Opening Statement
“Proud of the way our kids played today. Played with great toughness, great passion, great resolve. We knew we were coming into play here in the Dome, which I know as well as anybody is a very difficult place to play. We were able to do some fabulous things on the field, had to overcome some adversity early, had a couple turnovers early, which is very uncharacteristic of us. We had to rebound and overcome that, and I think that spoke to the resolve our team had. We went out and set a school record for rushing. AJ Dillon broke the all-time rushing and scoring record. 691 yards of offense. I thought we played really tough, physical football and responded. On defense we made some great stops and some great plays, harassed the quarterback, made some plays in the back end, really tackled well at times and I thought we made some real improvement on defense. I am most pleased that our team responded to a challenge. Came here on the road against a very exclusive Syracuse team. I thought we just came out and did an unbelievable job. This is the most points scored in a BC vs. Syracuse game. It was a good day, something we can build on, something we can really grow with here at BC. Every week is a new week, like a lot of people in the country, you get to this time of the year, you are dinged up. But, if you can get a team to play as hard as our team played today you have to be real proud of them. We can enjoy this, but get ready to move on to next week. Happy to answer any questions.”
On what he saw in Syracuse’s defense and how to exploit it...
“We feel very confident about our run game. We have an outstanding offensive line, two really good backs that are active and a great group of tight ends. One thing I forgot to mention was, we felt like we needed to have some balance in our attack. Now it got skewed because of the way it went today. I thought Dennis Grosel did an unforgettable job. He had great poise today. He threw the ball very well, both in the drop back game and in the play action game. We had a couple of those play actions go for touchdowns. I thought he played well and took a step forward and had some growth. We feel like we can run the football, no matter what. We have two big horses, a really good offensive line and we were going to come in here and establish that part of our football team.”
On keeping the game in control early...
“We are trying to develop on defense right now. I say this a lot of times, we are on the roller coaster over there. You see progress, then sometimes it looks like we are taking a step back, then you see some progress. I think that’s all about developing a young group of players that do not have a lot of experience. I also think that last week we caught a buzz saw, we saw the number one team in the country, in all likelihood, at home on a Saturday night at their place. That is not an excuse we should have played better than that, but I am just telling you we played an elite football team and sometimes things can roll on you. Just like here today some things can roll on you. I am just saying that I am looking forward to getting to Tuesday practice and get ready for Florida State. There’s learning moments everywhere.”
On injuries at the tight end position...
“We have to go back and look at the film and see who is coming back and who we are not getting back and just go from there. That’s our job. You roll with the hand that you’re dealt and you just keep moving forward. I believe that nobody is too significantly hurt, but this time of year you have to have some good fortune sometimes that rolls with you, sometimes it does not. But here is what I know, next week’s game is coming like a freight train. So, we are just going to have to figure it out.”
On the running backs carrying the offensive load...
“AJ is having his best year. His leadership, his mindset, his approach to the game is completely different now. Obviously, he is a third year player, he’s had some adversity with some injuries last year. You know you are looking at a guy who is having a positive impact on that whole room. So, now David Bailey is starting to come into his own recently. That is what happens when you start getting really good players. That happened in our secondary when we had Justin Simmons, he set a bar in our secondary then we went on a run of some really outstanding players that are currently in the NFL. We are in that run right now in our backfield. We have a young man right now named Patrick Garwo, we were going to put him in today, but I did not want to take another game away from him on the redshirt deal for five or six carries. We couldn’t be more excited about him. Then we have Travis Leavy who helped us beat Virginia Tech at tailback a year ago. That room is a really good room. And Benny Glines is in that room, who took a bunch of reps at tailback this week, but he got hurt today so we did not get to see him. That’s a really good room and I think AJ has done a really nice job setting the course for that room. And that’s going to be a good room moving forward.”
