Boston College 76, Howard 0: Howard Postgame Quotables

Gary Harrell opening statement...

"We had two games that we felt like we could come in and be competitive. We knew what we were faced with. We have great respect for Appalachian State and Boston College. Boston College is a very good, physical football team. We knew what to expect. We wanted to come in and try to make it one dimensional, make them pass the ball if necessary. We did a great job as far as keeping them off-balance. We fought hard and we will continue to fight through it. We have some freshmen that are playing at this time, but it is definitely a learning experience. We have MEAC competition next week and we know what is expected as far as the speed of the game."

Harrell on moving past this game...

"We are playing these games every year. Last year, we played Rutgers. We have played in these type of environments at least once a year. Like I said, it helps us prepare. We have young guys coming out of high school who are playing college ball for the first time; coming into this environment, this stage, on national TV. Next week is a big opponent. It's our rival school, Hampton. It's going to be on ESPNU so we have to come out and make sure we are ready."

Harrell on shortening quarters to 10 minutes...

"The officials approached me with the opportunity before I even spoke with my staff. They told me it was something they were considering. I told them I would think about it, check with my coaches. I always want to make sure that as a team, we're not selling. We want to make sure that we're not quitting; that type of mindset, but understanding where we are. We are trying to make sure that we are competitive and we want to make sure we are injury-free going into next week. We came here for a specific job—to fight and win the game—but at that time, I had to make an executive decision to where we were and agreed to the circumstances. I knew about the running time, but when they presented the 10-minute mark for the third and fourth quarters, I had to [ask] about the timeouts and [time stoppage]. Everything was going to be the same they told me so we agreed upon it. We wanted to see if we could come out in the second half, get a spark and see where we are and just play hard. We came out and kicked the ball off, they had to actually drive. I think it was a good decision to make to just get in and work on some things for next week and get out without any major injuries."