New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Player Quotables

QB Tyler Murphy on the Penn State defense...

It starts with the defensive line; they do a good job of getting penetration, forcing the running backs, runners and quarterbacks to cut it inside to the linebackers. Obviously they have a really good linebacker; he's an All-American. I believe he leads the country in tackles. They do a good job of freeing linebackers up and a lot of them make plays. We have to make sure we prevent them from getting penetration and get hat on hat each play. We feel like we if we do that we'll be successful. It's very difficult to do, obviously, because they are one of the best defenses in the country against the run. We are looking forward to the challenge.

Murphy on the BC offensive line helping to keep possession of the ball...

They have been doing it all year long. We have faced a lot of good defenses whether it's USC, Clemson, Florida State and Syracuse was a top notch defense. [The offensive line] has done a good job handling what teams have thrown at them. We've done a pretty good job with possession of the ball. So we feel like we can do some things especially up front. We are going to ride on them and lead the way. They are really looking forward to it and they are hungry.

Murphy on his expectations for the game...

I think it will be a great environment...one of the best atmospheres of any bowl game especially outside the [New Year's Day] to watch. I'm just looking forward to just playing; hopefully I play well. I have had a good week of preparation so far, so I'm looking forward to playing well and helping this team get the eighth win and get some momentum into the offseason so that way this team has something to look forward to and improve on next year.

WR Josh Bordner on Penn State's run defense...

We're going to stick to what we know and however we think we can move the ball on them; that's what we're going to do. As far as passing game, if we need to pass it, we're going to pass it. If the run game is working, we're just going to stick with what is working.

Bordner on what it means to be leaving the program in a good state...

It's definitely huge. Last year's seniors did a good job of building a foundation. Our class and the upperclassmen this year just want to continue that and really build this program because we feel that with this coaching staff and the players that we have, we can be really successful in the future.

Bordner on taking the next step from making a bowl game to winning one...

It would mean a lot. That's what we've been talking about, is taking that next step. It felt like last year we were more satisfied with getting back to a bowl game, but this year we're excited to be going to New York City and playing in the Pinstripe Bowl and we're looking forward to having an opportunity to win the game.

Bordner on finishing his collegiate career at Yankee Stadium...

It's going to be incredible. The Yankees are one of the greatest organizations in all of sports, so playing there, I'm definitely going to have a lot of fun and enjoy it. It will be a great way to send out the seniors.

Bordner on winning the Scanlon Award...

It means so much to me. We had a banquet and I was awarded it. Looking at some of the past winners—Matt Hasselbeck, Tim Hasselbeck, Bill Romanowski, Mike Mayock, Matt Ryan—it means a lot to me. It's just an award where you don't really understand what it means until you have people come up to you and talk to you about it. It really humbles me and I'm extremely honored to be the recipient of the award.

LB Sean Duggan on going to New York City...

I've never been there. A bunch of the guys on the team are from that area, and they say it's awesome. I can't wait. It's going to be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to visiting Ground Zero. I heard the museum there is really amazing. I think it will be a cool experience, going down to where so many people lost and gave their lives for our country. And having the connection to Welles Crowther to BC and having met his parents earlier this season is really inspirational. He was a true hero; it will be emotional for the team.

Duggan on the progress of this team...

We take a lot of pride in where we are. A lot of people were doubting us, saying it would be a rebuilding year, and it's pretty awesome to be a part of the turnaround and lay the next brick which Coach Addazio started here. The program is going in a great direction now. You always want to leave the program better than where it started. I think we all take a lot of pride in continuing the winning tradition that Coach Addazio started here.

Duggan on playing in Yankee Stadium...

It's going to be really cool. When I was getting recruited by BC, they played a couple games in San Francisco at the Giants' Stadium [AT&T Park] so I got to see how they did the set up there. Yankee Stadium is such a historical place. It's hard to grow up in America and now know about the Yankees and the history. It's going to be amazing to play there.

Duggan on taking the next step and winning the game this year...

To win eight games this year is taking the next step for the program. I think everyone remembers the feeling of losing to Arizona. The feeling in that locker room, you never want to send the seniors out with a loss, so winning this game would be a big step for this program and continuing in the upward direction.

Duggan on Penn State...

They're very talented. They're big up front, and fast on the edge, which is something that we've seen a lot this year. They're talented guys. Their quarterback is first-class, he's a top-notch kid. He's a great passer, so we're going to have to get to him and overall their offense is pretty good across the board, so it's going to be a tough match up. We're looking forward to the challenge. They don't remind me of any team in particular. They can do it all, they run power at you, then they can spread you out on the edge and they do the best of any team we have seen, but not one team in particular. Their O-line is big up front, so we're going to have to block well and execute the scheme that Coach Brown is going to put forward for us. Getting to the quarterback has been a nice a staple of our defense since Coach Brown got here, so we're definitely going to need to do that.

Duggan on Coach Don Brown and stopping the run...

When Coach Brown got here, he said two of the things we're going to do on this offense is we're going to stop the run to make them one dimensional and then when they have to pass, we're going to get out to the quarterback. As a defensive player, you take a lot of pride in run defense. When the offense can run the ball on you, it's pretty demoralizing, so we take a lot of pride in being able to stop the run and it's become a big part of our defense this year. Every game we want to go in and prove that we're the number four rush defense in the country.

Duggan on the student turnout at the Pinstripe Bowl...

I actually just saw the video that Coach Addazio did yesterday, with all the dudes, that was pretty cool. But we're expecting a great turnout, I've talked to a lot of students here and they're excited. They all say it's the perfect bowl game for us because we're in the Northeast. A representative from the Pinstripe Bowl came to practice today and said it sold out in a day and a half. It's going to be pretty cool to play in a somewhat home field game for the bowl game.

