Boston College Football Head Coach Bill O’Brien Shares Keys to Missouri Game
Boston College football head coach Bill O’Brien made his weekly appearance on the BC Football Show on 850 WEEI AM on Thursday evening.
During the interview, O’Brien shared a couple keys to the game and what his team is going to have to do to be successful against the No. 6-ranked Missouri Tigers on Saturday.
“I think that one of they keys for us will always be, especially in games like this, can we control the ball,” said O’Brien. “We have a pretty good tempo game plan but is that something we want to do against Missouri? We’ll find out. If it presents itself, we would do it but otherwise we have to control the ball because if you go three-and-out in 30 seconds and your defense is right back out there, especially on the road, it’ll be 80 degrees there, it’s gonna be another hot game, I don’t think that’s a great formula for us so I think you’re right.”
The 54-year-old believes the lines are going to be a crucial part of the contest as well.
“It’s a big game for both lines, offensive and defensive line, controlling the line of scrimmage. We have to be a good North-South team, we’re not an East-West team, we’re Boston College. We go north and south and I think that’s something that has to show up in the game on Saturday.”
O’Brien also mentioned the importance of the secondary making big plays and completing tackles.
“Yeah, that’s got to continue on Saturday,” said O’Brien. “That’s gonna be, again, another big, that’ll be a huge emphasis every week but in a game like this against Missouri with so many good skill players, we gotta get them down on the ground. They’re gonna complete passes, we gotta tackle them. If you watched the Buffalo and the Murray State game, there are a lot of yards after contact. We have to limit that. These guys catch a ball, if you miss a tackle, that could go 30 yards and that’s not a good formula for success.”
The two teams face off on Saturday afternoon at 12:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
KIM RANKIN