a team."
On the offensive line:
"I'm not discouraged with the offensive line. Pete DeSouza has done some good things. I'm not meaning to single him out but he did some pretty good things against some pretty good players. I'm not discouraged with him at all. I am encouraged by the way he is playing. With R.J. Dill moving to the left side I think we are still capable to keep competing. You have to keep fighting, you can't give up. There are going to be times of difficulty but you have to keep fighting."
On freshmen playing offensive line:
"I think we can build some good players. R.J. Dill was a redshirt freshman last year and has been improving each and every week. Justin Gilbert made huge strides of improvement as well. But right now we don't have a lot of choices in terms of changes and freshmen starters. Pete White has been improving; it is very similar to Andrew Gonnella's improvements last year. White has been experiencing the improvements that he needs to be at this point. I am encouraged right now with where are our young freshmen are. Right now we are worried about Boston College."
On running yardage on the road:
"As far as running yardage, I think we need to be patient and find a way to run the ball, that way we are able to take some of the heat off of our offensive line."
Sophomore Defensive Lineman A.J. Francis
On playing on the road:
"I don't feel any different for a road game. I'm actually more excited for road games because I get the feeling that nobody like us and they don't want us to win. I like that feeling. I remember my freshman year when I was getting redshirted; we went down to Clemson and beat them. Hearing all of their fans get quiet - that's one of the best feelings in the world. I don't know what we have to do but we have to win on the road if we want to accomplish our goals."
On Boston College's offense:
"They have a young quarterback and one of the best running backs in the conference as well as one of the best offensive lines in the conference. They like to try to overpower you and weigh you down. They try to keep you off balance and then they come right at you."
On blitzing vs. Boston College:
"They have given up 16 sacks so far this year so getting some pressure on the quarterback is a key to the game. We also need to not only get pressure on the quarterback but run-blitz to get pressure on Montel Harris because he is such a dynamic back. He has great balance. When I was watching film I noticed that there are a lot of plays where it looks like he is down and he breaks out of it to pick up five or six more yards."
On the team's tight end position this year:
"We have continued to get better and we keep getting stronger and more of us get healthy. We just keep getting better as a group as the year goes on."
On the team's trouble on the road so far this season:
"I think part of it is a lack of experience and the number of young players that are playing for us right now. We hadn't really experienced the loud crowd noise that is going to come with playing at Clemson before. This week we have to eliminate the penalties and work on not committing mental penalties like being off sides or holding. "
On trying to get the teams running game going again:
"We are going to have to be tough inside the tackles and be able to pound the ball. We need to loosen them up because they are too good of a team to be one dimensional against them and beat them. We are going to have to both run the ball and throw the ball to have success."
On his turnovers against Clemson:
"I take a lot of pride in not turning the ball over so turning the ball over three times the way I did upset me. I have learned from it and plan to move on this weekend."
On the team's morale right now:
"I think after the loss a lot of us took it personally. The older guys like (Adrian) Moten, Torrey (Smith), (Alex) Wujciak, and Adrian Cannon have been lifting us up. It's gut-check time for us. We prepared pretty hard for Clemson and to lose the way we did was tough. But we have rallied and responded from the loss pretty well. "
On his analysis of the season so far:
"I want to be able to contribute a little bit more. I think I'm going to help out on special teams and hopefully that works out for the second half of the year. Overall my body feels good and we have a lot of confidence in the locker room. We just need to come out with some road wins."
On the team's offensive line and lack of running attack against Clemson:
"The offensive line has been opening holes for us and we ran the ball pretty well against Clemson and this year for the most part. We were just in a bad spot in the game and we had to put it into the air to try to score some points."
