Boston College Athletics
Florida State Game Week: Addazio Addresses Media Monday
September 14, 2015 | Football
Chestnut Hill, Mass. - Boston College head coach Steve Addazio used his weekly press conference to discuss the Friday night matchup against No. 9/6 Florida State and how the Eagles are preparing.
Opening Statement…
“Coming in here after a big win, we dually documented the Howard game. The kids played hard, they played well, and they did what they had to do. There were several explosives on both sides of the ball. Now we are getting ready for Friday. Today was our Tuesday practice. We had a big, tough, physical full-padded day in route for a big game here against Florida State, a top-10 team here Friday night on national TV.
“Florida State has four returning starters on offense, but they also have Everett Golson coming in and joining them at quarterback. Dalvin Cook is at running back; he is just a real dynamic back, one of the most electric backs [in college football]. I think he is the second leading rusher in the nation right now. They have a very strong offensive line and a very talented offensive football team.
“On defense, they’re most experienced at linebacker and in the secondary. Jalen Ramsey is the All-American corner they have returning there. They have five returning starters on defense.
“Watching them on tape, they are a very talented football team. They play hard, are big and physical upfront on the defensive line and the defensive ends are quite big. They’re an electric team, as they always are. They have great athletes as they always do. They’re well coached as they always have been. So they’re very talented coming in here and it will be a great challenge for us but we are looking forward to that challenge and we have a great week of preparation getting ready for it.”
On how to prepare for Friday night…
“We had a real spirited practice today. We went ones-verses-ones for the speed of the game and the physical intensity of the game. We had a great practice. I think realizing the intensity in which we are approaching the week, the practice, the coaching staff, the older guys on the team, understanding the margin of error is much much smaller now. That the execution level has got to be higher. Things are going to happen so much faster on the field. You’re going to get ‘x’ amount of shots in that game and you’re going to have to capitalize on them. We are just trying to prepare our team physically, mentally, emotionally and I think that is what it takes. You have to keep getting better each week, in week one, two, three, then you have to come out here and play a real good football game at home. There can’t be a bunch of mistakes, a bunch of penalties; you can’t get shocked by the speed of the game.”
On imitating the speed of the game expected from Florida State…
“We go our first D against our first O. That is how we practiced today. We find the like defenses and the like plays and we match them up. We went full speed today. We had 15 minutes of ones-verse-ones in different segments. And then we go one-two-two-one, which means our one offense against our two defense and one defense against two offense, still trying to run a lot of like plays so that you are not running off of cards for the speed and the intensity. I thought it was good for both sides today to really feel that today. It was pretty crisp.”
On the preparation time required for a game like Florida State…
“We knew last week that we had to get a jump start on this game. It’s not the first time we have looked at them. We started the process early. It’s a short week and we had to hit the ground running. Today is a full Tuesday, even though it’s a Monday. So, it requires some pre-work but our kids know this is a conference game and that they are playing a top-10 ranked opponent. Quite frankly, we have had two years of tough games that we have come out on the short end of the stick on these games and I think our kids are highly motivated to play here at home, to play well and get a win.”
On the reaction when Everett Golson announced he was transferring from Notre Dame
“I was like, ‘Oh boy.’ He is a talented guy. He is a dual threat quarterback. They lost a great quarterback and now they are replacing him with a quarterback who has a great game experience and in big time games. He brought Notre Dame to a national championship. But that’s the way it is. You just keep rolling. We are going to play a talented quarterback. And the running back is exceptional. He is just a great player. He is fast, he’s powerful, and he makes a lot of big plays for them. In the first two games he was a difference maker for sure.”
On BC controlling emotions leading up to the game…
“It’s more than controlling their emotions; it’s getting them to understand what it is going to be like. Young players just don’t have a reference point. They don’t understand the intensity. What have they seen? They’ve seen Maine and Howard. They don’t understand the intensity of these games. The speed and the physicality of these games is so much greater and different. The margin of error is so much smaller. And with these young guys, they have a large margin for error. We might get away with some of that stuff against a lesser opponent but when you play these teams, you don’t get away with anything. To get them to understand, to realize that is hard. By nature, they’re sloppy. Their attention to detail isn’t there. You are trying to grow that process up, work hard at it every day. It’s a pretty intense program we run here. It’s not like we’re lackadaisical at all, but these are guys who haven’t had to have great attention to detail in a lot of their high school programs to be honest with you. The level of intensity is just not the same. They get shell-shocked by it. We work really hard on that around here but for me to say some of these young guys aren’t going to have deer in the headlight look, they are going to. It’s going to happen.”
