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BOSTON COLLEGE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 9, 2019

Steve Addazio

Boston, Massachusetts

Florida State - 38, Boston College - 24

STEVE ADDAZIO: Okay, obviously disappointing. I thought we battled right to the end, but can't give up big chunk plays. Too many missed tackles, and when you do that, they had an ability to rip off 21 points in a row at some point there in the second half.

You know, it's tough to win like that. I thought we played hard. I thought they competed hard. Got to go back, got to watch the tape, got to see where those issues are, got to correct them, move forward, get ready for the bye week, get some guys back, as well, and continue to improve.

Any questions?

Q. Just looking at it now, is there ever a point whether it's in this game or through the season like a reason you can't get the tackling sharp specifically?
STEVE ADDAZIO: Yeah, I mean, you've got to tackle. We're doing everything we can right now tackling. It's been up, it's been down, it's been better, it's been -- it's a roller coaster ride with the tackling. It's not good enough. We've got to continue to get better. We've got to work at it.

Obviously add into the fact we lost our two starting safeties last week, that doesn't help matters. We've just got to retool with the guys we have and get better at the tackling. That's one of the things we thought we were starting to get on top of, but then we lose those guys and we're back into this with this again now, so we're going to have to go back and work at it.

Q. You mentioned the bye week. Obviously a couple weeks ago before the NC State game you talked a little bit about fundamentals and getting back to the basics. With two weeks left in the regular season, is that back where you're at again, getting back to the fundamentals, improving the tackling, pursuit angles, all that stuff?
STEVE ADDAZIO: Yes. It's going to be an ongoing deal. We're never going to stop that. We've got to get better at tackling and continue to work at, like you said, our angles on our tackles, and we've got to continue to grow these guys. I mean, you're playing with a lot of guys back there that have a lot of youth, and it's up and down right now and that's frustrating, but at the end of the day they'll improve and we'll gain with that.

So that's what we'll do in the bye week, but quite frankly we're going to have to get some rest in the bye week and see who we can get back. Obviously we believe we can get Mike Palmer back, and Connor Grieco is not going to be able to be back. We'll just keep rolling from there. This time of year in the season, that's where you're at. You know, Benny Glines wasn't able to go today, Hunter Long wasn't really able to go much at all today, Mike Palmer wasn't able to go today. So hopefully over the next two weeks we'll be able to gather them back.

Q. Jordan Travis came in a couple times for them and he broke out those two scores on those option runs. Was that a wrinkle in their offense or was that something you guys had prepared for?
STEVE ADDAZIO: We've seen that on tape. I mean, that's not -- it's not like a lot of it, but it's there. You know, we prepared for that. That's not something that we didn't see or prepare for.

Q. Seemed like that fourth quarter was a microcosm of the way this team has gone the second half of the season with inconsistency. You guys did battle back and tie the game at 24. What's going through your mind at that point, expending all of that energy to tie the game, and how do you look for consistency in the last two regular season games?
STEVE ADDAZIO: Well, I mean, I felt during that game that we were going to have to score over 30. What happens sometimes in the course of the game is when it comes in bunches like that, it can be a little deflating, and we have to continue to bounce back from that. But you know, I think during the game, I felt good, to be honest with you. At a point I just felt we're going to be right in this thing right at the end with a great opportunity to win the game. That last quick gain they threw a three-step drop, quick-gain slant route that went for 60, that was a back breaker right there to me. I mean, it was just quick gain, and goes for 60. That can't happen. You knock them down at that point, get the ball back, you're in great shape. But we didn't. And the momentum flipped again.

But we kept battling. You know, we had over 500 yards of offense here against a very good defense. You know, I think we had 508 yards or something like that. I don't know. We had over 250 rushing, 300 throwing. I mean, starts with you've got to play great defense, and you've got to get rid of the chunk plays and you've got to get rid of the missed tackles in order to stop the chunk plays, and that's something that we've been extremely inconsistent with.

Q. (Indiscernible).
STEVE ADDAZIO: Yeah, I mean, just got to make a play. We didn't make a play. He caught it and he went down the field and he was sticking his foot in the ground and juking guys along the way down the field. I mean, listen, make no mistake about that, either. Their running back is going to be a top draft pick. He's got great speed, and the two receivers are dynamic players. Don't get fooled by that now. That's real. That's not something -- we knew that. That's not a mystery.

