Boston College Vs. Wake Forest: Steve Addazio Press Conference Highlights

As always, if you're interested in what he had to say in its entirety, head on over to the BC Eagles website. A fantastic job by sports information to get the transcripts out to everyone.

On the Duke game...

On offense, we had over 300 yards, we rushed for 164 and passed for 141. It was probably our most balanced day. We went in there trying to establish our play action passes, which I thought we did. We had some shots that were wide open that we couldn't connect on and we need to do that. Of course, we did connect on a couple and one was brought back, unfortunately. We had no interceptions and no turnovers and we won the time of possession again. So there is a lot of positive there, other than the fact that we didn't win that football game.

There's growth. The problem is we need a lot more growth. We've got a lot of new pieces in there and continual shuffling of bodies due to injuries is unsettling, so we are not getting the continuity we need to be an execution offense. There are ties when we actually look pretty good and then there are a bunch of times when things just don't look right. We have to continue to work stead and devote and fix it. Our line play has to get better. Our quarterback play has to get better and there are varying different reasons for those things. Some is age, some is not, but that is what we have to get better.

In my comments since Duke, I've been adamant that BC's experienced growth and there are positives, but we tend to focus on the negatives. There's been moves forward. Troy Flutie's long bomb and Jeff Smith's touchdown pass that was called back are two prime examples of BC starting to execute, but Flutie's ineffectiveness to start the game and Smith's inability to pass consistently is an example of taking steps back on that progress.

It's funny that BC was so balanced, and people are this upset. Before the season, commenters and fans clamored for balance; the Eagle production on offense was almost nearly 50-50. So now they have balance, and that's not executing well enough for them, so they want to abandon the balance for one offense or the other. I find that ironically funny.

We had plenty of opportunities to win the football game. Bottom line. We had real life opportunities to win that game and couldn't accomplish that. That's the part that bothers me and concerns me. In between the white lines, we played very hard and were physical. We play hard and see the team competing. Those are foundational blocks that are most important. I just don't think our execution is good enough and I surely understand some of the reasons why. We are young to begin with then we took some massive amounts of injuries and it becomes difficult. So we have to fight our way back and just refit things, reorganize things, re-evaluate things and see what the best things that guys can do. That's what we are worried about too.

What worries us all is that the game was there for the taking and it completely fell apart. After the game ended, I looked at those final plays and found the right play calls. It boiled down to flat out execution. Whether it's a blown punt return or a missed pass or inaccurate throw or whatever, it boiled down to execution. The team didn't make enough plays to win the game.

You can put that on the coaches if you want, but it's an all phases thing. The coaches called plays that worked, but the players just couldn't get it done in the end. Of course that's worrisome. You don't want that to become something bigger.

Going back to what I said before the game, though, I think there's value in the loss. I think this team will learn more about what it needs to do to win this type of game later in the season. It doesn't help what's happened now, but later in the year, when they're in the same position, they've filled the previously-empty database with information.

On playing Wake Forest...

On defense, they are 20th in total defense. 53rd against the run and 15th against the pass. They had an outstanding defense last year. I remember telling everybody that and people [questioned the statement about their defense] and then we went down there and [those people] were like, 'Wow. They really have a good defense.' They still are really good on defense. They play good defense. They have some really good defensive players. Three linebackers are all back, and I think they are outstanding players. [Marquel] Lee and [Brandon] Chubb. I like their strong safety Ryan Janvion. They have good players, a good scheme, and they are well coached. On special teams, they come after the punt. They do all the things they need to do when you're building your program.

Everyone wants to point at the Deacs as being a pushover because of their offensive woes, and, yes, their offense is very much a work in progress. While they've scored points, they lost to Syracuse and Indiana. Their two wins are against Elon and Army. They played Florida State tough, but that was more because the entire Seminole team was lethargic.

Prior to the season, doing the countdown of the ACC's best at each position, I put the entire Wake Forest corps in the top five at linebacker. They play incredibly strong, and they're very good. They're experienced and talented. They're a third top 25 defense, and you have to expect BC's offense will struggle. This could very much resemble the Duke game.

On who to expect will be playing in the kicking this week...

We always look at everybody but I think Colton [Lichtenberg] is a young kicker and we have to let him go...The most we can get out of [Howell] is punting and he is punting up to his normal punting self, so we can't even think about field goals and extra points. We feel right now that we are going with Colton. Is that a permanent thing? Nothing's permanent.

I think Addazio's been asked this like five times since the NIU game. I swear some people ask questions just to hear themselves talk.

On freshmen starting...

A freshman quarterback is a freshman quarterback. Are there exceptions? There are always exceptions. It's hard to play quarterback as a freshman. It's hard to play offensive line as a freshman...It's hard to be the starting kicker as a freshman. You can't just lose your starting quarterback and put somebody in there that is a true freshman, or a redshirt freshman in the game, and just act like that doesn't matter. Of course it matters. It matters to everybody in the country...To a running team like us, to be down our two starting tight ends is a pretty big whack. We've got to regather and re-bite. The world is not coming to an end. You have to develop. You have to develop your team and grow them. You are dealt a few hard blows and you have to deal with it.

More and more, I find myself saying Steve Addazio is, at times, a victim of his early success. He stepped in with leftover Spaziani talent and turned them into a seven win program. He brought in Tyler Murphy as a fifth year starter and redesigned the team into seven more wins.

This is a completely different situation. He's not retooling the team around guys who have physical tools. He's developing physical tools and attempting to coach those players up in what amounts to an impossible situation. When you have a bunch of freshmen or sophomores, you're playing with either a high school or prep school type of athlete. You're going up against 21-year old men - some cases older - who are so much more physically and intellectually developed on the field.

The expectations on Coach Addazio are that no matter what happens, he would be able to rebound this team - and they're still 3-2. Yet the way we're talking, it's like this team is 0-5. They've come an incredibly long way, and there's an incredibly long way to go.

On the quarterback situation...

In a perfect world, I'm not a two-quarterback guy. But I don't think either one has taken [the starting job]. They've had their moments of good things and their moments of bad things. On top of what I just said, I'm not sure at this point that either one can handle the whole game. I'm not sure that can happen. I think what we are wrestling with is not whether we will play two quarterbacks, it's kind of what we're doing and percentage of what we're doing. My hope is that quite honestly, that one of them will make it a non-decision. We are just not there yet.

I know I said something totally different about this yesterday in the Weekly Kickoff, but I realize that maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. I reset myself throughout the day and you'll see my consistent message throughout the week.

I know people do not agree with that statement, and we have a lot more coming your way on this topic later today and into tomorrow.