Virginia Tech Game Week: Addazio Addresses Media
October 26, 2015 | Football
The Eagles look to right the ship against the Hokies
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Boston College head football coach Steve Addazio addressed the media at his weekly press conference on Monday. He rehashed the Eagles' fourth straight loss at Louisville and how the Eagles (3-5, 0-5 ACC) can improve to get their first ACC win against Virginia Tech on Saturday. He also went into detail about the team's injuries and who has emerged as leaders for BC.
Opening Statement:
"Obviously I am disappointed after last week's loss. We played against a really good football team, which we knew going in. Obviously [Louisville is] a good defensive football team – they're 19th in the country in defense and they have one of the better defensive fronts we've played. We made some good progress on offense against Clemson and I felt that up front, we struggled against Louisville. I talked about it after the game. Talked about in protection, whether it was play action or drop back pass was really where our issues were. I thought we played well on defense. I thought we played well on special teams. I think there are phases of our team right now that are playing at a high level.
"Obviously, on offense right now we are riddled with injuries. We had more injuries in the game. We are having a hard time getting a level of consistency playing a bunch of young guys upfront against good defenses and it's showing. I know we made some progress against Clemson but I also know this is going to be a bit of a roller coaster ride with these young guys. It has a lot to do with what you're facing on defense and what they have a bank of expertise with. We are also playing some really good defenses: three in the top 10, four in the top 20, five in the top 35, six in the top 45 and seven in the top 50. We're going to play them all. We have played them all. That's not an excuse but that it the reality of it. That's not something you ignore. We have been playing some bonafide defenses and we have a very young, injury-riddled offenses right now looking for consistency. We lost our second quarterback in that game. Once again, we already lost our first running back and we've been without our number two running backs, whether it be Myles [Willis] or Tyler Rouse. We've been without an injured Marcus Outlow. These are things we are trying to contend with and having said all that, I think we still play with great effort.
"We're are a football team right now that everyone wants to super hyper focus on the offense, which is completely understandable, but in the same breath, we are eight points from being 6-2 right now. We've lost three games by eight points. This is a hard-fighting, battling football team, which is really the most important foundation you can have. As we get more experience and get players back – not this year but next year – we are building on a tough, physical foundation and investment that is going to pay a lot of dividends.
"Along the way we have a lot of freshmen on the offensive line. They're not used to the intensity level of the season and we're going against really strong, powerful defensive fronts. We don't have a lot of depth. We don't have a bye week. These guys have to learn. It's part of the process of having to learn how to sustain the intensity of what it takes to play upfront against, as I just rattled off, some of the finest defenses in the country. And that matters. That is where we are. That is just a state of affairs.
"We've got to work each week on offense to develop, although it gets difficult when, once again, we are [dealing with injuries]. We are going to be without Jeff Smith certainly for most of the week. I don't know most of the details if it is all the week yet but it is certainly not going to there for the beginning of the week for sure. It is very disruptive and hard to get some cohesion. It's the game. It happens. It's rare that it happens like it has happened to us this year as much as it happened to us. It does, every once and a while take place, and that is where we are. We going to continue to grind and continue to try and find things.
"I thought last week that we were seeing a lot of eight- and nine-man fronts. We decided to take some shots in play action. We had some unbelievable looks down the field but we couldn't get the ball out. We did not protect [the quarterback] well on those play action passes and one of them ended up for a stripped sack and a touchdown, which obviously ended up proving to be very critical in that football game. I keep coming back to the effort level and the intensity that our kids are playing with to this point and I keep coming back to the fact that we know what our deficiencies are, yet we are not that far off. We're eight points away in three games. You can look half empty or half full. In any one of those three games, we were right there in the end within 20 yards of striking position to either win the game or to kick it into overtime. I really tend to look at the positives that are there. I know what the negatives are and I can't necessarily change those immediately right now. Some of the things we are certainly working on to change but some of them take time, experience and healthy players. When you come into the year young and inexperienced and then you lose the bulk of your critical skill positions, this is what happens to you. What I have to deal with is each week getting our team to play at a high level. I am very proud of the fact that we have done that. Upfront, we missed some blocks that led to those sacks. It wasn't an effort issue and it wasn't a physicality issue. We had a couple of young guys getting flat-out beat. And that happened. We have to keep grinding and keep addressing that. That will be money in the bank. That will come back to us. It takes some time."
On if the struggles of the offensive line are mental…
"Our guys got beat by some really good football players. [Louisville has] two defensive ends who are going to be pro football players. They're good. That is as good of a defensive front that we've played all year. I come up here and try to tell everybody the truth. I'm a pretty candid guy. They're 19th in the country in total defense right now. They've got some highly skilled guys at home. They played their best upfront defense that they've played all year long. And I knew they were highly capable of that, to their credit. That happened. We had a couple guys who were inexperienced and got beat one-on-one. It happens. It happens when a young, inexperienced player goes against a veteran player. That happened to us in that game."
