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CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 30, 2017

John Bonamego

Boston, Massachusetts

Boston College - 28, Central Michigan - 8

Q. Just give us an opening statement, your thoughts on today's game.
JOHN BONAMEGO: Obviously very disappointed in the loss. I thought our kids played really hard. You know, we're battling through a lot of injuries on both sides of the ball. We had some young guys step up that took considerable snaps, and you look at our defensive tackle situation, you've got D'Andre Dill, who's a true sophomore, Nate Brisson-Fast took a bunch of plays in there, and he's a converted end. Donny Kyre, we had to move him from end to tackle this week, and I thought he battled well, and then we've got true freshman Robi Stuart who's playing in there and really battled.

I think we hurt our defense a couple times in the first half. They got a -- our defense hurt themselves a little bit. We had a 4th down stop that extended a drive with a penalty, and then we gave up some punt return yards that put them on a short field. When you really look at the game statistically, it was pretty close in the first half.

In the second half, early going, I think we got worn down a little bit. They were able to run the ball. That's what they do, and that's what they do well. You know, still managed to get them off the field. Offensively it was just -- we just couldn't finish anything. We moved the ball in spurts. There were times where we didn't move it well.

We knew it was going to be tough to move it against Boston College's defense, especially their front. I think we were able to make some plays because their linebacker depth was so depleted, but that front four that they have, those two tackles and the ends are excellent football players.

We just couldn't get out of our own way a couple times. We'd turn the ball over and just couldn't make enough plays down the stretch to pull this one out. We're still proud of the effort of our players. They prepared very hard, and I felt like they played hard.

If we can continue to do that and if we can just improve in some key areas, I think we can be a really, really good football team.

Q. What did you see on the punt returns that allowed them to --
JOHN BONAMEGO: Well, we didn't get very good punts, and I don't put that completely on Jack, but -- I hate to even say it, but we're trying to use a role punt and hit a low line drive that hits and rolls. Part of our plan was not to let that kid field the ball, and he was able to catch a couple -- all three of those really downhill where coverage could even get anywhere near him. That really stresses your coverage. Guys are just getting up to full speed, now the ball is on them so quick. It's not even fair to the coverage because they don't have time to react.

You know, it's about placement consistent with the kicks, and getting what you want.

The other parts of the kicking game, you know, aside from the missed field goal, I thought we were pretty solid.

Q. You got Tony Poljan in there as a receiver today. With all the injuries and things you've gone through, how would you assess it today, the offense overall?
JOHN BONAMEGO: Overall, again, sporadic, hit-and-miss. Good at times, at times not so good. Tony is an athlete. He's a quarterback. Let's not forget he's a quarterback first, but he's a phenomenal athlete. He's a tremendous competitor. If you go back to what I said before the very first game, I said we were going to find ways to get Tony Poljan in the game, that we were going to play him, and today the game plan this week was to expand his role a little bit. Again, he's a quarterback, that's what we brought him here for, but he's also a great athlete, and we feel like if we can get him on the field and use him in some other roles that will help us win, we'll continue to do that.

Q. Shane threw the ball over 40 times today. What did you think of his performance out there?
JOHN BONAMEGO: Again, I thought he made some good throws and I thought he made some bad throws. I think there's a couple out there that he'd like to have back. The last interception, it was a -- he's expecting the receiver to break on a bender. He didn't do that and stayed up, and it results in a pick. You know, he was under pressure a lot today. I mean, again, that's a really good defensive front. Known Jim Reed for a long time and Paul Pasqualoni for a long time, know what those guys are about and how good a coaches they are. You know, I think Shane is still growing and learning. I mean, he's our quarterback, and we just need to help him out in some other areas. When you can't run the ball efficiently, it puts a lot of stress on the other things. You know, again, you want to try to stay in 3rd and manageable, and we were in a lot of 3rd and longs, and it's just tough on any quarterback when you're in those situations.

Q. Where do you feel like this team is? You're 2-3 --
JOHN BONAMEGO: We've got seven games left, so we have everything in front of us. We have a locker room of outstanding young men. We've got a great coaching staff. You know, we have to learn not to hurt ourselves. We have to execute at a higher degree of consistency still. And I thought at times we did that today. And at times we made some mistakes that cost us. And when you're playing against a team that has talented players like Boston College does, I mean, you can't -- you know, you can't keep giving them the ball back. You can't have penalties. You can't have turnovers.

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