What Boston College Coach, Players Said About Florida State Ahead of Week 1 Matchup
The Boston College Eagles football team kicks off its season on Labor Day Night with a road contest against the No. 10 Florida State Seminoles.
The Eagles 2024 season has been a highly anticipated one after the hiring of Bill O’Brien as Boston College’s head coach and has brought in multiple new faces on the staff.
Throughout the week, Coach O'Brien and players have spoken to the media about game week preparation and the team's opponent.
Here is what Coach O’Brien and other players have said about the Seminoles leading up to the game on Monday night.
Bill O'Brien
Q: What did you see from them on Saturday?
O’BRIEN: I think it was a back-and-forth game. I think that’s two good football teams. I think Georgia Tech’s very good, Florida State’s good and it was a battle. It was a good battle and back-and-forth and Georgia Tech came out on top but Florida State’s very good. They fought hard and we know it’s going to be a huge challenge for us going down there.
Q: Any advantages or disadvantages facing a team that’s already played a game versus you guys [who] haven’t played?
O’BRIEN: I don’t think so. Nothing you can do about it, right? They played, we didn’t. We try to control the controllable. We can’t control the schedule, we can’t control the weather, There’s a lot of things we can’t control but there are things we can and that’s our own performance, our own knowledge of the opponent, our own assignments, our own coaching roles, those are the things we can control so that’s what we’ll try to do.
Q: Coach, you talked about letting Tommy be Tommy in the past and with the Georgia Tech blueprint that was kind of laid out last week, how much has that influenced your game plan this week and are you gonna have a short or longer leash now after seeing that with Tommy?
O’BRIEN: No. We look at the opponents previous games and games from last year, last week obviously. I don’t think we put all of our game plan in one game. We try to think about our team and what’s best for our team relative to this opponent. Tommy’s had a really good training camp. I’m excited for Tommy, he’s put a lot of work into this and he’s a much improved player. We’re definitely going to let Tommy be Tommy. That’s what he does best is he’s a very instinctive player, he’s gotten better in the passing game, so we just want him to play a really clean game and always make good decisions for the team and I think he’s done that throughout training camp so I’m excited for him.
Q: You mentioned that environment, heard the fight song blasting over and over there. What are you telling these guys to anticipate when they walk in?
O’BRIEN: Loud. Yeah, they’ve got great fans, they have awesome fans, they got a great band. It’ll be loud. That’s what it’s all about. That’s college football right, I don’t know what it holds, probably 90,000 right, maybe more. They have a great fight song, great tradition. I can remember going down there in 1998 when I was at Georgia Tech and we had an excellent team and Coach Bowden, they had an excellent team and it was like a 38-35 shootout. It was just an awesome college game. It’s a great environment, they have great traditions down there so our guys should be excited. That’s what you sign up for when you come to a place like BC. You have a great home stadium and then you get to go play at places like Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina, those places, so we’re excited for it.
Q: DJ was throwing a lot of quick passes to the outside. What did you see from him and how can you defend him?
O’BRIEN: He threw about four shots down the field. That’s their offense. They have a really good offense, they have an explosive offense, they have guys that I know personally Malik Benson, Roydell Williams, both great players that were at Alabama when I was there. I think they have 17 transfers including DJ. DJ’s a helluva player. He’s somebody I’m very familiar with from when he was at Clemson, Oregon State, just a great athlete, a big guy, strong arm, very smart, comes from a great family, good teammate, got all the qualities you’re looking for in a quarterback, so like I said, it’ll be a very challenging game for us but I’m really proud of these guys and how far they’ve come and we’re all looking forward to the opportunity and the game.
Kam Arnold
Q: What did you see from their offense?
ARNOLD: They got a little thunder and lightning combo at the running back position. DJ, I played against him for a couple years now, they got pretty good athletes on the outside with the receivers and everything, but yeah I think we’re going to have a good game plan against them and I think that we’re going to be good and ready to go.
Q: What would a win at Florida State mean for this program in terms of establishing the new era here?
ARNOLD: It’ll just show the beginning of what’s to come. We got a lot of buzz going around about this team. We got a lot of confidence, we love the coaching staff, how we’ve been attacking this offseason and we’re ready to go and just show the fans what’s to come.
Q: Last year Florida State was a pretty close game, obviously the penalties kind of did you guys in. Have you talked about that game at all or is it totally in the past now?
ARNOLD: Yeah, we talk about it but we talk about it in a learning way, not to just hone in on all the mistakes but just a learning way. We’ve got to be a lot more disciplined than that last year and we just correcting everything and just doing everything we can to come out in the game and give it our best foot.
Drew Kendall
Q: Well it’s finally here, long offseason. What have you seen out of Florida State and how excited are you for the matchup?
KENDALL: I’m very excited. They’re a great team, obviously, they just played a tough game down in Dublin. I’ve seen similar things this entire time as last year, they’ve got a great front seven, they’ve got a talented secondary. It’s gonna take all we got but we’re excited for this challenge.
Q: Do you feel like you’re catching them on a bad week just fresh off an upset?
KENDALL: I don’t know. They gotta play again, it is what it is. If they won, if they lost, I don’t know how they’re feeling about it but they played them well. Georgia Tech came out and played a really solid game so we’ll see but either way, we’re gonna go down there and we’re gonna give it what we got.
Q: What are you anticipating in terms of the environment?
KENDALL: It’s gonna be a fun environment to play in, definitely. It’s gonna be loud, it’s gonna be packed, they’re gonna pack that house down there but we played down there in 2022 so I feel like it’ll be a similar environment.
Q: Has that fight song become annoying yet?
KENDALL: A little bit but it’s kind of exciting at the same time.
Q: Are there any advantages or disadvantages to facing a team that has already played a game or does it not matter too much?
KENDALL: I don’t know. There’s some but you never know how they play out, right. You might say ‘oh they might be banged up,’ but at the same time they’re not rusty so there’s give and take so I’m not really sure but all we can do is really focus on what we have to do at this point and put our best foot forward.
Lewis Bond
Q: Lewis, unlike in years past, this year’s Week 1 starts on the road. How does that change things up approach-wise for you guys?
BOND: I feel like it’s the same, home, away, we’re playing football, finally against another team. So I feel like it’s gonna be challenging because they got a great fan base and they’re gonna be loud, but it’s still football at the end of the day.
Q: Seeing the top 10 team go down, your opponent FSU, has that really affected the mindset of the team at all?
BOND: Nah. If they would have won last week, we still would’ve had to play them. Win or lose last week, we gotta play them this week and they’re gonna be ready. Win or lose, they were gonna be ready. It doesn’t change much.
Q: Lewis, last year Florida State gave up the least amount of points per game in the ACC. As an offensive player, how much does that motivate you going into a game, knowing that while it is a new season, you definitely want to show that this team can beat a top tier defense?
BOND: It’s always great to have a good opponent first because we get to see where we are at as a team right away so it’s good to go against a good team, a lot of talent on that side of the ball so it’s gonna be a good challenge but we feel like their nameless, greatless, greatopponent so like it doesn’t matter who we play but it’s good to have a good team first.
This story will be updated with other quotes from players and coaches leading up to the Week 1 game.
KIM RANKIN