On the running back situation…
"Right now, Tyler Rouse is day-to-day. Myles [Willis] is the healthiest of [the unit], although he is not healthy right now. I just left him and he is still suffering with the AC. But he is the most healthy. Jordan Gowins wasn't able to practice during the week last week so we weren't able to execute him in the game. We will see if we can utilize him this week. Marcus [Outlow] got dinged up in the game prior to half time. We played a little bit in the end. He had a rib issue and will be day-to-day. Richard Wilson will be a guy that we are going to put a lot of carries into and Myles, for sure, even though he is a little dinged up. We won't beat Myles up in practice. We can't beat him up in practice. We hope to get Rouse back for game time. We hope that will happen. I feel optimistic that we will get him back but I don't have a crystal ball. That's where we are. The fresh guy who we know is a thumper who we can bring up here is Richard Wilson. We were trying to utilize him more as a fullback roll this year to break him in at that position because Bobby [Wolford] has had some issues with some stingers and things. But we'll have to extract him from that and put it in the backfield."
On freshman walk-on quarterback John Fadule as the backup while Jeff Smith recovers…
"If we get Jeff back, we will get him back towards the end of the week. That's a young guy in that kind of situation against this kind of team is not ideal. Fadule is a walk-on, but he has been outstanding. He goes against our defense every day. He is tough, he throws it really well, he is very physical and he has speed. John Fadule has been taking quality reps right along. He goes against our defense and makes a lot of plays. On the scout team, he has been [sharpened by the nation's No. 1 defense]. What he does on the field it real. He doesn't have any experience but he has ability and he is tough. He throws it extremely well and has a great arm. He is a guy who has really been coming. He was an unknown guy in training camp but he has been coming since then. He is a really hard working guy [who shows] great effort and intensity in terms of preparation. He'll get a bunch of snaps this week until we know the status of when we get Jeff back and available. This is what I said way back in the beginning when I said why we needed to play a couple guys and get some body of work because I had a bad feeling that these days would come. Troy [Flutie] has had a body of work. He has been in games. In the level of inexperience, he'd be the most experienced guy right now available."
On the young quarterbacks' confidence levels…
"I think Troy is working every day, the same as Jeff. I don't think there is any difference. I think it is just about getting better each week, working on your reads in the throw game, working on your run checks and working on your pocket presence. All these young guys are in the same boat. In a perfect world, none of them would have been in the game this year. But that wasn't the perfect world. They're not quite ready. Everybody wants everybody to be ready right away. Everybody is different. They grow on different levels. What you see now doesn't mean what you will see a year or two from now. We were forced into this situation. I thought both Troy and Jeff made strides. Obviously, I thought Jeff put us in the best position. I think he made strides last week. He threw the ball real well last week. He was on the money last week. We dropped a couple balls but he put some balls on the money with real poor protection last week. Under all that duress, he made some play. Jeff has been improving. [The quarterbacks have] different skills sets. And I think John Fadule has been improving right along. I've been watching him for the last couple months and I pay attention to everything. I watch every bit of tape. I watch all the scout tape. I look at a guy that is all business."
On whether John Fadule will be evaluated this week as a potential starter…
"Absolutely, I'm evaluating John Fadule. First of all, at a minimum, we have to have two quarterbacks game ready. At a minimum, two quarterbacks. Then we have to evaluate what we need to do to beat Virginia Tech."
On Virginia Tech…
"They present some unique challenges. When you watch them on defense, they're an outstanding football team, as you well know. They have been without a couple of defensive players who are back now, ready to roll in this game. The quarterback is back. Corey Marshall is back on defense, their best defensive lineman in my opinion. He is back after being out for a couple weeks. They've got a bunch of players. We all know Michael Brewer, we all know [Travon] McMillian, the running back. They have a great tight end in Bucky Hodges. Offensively, I think they are doing a great job.
"I know Scot Loeffler well. We worked together at Florida. He was my coordinator at Temple. We are real close friends. He does a great job. He certainly understands what we do and how we do it. He knows how to attack people. He is a real quality football coach. Then of course on defense, Bud Foster is one of the best defensive coordinators in America, as dually documented and rightfully so. They're 42nd in the country in total defense and that was while missing some of their top players. They lost their starting corner who is outstanding and they lost their top interior defensive lineman who is outstanding, who is now back. On defense, Dadi Nicolas we saw him last year. Luther Maddy. Chuck Clark. Deon Clarke. They're talented. They are extremely talented and they've gone through some struggles. They've had some injury problems. A year ago, they got decimated with injuries. This year, once again, they got hit again with injuries. They lost their quarterback in game one. They seem to be getting back right now. They're outstanding.
