Boston College Athletics
Football Prepares for Wake Forest
October 22, 2014 | Football
Chestnut Hill, Mass. - The Boston College football team will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., to face Wake Forest on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. As the Eagles (4-3, 1-2 ACC) prepare for the Demon Deacons (2-5, 0-3 ACC), quarterback Tyler Murphy and offensive coordinator Ryan Day spoke to the media after Wednesday's practice.
Graduate QB Tyler Murphy
On Wake Forest's pass defense...
"They have two really good corners. One of them is really quick and very aggressive. He usually plays on both sides of the field. I think he's No. 7 [Merrill Noel]. He's really aggressive and he does a good job of staying on his receivers. The other corner is pretty tall and lanky, reminds me of a Justin Simmons type of guy. He's very athletic and does a good job of getting his hands on balls and getting in the way, making things difficult. They're pretty solid in the back end with their safeties. We have to do a good job on our side of the ball, run our routes, making sure I'm throwing the ball on time and throwing it in the right spots."
On the need to pass against Wake...
"They have such good DBs and they will be confident with them. They're going to definitely load the box and really key on the run, forcing us to beat them outside. I think we're capable of doing that, but we have to bring our A-game and be on point, both myself and the receivers."
On becoming a four-quarter passing team...
"It all kind of depends on the looks we get. We come out and try to do some basic things to see how they're going to play us and we try to make adjustments from there to see where we can attack them. We kind of didn't get things going until the second half versus Clemson. Whenever Coach calls our number to make things go in the air, we have to be ready to go and make the best of it."
On redshirt freshman WR Charlie Callinan...
"Charlie is a guy who's really been working hard. He's shown a lot of improvement in practice and in the games he has been showing up big time. You can see that this past Saturday. He's one of those young receivers who just continues to develop and grow. He's got good size; he's a good target, easy to find across the middle. As Charlie keeps getting better, it's my job to find him, get him the ball and continue to work him in. The coaches are doing a lot of things that get him involved."
On the receivers' blocking responsibilities...
"They've been doing a great job. It kind of goes unnoticed, but they're part of the reason why we have been so successful rushing the ball and our rushing numbers are so high because they're downfield blocking guys. Anytime you can break that first level and then you've got hat-on-hat downfield with the receivers, it just allows you to spring free, find a lane and run. That's something I have really seen, being a part of the run game. It's also helped us with setting up the big plays because they can show that they're going to block but then slip guys because they're so worried about the run game that it kind of opens things up for them. The receivers being able to run-block is big, it really helps us as an offense."
On offensive line against Clemson's Vic Beasley...
"They did a good job of containing him and slowing him down. He really wasn't much of a factor. He didn't hurt us in any big ways. He's a great player, a great athlete. The O-line did a good job of knowing where he was and keeping him from doing anything spectacular and hurting us in that way. We're not going to face any big Beasley this week, but Wake Forest has a really good defensive line and they play hard and relentless. They go play after play, so you have to be ready for that and make sure we have are ready up front."
On the second half of the season...
"We feel like we can definitely get bowl eligible. That's our first goal, to beat Wake Forest and be one step closer to being bowl eligible. We feel like we have a chance to win every game that we play for the rest of the season. We're excited for the rest of it. It kind of goes by fast. A lot of us fifth-years and seniors are talking about how it's already week nine. But we have six weeks and five games left so we're just looking forward to making the best of it and helping this young program get better and set ourselves up for success next year."
Offensive Coordinator & Quarterbacks Coach Ryan Day
On the Wake Forest defense...
"They're tough. They've done a really good job against everyone. If you watch on film, they've really held up strong. They have a really good nose tackle, two NFL corners. We have to do a good job of handling their guys up front, do a good job on the perimeter of creating explosives against their defensive backs. So, we just have to meet their challenge and build off the last couple of weeks."
On Callinan's blocking abilities...
"He has done a good job this year with his blocking, and in some games he's done a great job with blocking. He's a bigger guy so he should create mismatch problems on the edge in the run game. In the pass game as well, down the field, he's a bigger body so he has to understand what type of receiver he is and use that to his advantage."
On Callinan's big performance against Clemson...
"Any time you make plays in big games like that, in big atmospheres, it gives you confidence. Confidence is really important for a younger receiver, so it's good to see him make those plays. That's all part of it as he develops, he can now look back on those and say, `Ok I did that against Clemson, against NC State' some of the better teams in the league. He can use that moving forward."
