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BOSTON COLLEGE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 13, 2019

Steve Addazio

Boston, Massachusetts

Kansas - 48, Boston College - 24

COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Okay. Obviously not a very good performance by us. Give a lot of credit to Les Miles and their team. I thought they got their kids to play hard, and I thought they did a great job out there tonight.

Obviously I did not do a good enough job getting our team ready to play tonight. I'm responsible for that and it's my job to make sure we get that fixed. We've got to get back on the tape, find out where our mistakes were, find out where the issues were, get them corrected and get ready to go down to New Jersey next week and get ready to play another game and that's where I'm at. Any questions?

Q. (Off-mic.)
COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Well, yeah, we didn't play very well. I mean, we played well opening day. I think we saw a few signs of some of this last week, and I think today we obviously did not play well enough at all and that's my responsibility.

Q. A lot of the talk was you have a young defense, do you think in a game like this, maybe sometimes a team speeds up or get off tempo, caught up with them a little bit tonight?
COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Yeah, I would say that it did based off what we saw on the field, but you know, we practice against up-tempo every day. I mean, that's what we are. But I don't know that I could at this point pinpoint that it's that. I just think that we cut guys free in the back end. We left gaps open in the run game, and couldn't get off the field, and it started early and it didn't stop and, you know, it's my job to make sure that we get that fixed, okay. Taking nothing away from them. I think those backs were dynamic. I said that during the week. I knew they were and I thought they had a good offensive line.

I'm not shocked that they were going to be explosive like that to be honest with you. What I was shocked about is what had happened the two weeks prior to after I watched the tape this week. Having said that, there's no reason why we should play the way we did on the field today.

Q. What did you see --
COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Well, I thought at times we were too far off. I thought we had cut some guys loose on some switch routes. You know, it's a multitude of things. I mean, it's hard for me to tell you everything that happened in that game right now.

It's obviously a multitude of things. They had 400 yards of offense in the first half. I think that would tell you the tale there. I thought we were matching it pretty good in the first half, and then in the second half when we had our first opportunity, you know, I think we got out of our game a little bit -- what happened, I think it affects the way you call plays on offense when that's going on on defense because you're sitting there saying, you know, do we -- do we -- do we just hang on and run the ball? Do you chuck the ball around? You don't want to be three-and-out. You're afraid to give them field -- that's what starts to happen in those scenarios, okay, when -- that's why it starts -- you know, No. 1 thing on plan to win is you have to play great defense. You have to play great defense or it affects everything.

I thought offensively, I have to take a look at the film. I don't know that we threw the ball great, especially when they were loading the box there towards the second half, and you know, we were running the ball, doing everything at will pretty much in the first half, when we didn't move it in the first half was really on us, a penalty and this and that here and there.

In the second half we moved it well, too, but we didn't convert well in the scores. But again I think sometimes that's a little bit of a byproduct of what's going on and it affects you a little bit. Our game is a playaction game and -- and you know, we probably got a little bit out of that and need to go take a look at that.

Q. In the second half --
COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: We didn't -- we did not. In the second half on offense we did not have enough explosives. We missed too many opportunities. I don't remember every drive right now, but there was some key penalties that were getting us off-schedule in the second half.

We had a fumble that knocked us back a little in field position. We had a couple, at least two off-sides penalties, and -- and a couple critical errors, and in a game where, you know, if you don't match every drive, and you get behind so quick, this is what can happen to you.

You know, I felt like as long as we can keep this within a ten-point game, we still have an opportunity in the end to come back through. We got down, it was three scores there, and we moved the ball down the field and we got in field goal range and you know, it tells you at that point, you know, take the three while you got the field goal range, to take the three.

Well, we didn't hit the three and then after that, I thought we got a little bit sideways, you know, and probably pressing too hard. Probably the reality of it.

Q. Had some troubles in the first half -- is there a way -- can those snowball, if those plays happen?
COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Sure. I mean, I think they can. But you know, we -- we didn't stop the run, you know. I mean, we didn't stop the run. You've got to be able to stop the run before you can even stop the pass. We didn't stop anything, so, you know, with need to go back and take a look at where all these break downs are: Personnel, scheme. You know, I mean, we sure practiced hard, I can promise you that. There's no lack of effort, but I need to look at the tape and just, you know, aside from the -- aside from Captain Obvious here, you know.

Q. Nothing good about -- but if you go by the turnovers generated -- yeah, some questions about yards, but is there something you can take about possibly --
COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Yeah, I mean, I don't know that you'll find particularly good off of that, but yes, I mean, we need to go back and see where it is -- where the breakdowns are and what we need to do to fix those break downs, and clearly, clearly, that needs to be addressed.

Q. The 82-yard run before halftime --
COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Backbreaker.

Q. Of all the moments in the game, it seemed like that was the killer.
COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, no doubt. We came back, regained momentum, went up on top, and just, you know, we're in man coverage. We had a run blitz on. I mean, you literally could see our DB still running, he had to run off the field literally while the guys were running down the field. It was bizarre-o.

But we were in our run blitz, and I don't know what happened. I don't know what happened on that run blitz. When you blitz, you've got every gap covered, okay. Every gap's supposed to have been covered. Apparently it was not. Somebody must not have been in a gap, okay and that was a backbreaker. And they ran the ball, you know, so we'd like to have that back for sure.

Q. Just a little bit more about the run defense. Tackling seemed like the biggest problem tonight. Is that coachable or is that just effort?
COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: No, that's coachable. That's absolutely coachable. That's my responsibility to make sure that we tackle better than that. I thought we tackled well in game one. I thought we had some mixed bag on game two, and I thought we missed a lot of tackles.

I also want to tell you, that's one of the better backs in the country, and the other back is no slouch, either. That doesn't mean we shouldn't tackle them, but it wasn't like those weren't talented guys now, but we need to tackle better.

But you know, I think we're going to find there's a lot of gap-fit problems. I mean, there's a lot of clean runs. There's some tackling issues. I thought we -- we swarmed to the ball pretty good. We had some big plays. We cut some guys free in the coverage, which were some big plays. You know, little things. I just remember like even towards whenever it was, you know, they were throwing a ball into the end zone and we're right there to make the interception, which really almost could have comeback the other way. Went right through our hands. Touchdown. A lot of that went on here tonight.

I thought their quarterback played remarkably. Made a lot of plays. You know, had an unbelievable night. Again, they played well. Take nothing away from them. They played really, really well. And we've got to play better, period.

Q. As a coach --
COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: When the one hit, you're in man coverage, so they are running with the receivers. They have got their back to the ball. That -- you know, it looked -- it looked bizarre, but I mean, that's -- you know, you'd like to maybe get a little faster reaction, I guess, at some point -- you know, how far you going to go down the field. But they are in man coverage.

The question I have is: What the heck is it doing down the field? You know, you're in man coverage, that means you're one-plus in the run defense. You're one-plus. We have got some pretty good backs ourselves. We get one-plus, you see what that looks like. We're obviously not fit right. That's got to be the situation there.

So take a look at where that is and why and attack it, you know, but listen, again, it's my job to get that fixed. My job to make sure that that doesn't happen, so it's my responsibility, and so going to get back to the drawing board here first thing in the morning and put the film on and we're going to get better and take that down next week and play a much better football game.

Thanks.

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