"Coach Beamer, I have all the respect in the world for him. He is a great football coach and a great man. He does a great job with his program. They're tough. They are great on special teams. We're playing against, in my opinion, an elite program and one that is highly motivated right now because they have had some real disappointments. This is a great challenge for us. It just is, given the fact that we have our own challenges, our own injuries to overcome and youth.
"We are home, which is great. It takes the element of the away stadium away. Last week, we had some issues upfront on silent cadence getting off on time against those speed rushers that brought some havoc to us. Now that we get our cadence back, that will help. When you take a young offensive line, they can communicate and you give them a better shot. When you put them on an island, they can't communicate with the noise and it puts that much more on them. We handled Clemson. Rome isn't built in a day with those guys. It's a little bit of an up-and-down deal with them."
On the overall mentality of the team…
"It has been great. You watch us play. There is no backing off. You don't see a chink in terms of offense, defense, or special teams. There is great effort everywhere. Guys laying it all on the line - that's what you see. That is a fact. Was there disappointment in the locker room? Yes. It's hard to get your heart ripped out three weeks in a row with these three- or two-point games when you have the ball at the end. It's literally down to the wire. That is very difficult emotionally. And we've come off two road trips and we haven't had a bye week. And there is no chance to regroup. That will test anybody, never mind a young team like this. I think they've been fantastic. I am really proud of them. We're a tough team. We practice hard. It's a hard program. And they keep responding.
"Now that'll be the challenge. Not for some of these older guys, but for some of these younger guys, it's obviously going to be a challenge. It's a challenge to overcome mentally all the ups and downs along with the grind. Now our training room right now is extremely packed. I was in there before I came over here. We have a long list right now. That was a big concern of mine before we started the season that we weren't going to have a bye week until week 10. That is mounting. There is not much we can do about that. If I back off a little bit in practice, which I consider all these things, and we have to a degree, but with a young football team, good luck with that. You do too much of that and you'll have no chance to be ready for the speed of the game on Saturday. There is no bank of experience to handle that. You have to keep grinding.
"If you see any smile on my face, it's because I know that we've got a tough football team that's going to grow. It's a team that will be strong in the future. I know there's frustration, especially on offense. But they'll get better. It'll happen. Just be patient. It doesn't happen in a day or a year, but in the big scheme of things, we know we've got a tough football team with talent. We'll overcome all [of the adversity]. It might not happen at the pace that everybody would like to see. I'm not making excuses, because we're working really hard on that. At some point in this grind, can there be negative effects? I think so. It happened to our offensive line this past week. When you're young it's hard to maintain that physicality, especially when you're going up against those strong mature defensive fronts and you're getting punched in the mouth every play. If you can gather up and go against a little lesser defense you can get your confidence back a little bit, but we haven't had that luxury."
On the injuries to the defense…
"Kamrin Moore is done for the season. He had surgery in Louisville. He has a lower leg fracture. It's a devastating loss. He's one of our top defensive backs and best performers on special teams. Steven Daniels was also banged up, but we're optimistic [for his return] this week. We're also optimistic for Ty Schwab for this week."
On the play of LB Steven Daniels…
"I feel good about [Daniels] playing this week. He made some big plays for us. We made some big negative yardage plays against them that helped us because we had given up some of those chunk plays. So those negative yardage plays really [took them out of their rhythm]. I think [Daniels] really had some good reads and made some big plays for us. He's playing hard and moving well. He's a veteran and he's played a lot of football here. You can watch him and see that. He's a savvy guy and he's playing how a four-year starter should play."
On the defensive leadership …
"I think Connor Wujciak has had a great year. Here's another guy who made a lot of improvement last year. This year, he's really emerged and been one heck of a football player for us. But for a minute don't discount Mehdi [Abdesmad]. He's made some big, big plays for us. He is a tough guy. How do you block him? He's a long, physical guy. He's hard to pass block, he's hard to run block; he's having a heck of a year. I also think Justin Simmons in the back end has the experience factor. He's been through the grinder for us. He's been through that scarring process. So you take those veteran guys, who are really playing their best football, and that's the leadership that helps drive you through on defense. It's that leadership. Then you supplement that with a bunch of guys who've played a lot of football. It gives you that energy source."
On the lack of veteran leadership on offense…
"Offensively, [the veteran leadership] doesn't exist. So that's what leadership and older players can give you. We were able to have that with Chase Rettig. The first two years we had that leadership on offense. A year ago we had that with Tyler [Murphy], even though he hadn't been here his whole career. He was a fifth-year player with great character. People were really driven to him. We had all kinds of leadership on the offense and the defense didn't really have that those first couple of years. They had a couple of good players, but didn't really have that leadership center. But now that's flipped. What's going to happen now, you're going to regenerate new leadership centers. You'll develop that through trials and struggles. You'll start to see some of that in those young players like Jon Baker and Tyler Rouse and Myles Willis. You can start to see that perking up now on offense. On defense, you're going to be able to take those older guys out and give way to some of those younger guys who are playing a bunch. So that'll continue to grow. And that's how your program grows.
