Boston College OL Jack Conley Says Offensive Line Has ‘Progressed a Good Amount’ in Limiting Penalties
Disciplined. Tough. Hardworking.
Those are the three traits that Boston College Eagles football head coach Bill O’Brien wants his team to be known for on the field.
“We’ve got a lot of good things going on in that way and that realm, but we’ve got to go out there and actually do that because that’s what we have to be known as,” said O’Brien during ACC Football Kickoff. “We have to be known as a disciplined, tough, hardworking football team that plays good in critical situations. We’ll work hard on that in training camp.”
One of the biggest factors that impacts those traits is penalties, something O’Brien has been working to improve throughout fall camp.
In 2023, the Eagles tallied 85 penalties for 717 yards, averaged 6.54 penalties per game and 55.15 penalty yards per game. The team ranked No. 101 in fewest penalties, No. 88 in fewest penalty yards, No. 94 in fewest penalties per game, and No. 78 in fewest penalty yards per game in the NCAA.
During the team’s first scrimmage of camp on Wednesday, penalties plagued the scrimmage from personal fouls and hands to the face that backed up the team to a 3rd-and-52 situation.
Offensive lineman Jack Conley spoke to the media on Thursday after practice about the penalties, specifically on the offensive line, and how he’s seen improvement since the start of camp.
“I think we’ve progressed a good amount,” said Conley. “We’ve been much better with the cadence, but obviously we still had a couple of false starts yesterday so we need to continue to work on that. We had a hold, but I think we’ve been much better. There’s always room to improve on that. I think it’s been good. There’s always room for improvement where we will be better with it. We need to be a really disciplined group and team as a whole.”
KIM RANKIN