Boston College Athletics
Football Fast Forwards To Duke
November 06, 2006 | Football
Nov. 6, 2006
"Our team is coming back slowly from the loss (to Wake Forest) in Winston-Salem. We've started preparations this week for Duke. It's a situation where we are back playing at home and we will get over this latest loss and go on from there."
Q: How big of a concern is it to get your team re-focused after a loss like that against a team that is struggling like Duke?
A: "I think it could be, but we are in a situation similar to last year, in that, after we lost the second game in conference, everybody said that there would be no way to win the conference but that was wrong because a three-loss team ended up going to the championship. I've got a little bit of history on my side to throw at them so that they take care of business these last three weeks. We've lost our margin for error but if we go one game at a time and figure out how to win the eighth, ninth and tenth game, who knows what is going to happen."
Q: If you look down the road, you still control your destiny and Wake Forest still has some pretty good teams to beat...
A: "As I told our team, we can't be spending time hoping what other teams do. We have to take care of business this weekend with Duke. What happens, happens. We had control of our destiny and lost it. Now we have to fight our way back and that's what we intend to do."
Q: The trouble with the running game against Wake, was that just a result of their defensive scheme or was it the situation of the game?
A: "I think they did a good job - they had a lot of guys around the ball, more than we did. We then got into a situation where it was 21-7 and at that time made the decision that if we were going to get back into it, our best chance was throwing the football so that's when we started to throw first and run second."
Q: Matt obviously had to run around a lot during the game. How did he come out physically?
A: "I think he more beaten up mentally than physically."
Q: Is that a concern for you?
A: "No, because he will snap out of it. He just wants to win so badly and it's so important to him. It will take him a day or so to get over it but he will be fine."
Q: Do you think he took it more to heart because the game was in his hands at the end?
A: "No, we are all in this together - coaches, offense, defense, special teams. It was a team effort. We lost as a team and we are going to go on. He is highly critical of himself and that is why he is such a good player because it is very important to him."
Q: Coming off a loss into the Duke game against a winless team, are you concerned that they like a wounded animal looking for any glimmer of hope for their season?
A: "Well, I am sure they are. We will be aware of that. We know that they are very capable. They took both Alabama and Miami to the end so it seems the bigger the opponent, the better they play, so if we qualify as a big opponent, we will get their best game and we have to be ready to play."