"We are a byproduct of a tremendous void in those couple of classes. But we have a big void. There should be a bunch of linemen here who should be true seniors or fifth-year seniors, but they don't exist. There should be a quarterback around here that's a junior or senior, but that doesn't exist. There should be an older running back, but that doesn't exist. This was my biggest concern when I came into the season. It's those voids in those classes. When you have 62 or 63 players on your roster who are freshmen and sophomores, then there's a class void. This is where we can't go back and back on that. We have a little bit on defense."
On ways to make up for that lack of leadership…
"What I did in the first couple of years was input some key fifth-year transfers in here to help prop this up. And we needed to be propped up the first couple of years. We were trying this year to get some of these younger guys to sneak up into those positions. I didn't go after a fifth-year quarterback because I was ready for Darius Wade to take the helm here and go on a three-year run. Unfortunately, that didn't work out. So that's kind of what the deal is. That will be pay great dividends in the future, but it doesn't help you right now. It bothers me when you see headlines, but it's all part of it. I've been through this before. But I feel bad because these kids are working hard. I don't think there's anybody that will tell you that these kids aren't selling out on every game day. If you can't appreciate that, then you don't really understand football. It's not about plays, it's about players. That starts with great effort and great toughness. That other stuff will come.
"It's not about the plays. Those plays looked good when Andre Williams was running them. They looked pretty good when Tyler Murphy was running them last year. It all looked pretty good. You don't forget how to coach. It's just fundamentally developing your players, get your guys to play hard, do a great job recruiting and give the players time to develop and get better. If you can do that, you're foundationally correct.
"You've got to get a quarterback in place. The quarterback is the cornerstone of any football team at any level. When you don't have a guy who is a junior or senior it's not easy. And everybody develops differently. There are a couple of freshmen out there that are hitting it. I think the freshmen we have out there are improved. But when you're playing against these kinds of defenses, it's a big difference. You look at some of these conferences and there's no defense being played. It's a lot easier to come in here and get yourself going. It's a lot harder when you play seven defenses in the top 50 in the nation. So it's a different operation."
On maintaining the confidence of the offensive line…
"Honestly, they're going to learn the hard way. That's just the way it is. It's going to be hard. It's going to be ugly. They're going to get their tails kicked in now and then. They're going to get their noses bloody. But they're going to come back and have a great offseason and understand why you have to train the way you train, why you have to put weight on and stuff like that. There's only so fast you can develop that offensive line. I think we've done a pretty good job in developing it, but it's just tough when you're playing who they're playing against."
On rotating players on the offensive line…
"We did what we could. We played nine of them. It's kind of like a corner sometimes. They get beat in man coverage and they get that deer in a headlight look, and you just have to roll them out of there. We had a few young guys who had that wide-eyed look on them. That happens when you're going against a guy that's really good and getting past them a bit. So we rolled a couple guys around. We tried to keep guys like Harris Williams fresh because he was limping a bit. I don't like rolling that much up there, but we had too for various different reasons. A couple of them were injury related and a couple were confidence related. You've got to give a guy a chance to settle down and get going again. But we played nine offensive linemen [against Louisville] and that's not ideal. We didn't see that at all in the first two years. You won't see that in the future at all. You'll see a fixture of five or six with eight or nine on deck ready to roll in case of injuries. That's the way it should be."
On the play of special teams…
"I'm so excited about our special teams right now. I think we're one of the best coverage teams in the country. We're really flipping the field right now. We're an elite coverage team right now. The only thing that's obviously a question mark for us now is kicking field goals.
"We had that [near punt block against Clemson and we came back, tweaked it and got it against Louisville. That's a game changer. We had four turnovers and a blocked punt; by all means you should win that football game.
"The pride on special teams right now is incredible. There's a real sense from the players to not let the unit down. We try to put our best players—even the young guys—on the teams. We've had to take a few guys off because of injuries and we wanted to limit their snaps. But other than that, other guys are stepping in.
"Fundamentally, schematically and mentally, we're going to be an elite special teams outfit. We just have to be elite kicking the ball, because then we'd become a real great weapon on special teams."
On what leads to success at Boston College...
"This program is built on playing great defense. That was the number one thing I wanted to do when I took this program over. We had to become an elite defense. The number two thing we had to do was be able to run the football. Up until Saturday—even with all of our struggles—we were still 27th in the nation in rushing. [The performance against Louisville] is the most disappointing thing to me right now because I wanted to balance the thing out and try to get some strikes. There were eight- and nine-man fronts and we needed to see if we could strike them a little bit. I didn't anticipate the protection problems and that bit us.
"The three top things are great defense, run the football and special teams. Then we have to work on our red zone scoring which has to do with our quarterback and a lot of other factors. Also, we can't turn the ball over. We only had one game and it cost us. Against Wake Forest we turned the ball over four times with young players in the game. Those are the core building blocks to building a strong football team. That's why we were bowl eligible in the first two seasons here. That's why we were able to reach seven wins both years. It's pretty hard to do and we did it. So we'll battle through this one right now and get it right where it needs to be."