OL Bobby Vardaro on playing Penn State...

It's a lot we've seen before. This is kind of a similar defense to what Coach McGovern used to run, so they linebackers really make the line up front right, the linebackers will fill the empty gaps. It's definitely a tough defense, and I'm excited to run against it again.

Vardaro on the makeup of the offensive line...

It's definitely been a long journey, three different offensive line coaches, four different coordinators. I think the biggest thing for us was that our group really stuck together. We had five o-lines that came in freshman year and have been here ever since. These are my best friends, and I think that was the biggest thing for us. Coach said at our banquet yesterday, that we were really a team this year, building off of last year's team. We came together and we emphasized what team is.

Vardaro on playing his final game in Yankee Stadium...

I hate thinking about it. I'm moving out of my dorm this week actually, for the last time. Even after the Syracuse game, knowing that we had the bowl game after was kind of refreshing I guess. It's going to hit me real hard after I go home after the bowl game, that's kind of it for BC football.

Vardaro on Josh Bordner...

Everyone always said that Josh probably should have played a different position. Linebacker was the one that everyone said, because he's extremely athletic, he's a big body and right now, as you can see, he's doing really well: atching, blocking, whatever he needs to do, he's getting the job done. I'd rate him pretty high. He embodies everything that the award is about. He's a great player and athlete on and off the field. The funniest thing was—I think it was in game three—when he figured out that he could cut. He made a lot of great blocks in that game. After the game he came up to us and was like, "Wow I never knew how much fun blocking was! I can actually go and cut people." You can see him on film just laying people out all over the field. He's a great player, great athlete and a great friend.

OL Andy Gallik on taking the next step from making a bowl game to winning one...

We are really proud on building on the foundation that the guys built last year. It took a lot of mental toughness with the culture changing that we had last year, there were a lot of guys who didn't stick around and didn't buy into what Coach Addazio wanted for this program. But those seniors last year made things right. We didn't finish off the season the way we wanted to, but going into the season this year, it's awesome that we're able to get back into a bowl. Especially with it being in New York, on this big stage, against a great team like Penn State. I think that now is the time to establish the tradition that they started last year and close it out with a bowl win so that the younger guys can go into next year with a brighter perspective and up the goals a little bit.

Gallik on playing his last game at the Pinstripe Bowl...

It's a sad week for all of the fifth year guys. I'm moving out of my apartment on Thursday and it flew by. Looking back to freshman year, it feels like yesterday that we were going through all of those growing pains. It's bittersweet I guess you could say. It's a great way to close out my career here at BC, but at the same time, it's the last time I'm going to suit up with all of these guys and we want to go out on a good note.

Gallik on Josh Bordner...

Like Bob said, I've been impressed. Every Sunday morning we'd come in and watch highlights of the big plays from Saturday's game and most often it's highlighting Josh making a huge block down the field. It's something that's not really talked about and I'm glad you asked us, but he's always making big cuts down field and making wider lanes for Tyler and the running backs. He's always making blocks and doing whatever he can to get his blockers down, it helped us tremendously. He was the hands down, clear favorite to win that award. When I think of the Scanlan Award, I think of Josh Bordner. There's nobody that should have won that besides him.

DB Dominique Williams on Penn State's offense...

They run the ball sort of like us, so that's one thing our offense is helping us with. Penn State likes to run the ball. They've got two good backs in Caleb and Bill Belton. They also have good receivers in No. 5 (DJ Hamilton) and No. 7 (Eugene Lewis). If we can help stop the run it will help us in defending the pass and hopefully get them off on third down.

Williams on playing better defense down the stretch...

It's just the grind of the season...you build confidence week to week. This whole unit is so close to each other. We are playing our best games right now in the last few games. It's us working hard every day trying to get better.

Williams on the tackling issues at the start of the season...

(Coach Addazio) tries to keep his players healthy. He doesn't try to run us into the dirt. That's one thing I admire about him. He really does take care of his players. When it came to the Pitt game, we really didn't focus on it that much. But after the game, it wasn't the coaches, it was the players who stepped forward and said "we want to tackle at practice." That's the only way to get better.

Williams on adding tackling to practice...

At the beginning of the season we were missing a lot of tackles. As the season progressed, you could definitely see our numbers in tackling improve and less missed tackles in each game, more tackles for losses and being more aggressive.

Williams on going to New York and Yankee Stadium as a homegrown Boston native...

No, it won't be awkward. I'm just thankful for being able to try and go out and get this eighth win. It's just a great opportunity. As a kid growing up in Boston, you hear about Yankee Stadium, but I've never been there. It will be a great opportunity.

RB Myles Willis on getting to the next level...

Last year we started slow and we didn't finish off in the bowl game. We have been practicing harder and paid more attention to detail to get the eighth win because it means a lot and also we are playing at Yankee Stadium.

Willis on playing in both Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park (where the Eagles play Notre Dame next year)...

It's a crazy experience...I've got a lot of friends at my high school who wish they had the opportunity to play at or see the game. I get to play at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium. It's a great thing to go home and tell people about.

Willis on his first two years at BC and making bowl games...

We definitely have had it good. First two years bowl games...When they went 2-10, I was still playing my high school games but I was still representing Boston College. I know where we came from and we have great senior leaders that remind us that where we came from and remind us that these things are not given and you have to work hard on them. As long as you remember the past, we need to make sure we don't repeat it.

Willis on what he's learned from Coach Addazio...

He definitely gives you a lot of confidence. He challenges you. This is my second year here and I've done things I've never done before—whether it's the kickoff team or kickoff return...I had never returned a kick before I got here. I never even played running back before. You play and you don't want to let him down.

Transcript courtesy BC Athletics