You know, I thought their quarterback played quite well today to tell you the truth. We had him corralled what appeared to be a couple times in the backfield and we had some missed tackles and they turned into big plays. Those can't happen. That's not necessary. Ball's on the ground, fumbling around, picks it up, breaks the tackle. Those are the things that we've got to eradicate. Those are very makeable plays, and we've got to make those plays. And we had a great opportunity in the course of that game, too; the kickoff return, ball was spit out, it was in our hands, then we lost it and it was right after we scored. We would have had the ball on the 15-, 20-yard line, but we didn't get that ball.

Q. (Indiscernible).
STEVE ADDAZIO: Listen, you know, this isn't complicated. You know, we lost a fair amount of players on defense, and we've got some very talented young players that we're trying to plug in on defense right now, and they're young. And we've got to continue to grow and develop with those guys.

You're replacing eight guys, two guys that you thought you'd have back. The good news was one of them, obviously a corner left early and then of course Duff was out this season. We thought we'd have him back, but he came back today, which was really great to see him on the field. I don't know how many snaps he got on the field today, but this was his first game to get back on the field and try to make his way back.

So that's encouraging. But we've got to keep developing our guys on defense, and that's where we are, and I knew that going in, I know it now, and it's just not shocking, it's just we've got to -- we're in a footrace to develop there to the best that we can develop there. But we're essentially playing with almost a complete new secondary and almost a whole new front. You know, along the way, we're going to keep getting these guys in there, these younger guys and keep playing and keep growing, and that's a good thing. We're sky high on some of them, and it's unfortunate that Connor Grieco broke his arm last week. That's unfortunate. He was off and running to what was to me to be a very promising close of his freshman year. So that's it.

Q. (Indiscernible).
STEVE ADDAZIO: Well, I'm not -- it's really -- I can't really comment on injuries, especially ones that I don't have great clarity on. But Connor is gone for the year, and I just said that. Chris Garrison is gone for the year. We said that. Mike Palmer is out with a lower leg injury. Hopefully we'll get him back in the next two weeks. Ben Glines had a lower leg injury. We will absolutely get him back over the next two weeks. Hunter Long had a lower leg injury. We will absolutely get him back over the next two weeks. Mehdi made his way back for this game. Hunter did partially. I don't know who I'm missing. David, I don't have the information right now to the extent of exactly what that issue is. So I'm not -- you know, the head coaches aren't injury report givers, but I think I gave you a fair amount of information about as much as I can do. I don't think there's much mystery there.

Q. Obviously tough game to lose, but you can always draw positives from games like this, as well, and you just listed a whole litany of injuries, but talk about your consistency on offense and the job that offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian has done this season.
STEVE ADDAZIO: Yeah, fabulous. I love where we are on offense right now. I think we've got a lot of experience over there right now. We've got a bunch of those guys are all going to be back, which is exciting. We have talent. You saw Ethon Williams out there today make a couple of big catches. That's exciting. Kobay and Ethon and Zay and CJ Lewis is redshirting this year because of a preseason injury. So that's exciting. It's duly documented with the tight ends, Hunter and Danny Dalton -- Danny Dalton has been out, too. We're hoping to get him back here. But we're very excited about our tight ends and our offensive line is going to really -- I think it's going to be special as we move forward.

And I think obviously Anthony will be back, and I just think Dennis -- Dennis really in the last two weeks has taken some really good steps. He threw the ball with confidence, he's running the ball, he's running the offense. He's doing a hell of a job. Those backs speak for themselves, and we have one that we haven't even really unleashed yet. So that's very, very exciting on the offense, and Mike is doing a great job, our offensive staff is doing a great job, and we've just got to continue to -- we're putting up nationally big numbers, and that's why we've got a footrace to keep developing on the other side, because it starts with playing great defense, the ability to run the football, score in the red zone, which we got hampered today because we missed two field goals, and we shouldn't have to miss those. No turnovers, we were leading -- we were in the top 15 in the country, fewest turnovers. So those categories, the obvious category is we've got to continue to improve. We've got to get better back-end play, and we've got to get better pass rush. Simple as that.

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