Opening Statement:
"Obviously I am disappointed after last week's loss. We played against a really good football team, which we knew going in. Obviously [Louisville is] a good defensive football team – they're 19th in the country in defense and they have one of the better defensive fronts we've played. We made some good progress on offense against Clemson and I felt that up front, we struggled against Louisville. I talked about it after the game. Talked about in protection, whether it was play action or drop back pass was really where our issues were. I thought we played well on defense. I thought we played well on special teams. I think there are phases of our team right now that are playing at a high level.
"Obviously, on offense right now we are riddled with injuries. We had more injuries in the game. We are having a hard time getting a level of consistency playing a bunch of young guys upfront against good defenses and it's showing. I know we made some progress against Clemson but I also know this is going to be a bit of a roller coaster ride with these young guys. It has a lot to do with what you're facing on defense and what they have a bank of expertise with. We are also playing some really good defenses: three in the top 10, four in the top 20, five in the top 35, six in the top 45 and seven in the top 50. We're going to play them all. We have played them all. That's not an excuse but that it the reality of it. That's not something you ignore. We have been playing some bonafide defenses and we have a very young, injury-riddled offenses right now looking for consistency. We lost our second quarterback in that game. Once again, we already lost our first running back and we've been without our number two running backs, whether it be Myles [Willis] or Tyler Rouse. We've been without an injured Marcus Outlow. These are things we are trying to contend with and having said all that, I think we still play with great effort.
"We're are a football team right now that everyone wants to super hyper focus on the offense, which is completely understandable, but in the same breath, we are eight points from being 6-2 right now. We've lost three games by eight points. This is a hard-fighting, battling football team, which is really the most important foundation you can have. As we get more experience and get players back – not this year but next year – we are building on a tough, physical foundation and investment that is going to pay a lot of dividends.
"Along the way we have a lot of freshmen on the offensive line. They're not used to the intensity level of the season and we're going against really strong, powerful defensive fronts. We don't have a lot of depth. We don't have a bye week. These guys have to learn. It's part of the process of having to learn how to sustain the intensity of what it takes to play upfront against, as I just rattled off, some of the finest defenses in the country. And that matters. That is where we are. That is just a state of affairs.
"We've got to work each week on offense to develop, although it gets difficult when, once again, we are [dealing with injuries]. We are going to be without Jeff Smith certainly for most of the week. I don't know most of the details if it is all the week yet but it is certainly not going to there for the beginning of the week for sure. It is very disruptive and hard to get some cohesion. It's the game. It happens. It's rare that it happens like it has happened to us this year as much as it happened to us. It does, every once and a while take place, and that is where we are. We going to continue to grind and continue to try and find things.
"I thought last week that we were seeing a lot of eight- and nine-man fronts. We decided to take some shots in play action. We had some unbelievable looks down the field but we couldn't get the ball out. We did not protect [the quarterback] well on those play action passes and one of them ended up for a stripped sack and a touchdown, which obviously ended up proving to be very critical in that football game. I keep coming back to the effort level and the intensity that our kids are playing with to this point and I keep coming back to the fact that we know what our deficiencies are, yet we are not that far off. We're eight points away in three games. You can look half empty or half full. In any one of those three games, we were right there in the end within 20 yards of striking position to either win the game or to kick it into overtime. I really tend to look at the positives that are there. I know what the negatives are and I can't necessarily change those immediately right now. Some of the things we are certainly working on to change but some of them take time, experience and healthy players. When you come into the year young and inexperienced and then you lose the bulk of your critical skill positions, this is what happens to you. What I have to deal with is each week getting our team to play at a high level. I am very proud of the fact that we have done that. Upfront, we missed some blocks that led to those sacks. It wasn't an effort issue and it wasn't a physicality issue. We had a couple of young guys getting flat-out beat. And that happened. We have to keep grinding and keep addressing that. That will be money in the bank. That will come back to us. It takes some time."
On if the struggles of the offensive line are mental…
"Our guys got beat by some really good football players. [Louisville has] two defensive ends who are going to be pro football players. They're good. That is as good of a defensive front that we've played all year. I come up here and try to tell everybody the truth. I'm a pretty candid guy. They're 19th in the country in total defense right now. They've got some highly skilled guys at home. They played their best upfront defense that they've played all year long. And I knew they were highly capable of that, to their credit. That happened. We had a couple guys who were inexperienced and got beat one-on-one. It happens. It happens when a young, inexperienced player goes against a veteran player. That happened to us in that game."
