Boston College Athletics
Post-Scrimmage Quotes: August 15
August 15, 2015 | Football
BOSTON COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Selected Post-Scrimmage Quotes
August 15, 2015
Head coach Steve Addazio
“It was a weird looking deal for me today. There were a lot of yards in the process that were had today and a lot of plays, especially in the run game today. On defense, we looked like we were smothering and at other times, it looked like we were letting up these big plays. It was kind of back and forth a little bit. There was enough there to not feel completely awful. We are nowhere where we need to be. There were far too many mistakes. We couldn’t get lined up and we had a lot of illegal formation penalties. We were giving up far too many sacks for our young offensive line right now. We have a long way to go. The [first team] took 70 scrimmage reps today and that’s a lot. We have a lot of work done and we walked off the field healthy. It’s not where you are today, it’s where you grow from today and that’s what I want to see. This is the first real measure. Let’s see how we grow from here and get better and improve. Don’t make the same mistakes now and each time we come out. Take coaching and fundamentally develop. That is what I am really interested in now. We set a bar and now we have to grow. Next Saturday, we have to look a lot better.”
“We have very good (running) backs. We generally have good running backs who make plays and we need to utilize them. I have to go up there and talk to the team about how we can utilize them even more. They make plays, they catch the ball, they block people, they run and you roll those guys. I think we are excellent there right now.”
“Ben Glines stepped up today. He comes from a tough program [St. Xavier], well coached, and he is a guy that looks like he can help us. It’s still early but he looks like he can help us. All camp long he has been that type of guy and that is what you find from scrimmage one that you can evaluate that first week of practice, which were mostly non-pad practices. You evaluate it today, so the chances are that we will be able to work with them.”
“[Darius Wade] needs to get better. He did some good things out there. A couple times he had no chance to do anything, so it was kind of difficult to judge it. He played fast today with his legs. He throws the ball very well. Today was a day where it was difficult to step up in the pocket and it affects these quarterbacks. The line play and the protection really affect the quarterback play. Quarterbacks can get a little bit jittery and their day-to-day can get distorted. He wasn’t following through well today and that is a byproduct of the [line play].”
“There were a couple of (defensive) guys who made some plays. I think we are getting a little more pass rush. I really like those two young guys, Ray Smith in the center and Zach Allen and Wyatt Ray. I think those guys have ability now. You have a really good stout inside guy and two good edge guys. If you can come away with that, we are pretty good. We have some pretty good young linebackers too. We are an untold story right now. We really are. I don’t make a lot of excuses. I’m not whining or complaining. I’m excited about it. We are a work in progress. How fast we will be ready and what will be like, I really don’t know. We will dramatically change from now until opening day, and then I would suggest we will grow quite a bit after that.”
“There is so much more to special teams than just kicking. I think we are going to be pretty good on special teams. [Our biggest question] is where we going to be with the kicker. Alex Howell looked like he had the best leg; the highest lift and the most everything today; Alex looked the best to me today. That may the biggest work in progress of all. Alex is maturing and when he is on, he is a great punter and when he is great as a field goal kicker, he is actually outstanding. It is just that he has to get that consistency.”
Senior offensive lineman Dave Bowen
“It’s been good. We’re getting a lot of guys reps. We’re rotating guys so that by week 1 – probably 20 days away now – we’re going to have the best starting five that we can.”
“Everyone is fighting for a job right now and that’s the way we want it. We lost of great players last year to the NFL and now it’s our turn to step up and fill those roles and do so by pushing each other on a daily basis and that’s what’s going to get us ready.”
“We’ve watched on film where we’re three inches away – we’re three inches shallow in a block – and it’s that close to where we’re springing plays that instead of six yards are six points. It’s close. [The running backs] really show that they can make guys miss and burst into the open field. So we have to get them room and let them do the rest.”
Sophomore running back Marcus Outlow
“The running back crew, we work so hard. Coach showed us a statistic before camp started, the first day we got in about how the running backs, we didn’t lose any one. There were zero snaps that the running backs lost last year because we’re all returning. We’re a big pride group and we take a lot on our shoulders and we know we have to help out our line. We know they’re going to come around. We know things are going to get better, but for us, we’re trying to focus on everything we do and everything we’re working on is at 100% and try to take out the blemishes in our games.”
Sophomore quarterback Darius Wade
“It felt good. We started off a little slow and we needed to pick things up as the practice went on. We felt good and felt that we found a rhythm as practice went on. Defense gave us some good looks and pushed us to get better but overall, I felt it was a great day, a great first scrimmage.”
“We know that we can just drive the ball. We had some long drives where we had to make some good third down conversions and some fourth-and-ones so we felt that we did a good job moving the ball, executing the plays and getting ourselves into a scoring position.”
“We have a lot of very good young athletes who are all working hard and busting their butt. We are excited to see this type of setting where some of the guys can step up and make the plays because during the regular week of practice, you don’t have these isolation plays where you can show what you have.”
“Naturally the defense is ahead of the offense at the beginning of camp. They definitely did good and we are excited how hard they push us because that is how we are going to get better during the season. We are getting a good look every single week and we are happy about [the defense] and it’s all competition and we will continue to get after it.”
Sophomore linebacker Connor Strachan
On the play of the defense today “I think we did some good stuff but we definitely have some stuff to work on. We are just going to have to get back to film and see what we need to get corrected.”
“We have a lot of young guys on the team this year so it’s fun. I definitely have to step up and push the new guys but at the same time, the older guys are pushing me too. All the guys are working really hard. I know what it was like last year so they are getting their work done and keeping pushing them. It’s much easier having gone through camp last year. I’m just having fun being out here everyday. It really doesn’t feel like camp. It just feels like playing football.
“You want to perform well in the scrimmage. It’s fun to play real football and tackle. To be able to go and get after it. It was fun getting out there today. It’s fun when we have big plays on the defensive side of the ball”