On how the team is responding to the high-intensity practice…
“Great! We had a great practice today. I really thought we did a great job today. The kids did. I thought they had a lot of energy. They’re into it. They’re ready to roll now. The good news is that you’re playing a good team but you’re also playing a high-end game: A national TV game. That’s good. It’s not just a solid good team but doesn’t have the same national flare to it, that is where you can get really trapped in here but our kids are really excited about the game. The question will really be whether we can execute at a high enough level out of the gate. That is the question that is going to go unanswered until we see the game. In terms of what we can do today, I was pleased with what we did today. I thought it was crisp. And explosive. On the flip side of it, we have guys who play seven, eight, nine, ten snaps and we are fresh. We’re not beaten up or anything right now. We may beat them up today and tomorrow, but they come in today feeling pretty good.”
On what experience you draw from beating No. 9 USC last year…
“Well for the guys who were in the game, the confidence that we can obviously go out and play a top-10 opponent and beat them. The fact that [Florida State is ranked], the guys who played aren’t intimidated by that in any stretch of the imagination, but there is a high percentage of players who had neither experience so it’s not applicable.”
On the importance of special teams against Florida State…
“We need to play well on special teams any time you get in these low-margin-for-error games. It’s got to kind of swing the pendulum for you a little bit. We got to put them in a long field and we’d like to create a blocked punt. We’d like to pin them inside their twenty and on kickoffs obviously. We’ve got to do things to create field position advantages for ourselves. So while we made strides in special teams last week, we’re really looking for special teams to be a real strength for us this week and come through for us. We’ve invested a lot of time in them and want to start reaping some of the benefits from it. So I think we’ve improved quite a bit and I’m hopeful we’ll perform at a high level.”
On wanting players to embrace the emotion surrounding this game…
“I think you want to ignore the hype. What I get nervous about is when people start telling you you’re better than you are. And all that blowing smoke, I’m not really into that. That’s where you drink your Kool-Aid and you get your tail beat in. But in terms of the emotion and the atmosphere, I think it’s great. That’s major college football. You’d like to see it more around here. I mean, great game day, a loud stadium and ESPN on campus, that’s college football. Everybody loves that and there’s nothing wrong with it. Just as long as you’re not walking around with people telling you you’re great, then I think you’re fine.
“Where are we? We’re just a young team battling our tail off. I wouldn’t say our offense, defense or special teams have any reason to be sticking their chests out about anything. We haven’t done anything. What have we done? Beat two teams we’re supposed to beat? We’ve got to go out and play a tough team like this; we need to go out and play. We’ve got a lot of games left on the schedule. A lot of big time football games. But there’s certainly nobody on this program sticking their chest out and thinking they’re better than we are because of the two teams we beat.”
On seeing enough game management out of sophomore QB Darius Wade…
“We didn’t see much of that [with Wade not playing too many snaps against Howard]. So we’ll see. This will be a good game to evaluate that. To see his ability to handle the pressure of this game. You’re not going to get a bigger game. We’ll get other games like it, but it’s not going to be bigger. So here’s a big game at home - we’re not on the road - we’re only at home, so that’s good. So a big game atmosphere at home, I think this will be a great evaluation of where he’s at.”
On any guys that stepped up in the Howard game…
“I think you see signs of guys. I’d say you’ll get a better feel for that after [playing Florida State]. A young freshman got in there, got in the game and showed some speed and some burst. We’re certainly high on Jeff [Smith], as we are with some of the other freshman. But you know, this is another step, this will be another stage. This will be another, you know, whatever on the road on our way to gathering experience. It’s a big difference between Clearwater Central Catholic and Florida State right now.”
On what he sees from Florida State…
“The usual. Stop the running back, who’s powerful and fast. The quarterback is mobile with a great arm. The offensive line I think is pretty darn good. On defense, they are big and physical. We haven’t seen that. We haven’t played against those big physical defensive fronts. The linebackers, they run like crazy. They can flat out run. They can play man coverage and lock you down. So it’s a whole different looking operation right now. It’s not like you’re going to blow them off the ball. That’s not going to happen. That’s the elite of college football right there. They have a top-three recruiting class, the best players in America. That’s what it is. I’m not exaggerating that, it’s just a fact. So you’re going from playing a couple I-AA teams to playing the elite in the country. We’re going to play a lot of big-time ACC football games along the way, but everyone in America would recognize that Florida State is one of the elite in America, not just in the ACC. So that’s the extremeness that you’re going to see here. It’s not just another Power 5 team here. They’re in the top 10 in the country. They’re going to be there every year; it’s not just some fluke. They’re getting the top end recruits. They don’t get two- and three-star recruits. They get the best.”
