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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 14, 2018

Dino Babers

Greensboro, North Carolina

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by Syracuse head coach Dino Babers.

COACH BABERS: Dino Babers.

COACH BABERS: Really excited about our opportunity to go outside conference play and play one of the top teams in the country. Obviously it's going to be a very challenging task. And we're looking forward to the opportunity. Questions?

Q. To kind of go off something I asked you about in the postgame with this senior class, you had that senior walk and you wanted them to be out there with the fans and go celebrate with what they've done. What could you say about these gentlemen on and off the field. There's a lot of focus on Eric Dungey, but as a whole, the senior class has obviously been through adversity and are now reaping the benefits of seeing a light at the end of the tunnel?
COACH BABERS: You know, this 2018 class in Syracuse lore, they're going to have their names etched in stone around here for a while. They returned us from the past. They've brought us to the present. And now we're a winning football team.

They've gone through two head coaches, a bunch of coordinators, a bunch of guys leaving and not staying, a bunch of selfishness that became unselfishness, a bunch of individuals that became a family.

And I can't speak highly enough about the 2018 seniors and every accolade they acquire, they're justifiably due.

Q. When you came into Syracuse, and you've said it recently as well, you said faith, belief without evidence. This team went 4-8 in your first season, 4-8 in your second season, 8-2 right now; you know there's going to be a bowl game. Just what could you say about how these players believed in you, if they have that faith, belief without evidence from day one, and if you're starting to feel that even more so from them and from the community?
COACH BABERS: I do believe these guys are family members. I do believe they're La Familia, they're ohana. And that whole term says a lot: Have faith without evidence; belief without evidence. That means there's no evidence. I can't show you anything. But I just need you to have faith with what we're doing and it's going to be okay.

I can't thank those guys enough for standing behind me and blocking out the noise and just constantly looking forward and having that faith.

And now we have an opportunity to do some things, and maybe if we end the season right maybe even some more things.

Q. Any update on Scoop, and if you expect them how ready they'll be for Saturday?
COACH BABERS: I expect them.

Q. On a different note, I've got some kind of messages from people asking if you guys have gone slower this year on offense, because the numbers don't really suggest a stark difference, but it seems like there may be like more checking at the line of scrimmage. Does Eric have more freedom there, or are you seeing things from different defenses that have led to more of that this year?
COACH BABERS: I think it's a little bit of everything you've said.

Q. Even with those two losses in the middle of the season, just how has this team evolved from the beginning of the year until now?
COACH BABERS: You know, I think that the whole part of the involvement is they just stay together. Really tight unit. They do a lot of things together. It was really important for them to really -- they really wanted to be the first class that got us back on a winning note. They didn't want to be the 2017 class that had one great upset win.

They didn't want to be the 2016 class that had one great upset win. They wanted to do more. Kind of like that commercial with the guy lifting weights: More, I need more. And he keeps getting bigger and bigger.

I think as the season started and we got a couple of wins, that they really wanted to have that done. They wanted more. Then we had the two situations in the middle of the season where we lost two games that we both led, that we led in the fourth quarter in both of those games. And then they had an opportunity to decide which way they were going to go.

They decided they weren't going to go the way of 2017 and they weren't going to go the way of 2016. This is a family. It's a la familia and ohana. And these guys are very close and they play for one another.

Q. Notre Dame's defense has been very good this season. But you've got a pretty good quarterback. Just in your eyes what does he do so well, what has he done so well to kind of move this offense this year?
COACH BABERS: Well, I think when you talk about Notre Dame's defense, just like you said, their defense is outstanding. And they've shut down major offenses that run the football. Major offenses that throw the football. They've gone against four tempo teams that didn't even look like tempo teams against them; they've done so well against them.

When I look at them, I really don't see any chinks in their armor anywhere. They're a very, very complete unit. They're very deserving of the ranking that they have. And the only thing I can say about my quarterback is I'm glad that he's a senior and he's got some experience, because he's going to need all the pictures that he's seen to go against this Notre Dame defense.

Q. What's your assessment of your run defense and your pass defense as you get ready for this Notre Dame offense?
COACH BABERS: I think our run defense is something that they're going to exploit. I think our pass defense is something that we're really good at.

Q. How does that affect how you look at this game on Saturday there; Dexter Williams has been playing really well for them there?
COACH BABERS: I know. We've just got to see what they want to do. They're the champs -- we're the guys that are just trying to contend. They've got the belt. They're going to try to do something and we're going to try to stop them. Pretty much just comes to that.

Q. Was curious just what you think of the opportunity that Saturday may provide for kind of the program as a whole as the first top 15 matchup in more than 20 years for Syracuse, just didn't know if you think it provides an opportunity to kind of be on that national stage and be able to knock off a team like Notre Dame?
COACH BABERS: When you talk about our ranking, I mean, that's really nice. But I don't think that really applies. I mean, Clemson was number two last year. I'm assuming they were ranked higher than what Notre Dame was. Virginia Tech was a ranked football team. When you play in the ACC Atlantic, you're going to play highly ranked football teams every year. They're on your schedule. You can't get away from them. You can't schedule out of it.

We've played highly ranked teams before. It's our ranking. We'll find out what we're ranked after this game is over, whether we're where we're supposed to be, or maybe too high or not ranked at all.

But I think it comes down more to the football game than rankings, just two teams wanting to go against each other. One team is really, really good and has everybody behind them and rightfully so, and another team just trying to show everybody that maybe they belong.

Q. This stage isn't a little bit bigger with it being in Yankee Stadium and being on national television, though?
COACH BABERS: Our last three games were on national television, I think. I think everybody got it. It's cool playing in New York. That's cool. I'll give you that.

Q. Playing in Yankee Stadium, what do you guys have to do to get ready to play in that game? I know it's a baseball-type stadium and they switch it over to football. I know in center field it gets windy there. Are you guys going to have walk through on Friday to make sure the wind or what's the plan?
COACH BABERS: That's a great question. We had planned maybe we need to go and see the stadium, get the cobwebs out of everybody and, hey, we're in Yankee Stadium, get it out of the way. Then we started trying to figure out ways to deal with New York City traffic and get our team there and get them back in less than three hours so that we could have a normal Friday and then based off of all that traffic it really wasn't conducive to the plan. So, therefore, we're going to do what we always do we're going to practice here in Syracuse Friday. We're going to fly in, go to the hotel and show up at the game on Saturday and just play.

Q. What type of wide receivers is Boykin? I saw him Saturday in South Bend, did well against Florida State's secondary. What do you guys have to do to contain him?
COACH BABERS: You know what, we're just going to do the things we do. If you play man to man obviously he can beat you. If you play zone, he can sit down in spaces. You can't play one thing all the time because Coach Kelly is too good of an offensive coordinator and coach. You've got to mix it up. You're like a pitcher. You better have at least two pitches if you're throwing just one pitch they'll definitely going to hit it over the fence in Yankee Stadium.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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