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BOSTON COLLEGE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 19, 2016

Steve Addazio

Boston, Massachusetts

Connecticut - 0, Boston College - 30

COACH ADDAZIO: Great enthusiasm, great energy, great Christmas. Follow that up with playing maybe one of our most complete games: Threw the ball well, ran the ball well, 40 minutes time of possession against a good run-stopping defense. Our defense was lights out. They had 121 yards of total offense, and they rushed the ball for 17 yards I think.

Just really want to talk about how proud I am of our seniors, and just really a team that's got a great resolve and great attitude. Felt great to be in the locker room with them after they won this game, and looking forward to have an opportunity to win one more here to get to six, and we're going to look to have a great week.

Q. Just go a little bit more on the three phases of the game today; Mike Knoll was a one-man wrecking crew on defense, offense.
COACH ADDAZIO: Yeah, that's what I mean when I said it's the most complete game. Special teams, Mike was great, three for three, I believe. Kicked the ball well off from the tee, punted the ball well. In fact, I don't even know how many times we punted. I can't even remember now. Maybe once or twice or three times, I don't know.

I thought our coverage was outstanding. Our kickoff coverage was swarming, which I thought was great. And so special teams, defense, and we played great defense today, made really look good on the back end and played hard.

On offense we were very, very physical and we threw the ball well, and you know, at the end, we had a couple more opportunities there but we didn't attempt to do anything there. Just thought we played with great physicalness, great resolve. That's the look of a team that's still fighting hard for every inch right now and I'm proud of them for that.

You know, we're building something and that something has got a great future to it with a bunch of young kids that love football, love each other, and I'm excited for them.

Q. Early in the game, the second quarter when it was still scoreless, what was the decision behind going for it on fourth?
COACH ADDAZIO: Well, you're referring to the one where we had the time out? You know, it's really, when I watch practice during the week, I see Mike's range and that was messing with his range right there.

I just decided, I thought, you know, we had that -- had a little feel of confidence in there and Pat throwing the ball. I just decided, you know what, we're going for it. We're just going for it right now. Worked out. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't and that worked out. So it ended up being good.

Q. The first quarter was more of a dogfight and the second quarter had a lot more continuity; what do you think changed from the first 15 minutes to the remaining 45?
COACH ADDAZIO: Well, I think in the second series, first series, we had a couple of mishaps. In there first series, first play actually. Bobby Wolford was down, and it was Ray's first play as a freshman going in as a fullback. He was menacing today. I just was watching him a couple times, it was like, wow. But anybody's kind of like first play, kind of went in there.

Then we had a -- you know, we snapped the ball before the offense, without the cadence, and that happened on third down, so that was that series.

The next series we had I think an six-play drive or something like that, and then we got ourselves under control. What happens with us sometimes is people start loading the box in there with different fronts. And you're trying to find the rhythm that you're looking for in the run game and the throw game. And you know, we started throwing some passes and opening things up a little bit.

And then getting the right selections for the kind of fronts we were facing, so that's really what happened there. I can't think threw the whole quarter right now. In my head, I want to say, we had, not counting the last possession before the half, we might have had four possessions I think in the fourth half, I don't know. We had a lot of time of possession. We had 40 minutes of time of possession to their 19. So we possessed the ball. We had a lot of long drives. Even one we came away with a couple of field goals, they were long drives.

We're working obviously, we want to be a more explosive team and you know, we're working hard at that. We hit one explosive with Jeff, which was fantastic, but we've got to create more explosives.

Q. How big can that drive -- coming out of the half-time in the third quarter, where Patrick was like five of six on that drive, going into a tough test the next week.
COACH ADDAZIO: Yeah, it was really important. I thought that was critical. To come out and drive the ball like that out of the half, you know, we started really gaining steam.

You know what happens sometimes, and it's just what happens in football, depending on the style of offense you're in, too; you start to wear down the defense with the physicality of your style of offense; if you can stay on the field, and get first downs. When you don't, they never feel the effect of that, so it doesn't work for you.

But when you do, they start to feel the effect of it and it wears down a defense and I thought that's what was happening today. We were starting to wear their defense down with the physicality of what we were doing.

The trick is to try to get enough first downs early to let that take effect, and there have been games where that has not happened for us because we could not stay on the field and convert enough third downs to get that ball rolling, if you will. That's part of what we're working on and that's part of our experience factor, okay. But today -- and defense is playing lights out, right so. When that happens, it gives the offense a chance to kind of do that.

So we're built here for defense first. That's the plan to win. We're built that way. And so that is how we create momentum here. We play great defense, get more opportunities to get the ball moving, and you know, at times we've done that and that's what happens against NC State. Happened against Georgia Tech. But at other times0, it happened a little bit against Syracuse, too, but other times, it didn't happen and it kind of crushes you, like it slides back on you a little bit. So that consistency is what we're working on right now.

Q. After these last two weeks here, what did it mean not only to win this game, but to do it in the way that you guys were able to do it?
COACH ADDAZIO: Yeah, you know what it is, it's building confidence. This has been a year that we haven't really been able to build any momentum or confidence. It's just the way it's fallen, and it's on me, okay. And just, you know, your schedule and how -- we needed to build some confidence, build some momentum.

Football is a momentum game, and you know, we came off a three-game series with NC State and Louisville and Florida State. We were able to pluck off the NC State game. You know, now we're able to get back and get a little momentum and a little confidence, which is so critically important to be able to have a shot to go down there now, on the road, and play Wake Forest to have a chance to get our sixth win, you know.

That's where the season is. The opener, you know, got away from us on a fourth and 19. So we're fighting back right now to recapture, try to claw to get those wins in here right now. So we've got one more to go, and we've just got to keep growing.

I thought our quarterback played extremely well today, okay and that made a huge difference. He was ripping the ball down and running with authority and throwing it with real confidence. He played his best game today at Boston College for sure and that was critically important and that really helped. It's all these little pieces, they all go hand in hand. But the confidence and the momentum gained gives you an opportunity to have a great week, which gives you opportunity to take a stand and play for it next Saturday.

Q. I want to thank you for all the inspiration you've brought to Boston College. Today is a very emotional day for me, I haven't been around greatness for a long time, life's been hard, but just being around greatness today was a wonderful thing. Now I have kind of a funny question that pertains more to the program in general. When I was hear I heard Coach Coughlin give a speech about winning a National Championship and I've always had the belief that Boston College would win its National Championship differently than other colleges; by rising as an amazing college that just attracted athletes naturally, as opposed to Alabama, where those big southern boys just go there, anyway. Do you think there's anything unique about the way Boston College will eventually win a National Championship?
COACH ADDAZIO: I think for us, most important thing here is, it's so critically important that we win as a team. This is a place that is built on team. And I say, well, isn't everybody, but this especially is. The chemistry and the passion, and the loyalty that resides at this place, as we build this thing, that's the way you're going to win.

Talking to Matt Ryan here, he was here today, and he was here yesterday, and just listening to how passionate he is about BC and his ability and his years here, got that thing close at a couple of points.

And it's got to be accomplished as a team, and with unselfishness, which I think we're building now, and trying to grow. Obviously we have a long, long way to go, but we're in the infant stages of trying to build towards what you were talking about.

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