On the running back situation…
"Right now, Tyler Rouse is day-to-day. Myles [Willis] is the healthiest of [the unit], although he is not healthy right now. I just left him and he is still suffering with the AC. But he is the most healthy. Jordan Gowins wasn't able to practice during the week last week so we weren't able to execute him in the game. We will see if we can utilize him this week. Marcus [Outlow] got dinged up in the game prior to half time. We played a little bit in the end. He had a rib issue and will be day-to-day. Richard Wilson will be a guy that we are going to put a lot of carries into and Myles, for sure, even though he is a little dinged up. We won't beat Myles up in practice. We can't beat him up in practice. We hope to get Rouse back for game time. We hope that will happen. I feel optimistic that we will get him back but I don't have a crystal ball. That's where we are. The fresh guy who we know is a thumper who we can bring up here is Richard Wilson. We were trying to utilize him more as a fullback roll this year to break him in at that position because Bobby [Wolford] has had some issues with some stingers and things. But we'll have to extract him from that and put it in the backfield."
On freshman walk-on quarterback John Fadule as the backup while Jeff Smith recovers…
"If we get Jeff back, we will get him back towards the end of the week. That's a young guy in that kind of situation against this kind of team is not ideal. Fadule is a walk-on, but he has been outstanding. He goes against our defense every day. He is tough, he throws it really well, he is very physical and he has speed. John Fadule has been taking quality reps right along. He goes against our defense and makes a lot of plays. On the scout team, he has been [sharpened by the nation's No. 1 defense]. What he does on the field it real. He doesn't have any experience but he has ability and he is tough. He throws it extremely well and has a great arm. He is a guy who has really been coming. He was an unknown guy in training camp but he has been coming since then. He is a really hard working guy [who shows] great effort and intensity in terms of preparation. He'll get a bunch of snaps this week until we know the status of when we get Jeff back and available. This is what I said way back in the beginning when I said why we needed to play a couple guys and get some body of work because I had a bad feeling that these days would come. Troy [Flutie] has had a body of work. He has been in games. In the level of inexperience, he'd be the most experienced guy right now available."
On the young quarterbacks' confidence levels…
"I think Troy is working every day, the same as Jeff. I don't think there is any difference. I think it is just about getting better each week, working on your reads in the throw game, working on your run checks and working on your pocket presence. All these young guys are in the same boat. In a perfect world, none of them would have been in the game this year. But that wasn't the perfect world. They're not quite ready. Everybody wants everybody to be ready right away. Everybody is different. They grow on different levels. What you see now doesn't mean what you will see a year or two from now. We were forced into this situation. I thought both Troy and Jeff made strides. Obviously, I thought Jeff put us in the best position. I think he made strides last week. He threw the ball real well last week. He was on the money last week. We dropped a couple balls but he put some balls on the money with real poor protection last week. Under all that duress, he made some play. Jeff has been improving. [The quarterbacks have] different skills sets. And I think John Fadule has been improving right along. I've been watching him for the last couple months and I pay attention to everything. I watch every bit of tape. I watch all the scout tape. I look at a guy that is all business."
On whether John Fadule will be evaluated this week as a potential starter…
"Absolutely, I'm evaluating John Fadule. First of all, at a minimum, we have to have two quarterbacks game ready. At a minimum, two quarterbacks. Then we have to evaluate what we need to do to beat Virginia Tech."
On Virginia Tech…
"They present some unique challenges. When you watch them on defense, they're an outstanding football team, as you well know. They have been without a couple of defensive players who are back now, ready to roll in this game. The quarterback is back. Corey Marshall is back on defense, their best defensive lineman in my opinion. He is back after being out for a couple weeks. They've got a bunch of players. We all know Michael Brewer, we all know [Travon] McMillian, the running back. They have a great tight end in Bucky Hodges. Offensively, I think they are doing a great job.
"I know Scot Loeffler well. We worked together at Florida. He was my coordinator at Temple. We are real close friends. He does a great job. He certainly understands what we do and how we do it. He knows how to attack people. He is a real quality football coach. Then of course on defense, Bud Foster is one of the best defensive coordinators in America, as dually documented and rightfully so. They're 42nd in the country in total defense and that was while missing some of their top players. They lost their starting corner who is outstanding and they lost their top interior defensive lineman who is outstanding, who is now back. On defense, Dadi Nicolas we saw him last year. Luther Maddy. Chuck Clark. Deon Clarke. They're talented. They are extremely talented and they've gone through some struggles. They've had some injury problems. A year ago, they got decimated with injuries. This year, once again, they got hit again with injuries. They lost their quarterback in game one. They seem to be getting back right now. They're outstanding.
"Coach Beamer, I have all the respect in the world for him. He is a great football coach and a great man. He does a great job with his program. They're tough. They are great on special teams. We're playing against, in my opinion, an elite program and one that is highly motivated right now because they have had some real disappointments. This is a great challenge for us. It just is, given the fact that we have our own challenges, our own injuries to overcome and youth.
