NC State 24, Boston College 8: Eagles Postgame Quotables

Steve Addazio opening statement...

"We've got to keep grinding, keep building. That's what we're working on right now. We've got a young football team right now out there. We play like a young football team. The amazing thing is that we threw for 257 yards today. The 28 yards rushing, that's really not who we are but we knew we had to throw the ball a little bit because they're pretty powerful inside."

"The tale of the game: I thought we came out and had a couple of good drives on offense. One got killed on the chop block which was a tough penalty. On defense we held them to 140 yards rushing but they had 212 in the air. They had a couple of big strikes for touchdowns. They got up 14-0 really quickly."

"I thought as we came out in the second half we had a poor third quarter on offense but a good third quarter on defense. I thought in the fourth quarter we got the ball and were finally able to drive the ball down the length of the field where we threw the ball. That was a good learning experience for the guys that were in the game."

"Right now we just have too many young guys on the field to keep our consistency in any way, shape, or form. That's what we have to keep developing. We have to keep growing and we will. That's what it's all about."

"I'm disappointed for the seniors, not being able to win their last home game. That's always disappointing. The rest of the team, this is an experience in resolve, in determination and in understanding of what it takes to become a good football program with a young football team. Sixty-three of our 85 are freshmen and sophomores. A lot of guys are probably playing way ahead of when they should be. There should be 27 bodies in this program right now that are older bodies, 27. They're not here. They should be juniors, seniors, fifth-year seniors. So we're going to do it with the young players and we're going to invest in that. It's going to be a really good investment that's going to come back and pay a lot of dividends but it will be painful in the process."

Addazio on playing young quarterbacks...

"We're into our fourth quarterback. It's not good when you're into your second quarterback. But the good news is that we're playing these young guys and they're getting unbelievable, valuable, game experience that you can evaluate and they can grow from- which normally you never have a chance to do. Let's be honest, we shouldn't be in a situation right now where we don't have a quarterback that's over the age of a sophomore. A lot of programs, like that program we just played, transfer in a fifth-year quarterback, an NFL player, a fifth-year guy. We had one last year with Tyler Murphy. We had [a fifth-year senior] the year before with Chase Rettig. There was a void. I didn't create the void, there was a void. So we're going to have to grow. At some point you've got to make a decision which is what we did, where we're going to painfully grow with the young guys we have in the program so we don't just bring a fifth-year guy in and never develop a guy that you recruit. We're in that place right now. All these guys are getting valuable reps but when these guys get these valuable reps there's a price to pay with those reps. One day we're going to have a bunch of quarterbacks here that are going to have a bunch of experience. Someone's going to get hurt and there's going to be two or three guys behind them that can play at any time and have valuable game experience. That's not the case right now. Is it painful sometimes? Yeah. Is it painful to watch? Yeah. Is it painful to go through? Sure it is. You might say some freshman quarterbacks are out there playing. Sure but what are the other pieces around them? We're a freshman offensive line for the most part, sophomores and freshmen. We lost our running back. The receivers are all young. Everybody, the whole thing is. All these things are going down at all of these positions. but it will come back. This will all come back in a very positive fashion, but you have to be patient. You have to be steadying the boat. You've got to make good decisions. You've got to develop guys. And that's our mindset. If people can see that, great. If they can't see it, there's not much I can say."

John Fadule on throwing his first career touchdown pass...

"Thadd [Smith] made an amazing play and I'll never forget it. It's my first touchdown pass. But what I'm really thinking right now is that I really wish that the seniors could have got that win. I wish I played better and I wish it happened."

Fadule on the team's reaction to him...

"During the week, Coach Addazio, the coaches and all the seniors have all been so supportive of me- Even going back to June when we were just working out."

Fadule on Dave Dudeck as a wide receiver security blanket...

"I don't drop back and think, 'Dudeck. Dudeck.' But that's just sort of how it happened today. He was winning his routes and he was getting open. But I mean, definitely in practice, he's my hero. He's just so supportive and so nice. He's just another senior that's been so supportive of me."

Justin Simmons on wearing the Jay McGillis #31 jersey...

"Getting up wearing that jersey...that's what it's all about. I'm very honored and blessed to be able to represent the memories of Jay."

Simmons on eliminating big plays allowed on defense...

"There were four plays that really did us in today. It's against a good offense, but our defense has showed up all year. We've got to be able to execute. You look at those four plays and they all converted into points. So if we take those away, we'd be in good shape. But you can't take them away. We just have to watch the film and get ready to go against Notre Dame."

Simmons on treating Notre Dame as a bowl game...

"We approach every game with the intent to get the win. It'll be a special environment at Fenway Park and on national television. We know we're going to get their best game and they're going to get our best game. If playing Notre Dame at Fenway on a nationally-televised game doesn't have the hairs standing on the back of your neck, then you're really not made for football."

Mehdi Abdesmad on playing his final two career games (against ND and Syracuse)...

"We just have to keep playing tough and playing hard BC football. Nobody can quit. We just have to keep going."

Harris Williams on the development of the offensive line...

"We've definitely come together. There are little things here and there that you might not see when you're watching the game. But the way we talk to each other in the huddle and the adjustments we make at the line; we've definitely come a long way. It's too bad we couldn't get it all together this year, but these guys are going to be great."

Transcripts provided by Boston College Athletics.