Boston College Vs. Syracuse: Steve Addazio's Weekly Press Conference

For the full transcript, head on over to the BC Eagles website.

Wrapping up the Notre Dame loss...

As we move forward those are the games that this group of guys will learn how to win. That was a top-four team, a top-end team in college football today, and we played them nose up. It was all three phases at different times. Intensity, effort, how hard our guys played - I'm pretty proud of that.

After going back and watching Saturday's loss, I came out of it feeling pretty good. I didn't think BC would win that game (I said that at the beginning of the season), so I was hoping they would come out, play tough, and show intensity. They did exactly that.

BC faced the #4 team in the nation, a team potentially playing in the College Football Playoff. They forced five turnovers and made DeShone Kizer look like a sophomore quarterback. Offensively, they made plays on the ground, and there was execution we hadn't seen all year. It was a giant step forward, something that hadn't been there all year.

Did it end in victory? No. As BC fell to 3-8, the detractors will once again say that youth and inexperience is just an excuse. But having this memory of this game and knowing what they did? I can't help but think this game will help BC learn how to defeat teams in the future. Against Florida State, they had no idea how to win. Against Notre Dame, they executed but couldn't do enough. In the future, they'll figure out how to take the next step.

On getting the same energy at Syracuse as was felt against Notre Dame...

That is worry that you have right now because you played Notre Dame like that, and played them in a stadium like Fenway Park, and then you played the type of game we did - along the line of how many games this year came down to the wire - can creates a lot of disappointment and frustration. It's one thing if you get dusted. That has not happened to us. Not only has that not happened, but how many times has it come down to two points or three points or five. I think if you had one takeaway from our game on Saturday, you would call us tough and resilient. That's a good compliment. You'd probably have some other things to say, especially when it comes to me, and that's okay.

There's going to be some kind of emotional drop off this week. You get so far up to play a team like Notre Dame, in an atmosphere like Fenway Park, wearing throwback uniforms - you can't help but feel some kind of letdown knowing that you're headed to play a 3-8 Syracuse team in a half-empty dome in Western New York on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

The tough part for the coaches is trying to keep the emotion levels high for one last week. It's a lot tougher than it sounds, but that's the thing to watch on Saturday. Both of these teams have plenty of reason to come out flat. The team that can muster and manage emotion is the team that will grab early momentum.

On Saturday being the final game for Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer...

You don't know what to expect. That can go from A-Z. I've seen it all. You can see an emotionally-charged team on the last home game for the seniors, which you usually are going to get. You can see a letdown. You can see any of the above. I don't think you can predict it. Sometimes you just see some wide open stuff because. You could see anything.

In 2006, Boston College entered the final game of the season ranked 18th against the Miami Hurricanes. Miami needed to win to become bowl eligible, and prior to the game, rumors swirled about the status of head coach Larry Coker. Miami defeated BC to qualify for a bowl game, but the next day, Donna Shalala fired him anyways. Coker coached the MPC Computers Bowl against Nevada, which Miami won.

There's a point to that - anything can happen with a coach that has nothing to lose. Saturday is the last game for Scott Shafer as head coach of the Syracuse Orange, but the players in uniform include guys who committed to play the majority of their college careers for him. As a result, it'll be a good test to see if they cared for their coach or if he lost his team.

If they come out emotional and put it all on the line, they're doing it for their coach. If they come out flat, then he's an incredible lame duck who lost his team and needed to be removed. Anything is on the table.