"We are home, which is great. It takes the element of the away stadium away. Last week, we had some issues upfront on silent cadence getting off on time against those speed rushers that brought some havoc to us. Now that we get our cadence back, that will help. When you take a young offensive line, they can communicate and you give them a better shot. When you put them on an island, they can't communicate with the noise and it puts that much more on them. We handled Clemson. Rome isn't built in a day with those guys. It's a little bit of an up-and-down deal with them."
On the overall mentality of the team…
"It has been great. You watch us play. There is no backing off. You don't see a chink in terms of offense, defense, or special teams. There is great effort everywhere. Guys laying it all on the line - that's what you see. That is a fact. Was there disappointment in the locker room? Yes. It's hard to get your heart ripped out three weeks in a row with these three- or two-point games when you have the ball at the end. It's literally down to the wire. That is very difficult emotionally. And we've come off two road trips and we haven't had a bye week. And there is no chance to regroup. That will test anybody, never mind a young team like this. I think they've been fantastic. I am really proud of them. We're a tough team. We practice hard. It's a hard program. And they keep responding.
"Now that'll be the challenge. Not for some of these older guys, but for some of these younger guys, it's obviously going to be a challenge. It's a challenge to overcome mentally all the ups and downs along with the grind. Now our training room right now is extremely packed. I was in there before I came over here. We have a long list right now. That was a big concern of mine before we started the season that we weren't going to have a bye week until week 10. That is mounting. There is not much we can do about that. If I back off a little bit in practice, which I consider all these things, and we have to a degree, but with a young football team, good luck with that. You do too much of that and you'll have no chance to be ready for the speed of the game on Saturday. There is no bank of experience to handle that. You have to keep grinding.
"If you see any smile on my face, it's because I know that we've got a tough football team that's going to grow. It's a team that will be strong in the future. I know there's frustration, especially on offense. But they'll get better. It'll happen. Just be patient. It doesn't happen in a day or a year, but in the big scheme of things, we know we've got a tough football team with talent. We'll overcome all [of the adversity]. It might not happen at the pace that everybody would like to see. I'm not making excuses, because we're working really hard on that. At some point in this grind, can there be negative effects? I think so. It happened to our offensive line this past week. When you're young it's hard to maintain that physicality, especially when you're going up against those strong mature defensive fronts and you're getting punched in the mouth every play. If you can gather up and go against a little lesser defense you can get your confidence back a little bit, but we haven't had that luxury."
On the injuries to the defense…
"Kamrin Moore is done for the season. He had surgery in Louisville. He has a lower leg fracture. It's a devastating loss. He's one of our top defensive backs and best performers on special teams. Steven Daniels was also banged up, but we're optimistic [for his return] this week. We're also optimistic for Ty Schwab for this week."
On the play of LB Steven Daniels…
"I feel good about [Daniels] playing this week. He made some big plays for us. We made some big negative yardage plays against them that helped us because we had given up some of those chunk plays. So those negative yardage plays really [took them out of their rhythm]. I think [Daniels] really had some good reads and made some big plays for us. He's playing hard and moving well. He's a veteran and he's played a lot of football here. You can watch him and see that. He's a savvy guy and he's playing how a four-year starter should play."
On the defensive leadership …
"I think Connor Wujciak has had a great year. Here's another guy who made a lot of improvement last year. This year, he's really emerged and been one heck of a football player for us. But for a minute don't discount Mehdi [Abdesmad]. He's made some big, big plays for us. He is a tough guy. How do you block him? He's a long, physical guy. He's hard to pass block, he's hard to run block; he's having a heck of a year. I also think Justin Simmons in the back end has the experience factor. He's been through the grinder for us. He's been through that scarring process. So you take those veteran guys, who are really playing their best football, and that's the leadership that helps drive you through on defense. It's that leadership. Then you supplement that with a bunch of guys who've played a lot of football. It gives you that energy source."
On the lack of veteran leadership on offense…
"Offensively, [the veteran leadership] doesn't exist. So that's what leadership and older players can give you. We were able to have that with Chase Rettig. The first two years we had that leadership on offense. A year ago we had that with Tyler [Murphy], even though he hadn't been here his whole career. He was a fifth-year player with great character. People were really driven to him. We had all kinds of leadership on the offense and the defense didn't really have that those first couple of years. They had a couple of good players, but didn't really have that leadership center. But now that's flipped. What's going to happen now, you're going to regenerate new leadership centers. You'll develop that through trials and struggles. You'll start to see some of that in those young players like Jon Baker and Tyler Rouse and Myles Willis. You can start to see that perking up now on offense. On defense, you're going to be able to take those older guys out and give way to some of those younger guys who are playing a bunch. So that'll continue to grow. And that's how your program grows.
