Syracuse 20, Boston College 17: BC Postgame Quotables

Here is the transcript from head coach Steve Addazio's final postgame press conference of 2015, courtesy of Syracuse Athletics. Also, comments from a few BC players.

Head Coach Steve Addazio

Opening Statemement

"Obviously this game, penalties are a huge deal. On one drive, we had about 45 yards and three pass interference calls on 3rd-and-12 or 14. We kept the drives alive, we ran the ball, and we didn't throw the ball. There was a lot of pressure being put on Jeff Smith and we were not very comfortable with that, it was a struggle. We felt the best thing to do was take that out of his hands. But, we ran for 230. As we prepare for the offseason, we know one game we threw for 230 and another threw for 250. We need to do both at the same time, that's really where we need to be."

On his team's effort on Saturday

"I thought our guys played hard, as they always do, but we are not finding a way to win in the end. I think that's something we need to do, and that's something that's going to be forged here in the offseason. We're going to forge that, we're going to go back to the old days, it's going to be a rough offseason. We're going to get better."

On Scott Shafer's final game

"It was sad to see Scott Shafer, who was a classy guy, a really good football coach. I wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors. Moving forward, the Boston College Eagles are going to come back being much more mature; mentally and physically tougher. Come back forged and as a good football team and I'm looking forward to starting the offseason right now. We will start immediately."

On quarterback Jeff Smith

"Jeff played hard and made some big plays here today. He did well. John Fadule was ruled out of the game yesterday. It altered our thoughts a little but on third down, with all of the pressure coming on third down. We had a couple of plays where he got hit on third down, and that was on an interception. Another time he had a clean look at Charlie Callinan and he hit a guy in the helmet. We also converted on a critical fourth down, I really liked that. I thought we played hard up front, we played better up front. Our lack of ability to throw it hurt our third downs pretty quickly."

On the team's ability to respond

"I think we had to grind it out, which is what we did. I thought the kids responded pretty well to that. One of the touchdowns we had came from 45 yards and penalty errors. I felt that hurt us, that drive there, and that was the only one they got us. The field goal came off of an interception. But the seven points just came off of a bunch of yards and a bunch of penalties. I think there was a pass interference in the series of penalties. The pass interferences hurt us because they were all third and long, kind of déjà vu of Clemson."

Boston College kicker Colton Lichtenberg

On his two kicks against Notre Dame and Syracuse:

"I went through some struggles but it feels good to end on a bang like that. Honestly, I can't even focus on that, I was just focused on winning that game and the team getting a win for the seniors. That's all I could focus on."

On growing from this season
"It was a good experience. We had some ups and downs, but it's very good to be thrown into the fire like that. We're going to move forward from this adversity that we went through and it's a great experience for building sophomore, junior and senior year."

Boston College linebacker Connor Strachan

On the forced fumble

"I just tried to play inside out. It was a great hit, the ball came right out and I was just there."

On the penalties on various drives

"It was just disappointing to send our seniors out this way. We worked really hard all year. The good news is we are going to continue to get better and build a good foundation. We're going into this offseason with a really good mindset of how good we can be. To go out like that it's really tough because the senior class is a great role model class; they worked really hard."

On moving on to next year

"I think we have a great foundation. Everyone wants to work hard. Everyone does work hard. Next week start off getting ready for next year. We have big expectations. We're ready to really explode."

Boston College running back Tyler Rouse

On his performance

"I went out there trying to do whatever I could to help the team win. Unfortunately, we didn't get that done. I was out there competing for my team and seniors."

On both teams' emotions

"We just wanted to keep competing. We knew that we had to keep chopping away and do whatever we
could to really help get the win."

On playing in his hometown

"It really meant a lot to me. This is a rival school, a rival team. Being back home playing in front of my
old fans and my family is something alone that drives me. Then you put the seniors on top of that; it's
their last game. Then put getting to compete again out there. All those things come together and it just
makes for an atmosphere that I really enjoyed."