Boston College Athletics
Football Prepares For Important Two-Game Stretch
November 13, 2006 | Football
Nov. 13, 2006
The Boston College football team is preparing for its final two games of the regular season, a home game against Maryland (Saturday, noon, ESPN) and a Thanksgiving evening game at Miami (7:30, ESPN). Coach Tom O'Brien answered questions on his weekly media conference call.
The following is a transcript of that call:
TOB: We are happy to get the victory against Duke and now we turn our attention towards Maryland. Maryland comes in as a very hot football team right now. They've put together...five victories in a row. Coming into the season, they were a little bit like Wake Forest. They had 16 starters back, seven on offense, seven on defense, and both their kicker and punter coming back so they are a very experienced football team. Their quarterback is playing very well and it will be a great challenge for us on Saturday.
Q: How much does it help to play this game in the afternoon and not worrying about what the other team is doing?
TOB: I don't know if we can pay too much attention to what everyone else has to do. We have to take care of what we can do - and that is to play our best against Maryland. A lot of things are out of our hands. I am happy that it is a noon game so that we can get up and play - I don't like those night games.
Q: How do the logistics of playing at noon factor in as you have to turn around and travel to play a Thursday night game?
TOB: Well, it certainly helps our preparation for Miami - especially for the coaches. For the players, I think it is better from a physical standpoint because they get more time to recover and be able to go practice. That is something that we can't be concerned with right now because Maryland is a very good football team and we have a great challenge in front of us to beat them.
Q: How much does (center) Kevin Sheridan's injury (left knee) disrupt what you do there (at that position)?
TOB: Well, it disrupts a lot. We are obviously a better line-up with Sheridan at center and Josh at right guard. But, it is what it is so we have to do the best job we can, and Josh has gotten a couple of series at center each game. We've prepared for this and we will just have to do the best we can.
Q: How much has Maryland's quarterback improved over the last year?
TOB: I think he has improved a lot. He has done an excellent job of managing the offense. He looks like he feels very comfortable in what they are trying to do.
Q: They have won their last five games by a margin of 13 points. What does that tell you about their team?
TOB: If you get into a close game, they are going to feel very comfortable and have a chance to win. They have found ways to win and that is what happens when you are a veteran football team as they are.
Q: What is the overall mood of the team with your backs to the wall?
TOB: I think they are fine. They don't seem to be bothered by anything. They know that we have a huge game in front of us and that we have to keep playing.
Q: This is a stretch where a team can have a one-game mentality. Is it easy to scoreboard watch and wonder what everyone else is doing?
TOB: Those things are out of our control so we have to try to take care of things that are in our control, which means that we have to go one game at a time. We've been pretty good at that through the year so we have to continue doing that.
Q: How much of the offensive line affected the running game against Duke?
TOB: I think that certainly had a lot to do with it. They came out with a mindset that we were going to be able to run the football and we did an excellent job of it. We did a nice job blocking and picking up a lot of things. When you put all of those guys on the line of scrimmage, we were able to punch a hole in Duke's defense and that is where the long runs came from.
Q: Can you comment on the performance you got from L.V. Whitworth and Andre Callender?
TOB: They came in and wanted to right the ship and they ran very hard. They did a good job - they hit their holes. They made a lot of right cuts and they ran with power, which we didn't do the week before. We are back on track but we are going to have to get prepared for this week so hopefully we can get better and improve this week, even as we revamp the line.