"We are a byproduct of a tremendous void in those couple of classes. But we have a big void. There should be a bunch of linemen here who should be true seniors or fifth-year seniors, but they don't exist. There should be a quarterback around here that's a junior or senior, but that doesn't exist. There should be an older running back, but that doesn't exist. This was my biggest concern when I came into the season. It's those voids in those classes. When you have 62 or 63 players on your roster who are freshmen and sophomores, then there's a class void. This is where we can't go back and back on that. We have a little bit on defense."
On ways to make up for that lack of leadership…
"What I did in the first couple of years was input some key fifth-year transfers in here to help prop this up. And we needed to be propped up the first couple of years. We were trying this year to get some of these younger guys to sneak up into those positions. I didn't go after a fifth-year quarterback because I was ready for Darius Wade to take the helm here and go on a three-year run. Unfortunately, that didn't work out. So that's kind of what the deal is. That will be pay great dividends in the future, but it doesn't help you right now. It bothers me when you see headlines, but it's all part of it. I've been through this before. But I feel bad because these kids are working hard. I don't think there's anybody that will tell you that these kids aren't selling out on every game day. If you can't appreciate that, then you don't really understand football. It's not about plays, it's about players. That starts with great effort and great toughness. That other stuff will come.
"It's not about the plays. Those plays looked good when Andre Williams was running them. They looked pretty good when Tyler Murphy was running them last year. It all looked pretty good. You don't forget how to coach. It's just fundamentally developing your players, get your guys to play hard, do a great job recruiting and give the players time to develop and get better. If you can do that, you're foundationally correct.
"You've got to get a quarterback in place. The quarterback is the cornerstone of any football team at any level. When you don't have a guy who is a junior or senior it's not easy. And everybody develops differently. There are a couple of freshmen out there that are hitting it. I think the freshmen we have out there are improved. But when you're playing against these kinds of defenses, it's a big difference. You look at some of these conferences and there's no defense being played. It's a lot easier to come in here and get yourself going. It's a lot harder when you play seven defenses in the top 50 in the nation. So it's a different operation."
On maintaining the confidence of the offensive line…
"Honestly, they're going to learn the hard way. That's just the way it is. It's going to be hard. It's going to be ugly. They're going to get their tails kicked in now and then. They're going to get their noses bloody. But they're going to come back and have a great offseason and understand why you have to train the way you train, why you have to put weight on and stuff like that. There's only so fast you can develop that offensive line. I think we've done a pretty good job in developing it, but it's just tough when you're playing who they're playing against."
On rotating players on the offensive line…
"We did what we could. We played nine of them. It's kind of like a corner sometimes. They get beat in man coverage and they get that deer in a headlight look, and you just have to roll them out of there. We had a few young guys who had that wide-eyed look on them. That happens when you're going against a guy that's really good and getting past them a bit. So we rolled a couple guys around. We tried to keep guys like Harris Williams fresh because he was limping a bit. I don't like rolling that much up there, but we had too for various different reasons. A couple of them were injury related and a couple were confidence related. You've got to give a guy a chance to settle down and get going again. But we played nine offensive linemen [against Louisville] and that's not ideal. We didn't see that at all in the first two years. You won't see that in the future at all. You'll see a fixture of five or six with eight or nine on deck ready to roll in case of injuries. That's the way it should be."
On the play of special teams…
"I'm so excited about our special teams right now. I think we're one of the best coverage teams in the country. We're really flipping the field right now. We're an elite coverage team right now. The only thing that's obviously a question mark for us now is kicking field goals.
"We had that [near punt block against Clemson and we came back, tweaked it and got it against Louisville. That's a game changer. We had four turnovers and a blocked punt; by all means you should win that football game.
"The pride on special teams right now is incredible. There's a real sense from the players to not let the unit down. We try to put our best players—even the young guys—on the teams. We've had to take a few guys off because of injuries and we wanted to limit their snaps. But other than that, other guys are stepping in.
"Fundamentally, schematically and mentally, we're going to be an elite special teams outfit. We just have to be elite kicking the ball, because then we'd become a real great weapon on special teams."
On what leads to success at Boston College...
"This program is built on playing great defense. That was the number one thing I wanted to do when I took this program over. We had to become an elite defense. The number two thing we had to do was be able to run the football. Up until Saturday—even with all of our struggles—we were still 27th in the nation in rushing. [The performance against Louisville] is the most disappointing thing to me right now because I wanted to balance the thing out and try to get some strikes. There were eight- and nine-man fronts and we needed to see if we could strike them a little bit. I didn't anticipate the protection problems and that bit us.
"The three top things are great defense, run the football and special teams. Then we have to work on our red zone scoring which has to do with our quarterback and a lot of other factors. Also, we can't turn the ball over. We only had one game and it cost us. Against Wake Forest we turned the ball over four times with young players in the game. Those are the core building blocks to building a strong football team. That's why we were bowl eligible in the first two seasons here. That's why we were able to reach seven wins both years. It's pretty hard to do and we did it. So we'll battle through this one right now and get it right where it needs to be."
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