NIU vs. Boston College
September 1, 2017

NIU Head Coach Rod Carey

Opening Statement…
"Obviously we're very disappointed with the outcome. That goes without saying. We had multiple chances to win that game, but give BC credit. They made one more play than us. There were probably about a half dozen plays throughout the game that we could have made either early or late that could have changed the dynamic of that game. We're really disappointed right now. We need to go back to work. We need to improve, and we need to move forward. I liked the ups and downs we went through, and I liked the way we battled back. In the end, we have to find a way to make one more play, whether that's making one more stop or one more field goal."

On the play of the offensive line after not allowing a sack…
"Part of not allowing a sack was by design, a lot of people were involved in that, play calling, getting the ball out of Ryan's hand quick, help from the running backs and tight ends. I thought the o-line overall did a fantastic job in their protection. I have to look at the film and see how they did in the run game. Okay, but I think we need improvement there. I also think to not give up a sack with Landry on the field is an accomplishment."

On the play of the defense…
"They ran 92 plays, about 50 in the first half, so when we weren't moving the ball offensively, our defense was getting kind of diced up. When we moved the ball on offense and gave our defense some time on the sideline, they were about as good as you can be. We had some issues on those fourth down conversions, and there was a third and 15 where we had the quarterback wrapped up, and he completes a pass to get it to fourth and one. Then they sneak it and get it with about four minutes left, so that was a key sequence. 92 plays is a lot for a defense to play, and I put that squarely on us as a team and on the offense. We have to get better there, and stopping a third and 15 is something our defense needs to get."

NIU Junior Quarterback Ryan Graham

On his performance…
"Not good enough. I just looked at the stats, my numbers weren't very good. Normally I don't talk about numbers, but I felt I had a lot of easy throws that I missed that would have kept drives going. I thought the guys around me made a lot of great plays that helped me out a lot. Overall, I have a lot to improve on, but overall just not good enough."

On summer competition with other quarterbacks…
"We're always constantly competing. We push each other. At the end of the day, I don't think my job is locked, and I still need to perform. These guys are pushing me every single day, and I push myself. It's definitely not, 'I am this good, and I have this job.' it's Santacaterina pushing me, and me pushing him every day."

NIU Senior Wide Receiver Chad Beebe

On his performance…
"To be honest, that is not the biggest thing to me. It was a close game, and when you lose a close game like that, it's always going to hurt. You're always going to go look back and see what the team could've done differently. Just talking as a whole, going back to the locker room, obviously, everyone is disappointed without the win, but our heads are in the right spot. We're looking forward, here. Nobody wants to lose."

NIU Sophomore Defensive End Sutton Smith

On the defensive performance…
"I thought we did great. I thought there were some plays we could look back on and correct. As a defense we flew around, we did our jobs, and there were just a few plays we have to look back on, but overall we did great."

NIU Sophomore Linebacker Kyle Pugh

On the defensive performance…
"We kind of shocked ourselves. We came out, and we had a lot of first time players make big plays. Coach Carey has been harping that we just need to believe, and I think that is our message going forward. There's no limit to what we can do, we just have to play fast."

Boston College Head Coach Steve Addazio

On getting a road win…
"Anytime you get a win on the road you're happy. We played a good football team that played their butts off today. A lot of credit to them. We ran 91 plays, wanted to run 100. We had an opportunity in that third quarter where the long drive was setting in on defense, but we found a way to keep coming back, being resilient and finding a way to win. We were four-for-four in the red zone. NIU did a phenomenal job, played very tough, physically, and competitively throughout the roller coaster ride of a game that it was."

On the performance of his younger players…
"Our young quarterback threw a pick early, but came back and made some real competitive throws. The young kid right before the half was good and able to capitalize and get momentum right before the half and managing the timeouts. A lot to feel good about from the young players and how they stepped in and made some rookie plays that will help them take off from here."

On the decision to start Anthony Brown…
"We looked at a lot of body of work from this summer and it was a tough decision between the two guys. They both did extremely well, and based on the tangible information, Anthony had the greater body of work. Anthony made some really big throws, even after his early interception and botched snap. He weathered the turnovers and navigated the game."

On missed opportunities…
"Great plays all over the field; the stories told in the lost opportunities we had due to penalties. Had a big touchdown drop, big penalty early on a huge play swing, another huge penalty on another big play at the end.  These penalties were simply drive-killers for us, we've got to get rid of those. Football is a game of momentum; when you have it, you have to keep it and capitalize on it."