Boston College Athletics
Football Resumes Practice During Bye Week
October 01, 2014 | Football
Chestnut Hill, Mass. - The Boston College football team resumed practice on Wednesday in preparation for the October 11 matchup with NC State in Raleigh. The Eagles (3-2) had time to recuperate with no game on the schedule this weekend. They will leave the state of Massachusetts for the first time in 2014 when they take on the Wolfpack (4-1) at 3:30 p.m. at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Selected student-athletes spoke after practice.
Junior DB Justin Simmons
On growing into the player he is now...
"I feel like I've grown a bit. I definitely had to adjust to this new style of defense. Our pass defense was more cover four, cover two--bend, don't break. This is whole new defense with Coach Brown. It is all about 11 hats to the football. There is no cover two, cover four, it's all attack style defense. So I've had to grow in that sense.
"My freshman year I was maybe 6-3, 180 pounds so I've had to put on some weight. I have to be able to go down and shed a block from fullbacks and offensive linemen to make sure I can get in the right position to make tackles.
"It was a big adjustment. In our pass defense, we never really ran man-to-man too much with one high so we had to learn a lot of different styles as to how we were going to play man and communicate better, line up differently, that sort of thing. It was a big change, but I think it helped everyone grow as players with new tools in our arsenal."
On leading the team in tackles...
"It's all Coach Brown just putting me in the right places at the right time, making sure I read the defense right. I know some people think a safety leading the team in tackles is bad, but in our scheme of defense it's all 11 hats to the ball, so I'm just as important in stopping the run as the defensive line and the linebackers."
On proper tackling...
We're going to work on that every day. The defensive backs know that regardless of what happens with the defensive line and the linebackers, we have to get the guy on the ground. A lot of those missed tackles come from us and it's going to stop with us.
"It's tough. It's definitely something that's going to motivate us the rest of this week to prepare for NC State. With that said, we do have to throw [the loss to Colorado State] behind us. It's over now. We just have to watch tape, learn, get ready and prepared for NC State so it doesn't happen again."
On his responsibility in the new defense...
"Taking on more responsibility has shaped me more as a player and let the coaching staff know that I can be depended on. We're all responsible for each other, depending on where we fit making sure we know where the others are supposed to be. We all just help each other out."
On coming to Boston College...
"I just wanted to venture out, experience something I've never been around. I've never been in a city environment. And Boston College is a prestigious academic school. It's a great environment with ACC football. It can't get any better than that.
"I was recruited by Coach Day, and he told me, `We're not going to offer until you come up and we get a look at you.' As soon as I heard that, I took the next flight I could up and came out to the one-day camp and I loved it. Fell in love with the school and I fell in love with the coaching staff. I love the new coaching staff now, and then ever since I have loved the atmosphere."
Graduate DB Dominique Williams
On what needs to be fixed for NC State...
"We are going to use this week to get healthy and get rested up but at the same time we need to be mentality focused and ready to take on North Carolina State. We have a lot of errors that we have to fix on defense. I think that we have done a good job tackling but I think that you can always be better. That is one thing we are trying to get better at."
On teammate Justin Simmons...
"He is stepping up. He is a good player and he is one of the guys we can count on. He is doing a great job. He has gotten better as a player and as a teammate."
