Though it did not come easily, the Boston College Eagles defeated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Saturday. Despite behind 20–7 going into the fourth quarter and lacking much momentum, the Eagles managed to win by a narrow margin thanks to some outstanding late defensive play, a better offence in the second half, and master coaching. All four of the players who attended the post-game news conference had something to say about the comeback and how they arrived at that point. Here are some of their comments about the victory comeback.
Head Coach Bill O’Brien
When asked if this game was nearly the ideal coaching moment because they not only prevailed but also shown their capacity to learn from mistakes and face challenges, Coach O’Brien first said, “First of all, a lot of credit goes to Western Kentucky.” They are incredibly hard to predict; they had already won three straight games going into the contest, so I don’t really care what occurred against Alabama. A strong football squad is Alabama. Western Kentucky is a good football team, and they definitely gave us everything we could ask for.
They have a well respected coaching staff. See, we need to perform better. We can play better, you know. We must get going more quickly. We have an opportunity to be a competitive football team, but we must be prepared to play from the first whistle. We’re going to put a lot of effort into it, in my opinion, but we’re a really strong team. Give our guys a big thank you. A significant development in the game was the large strip sack devised by Donovan Ezeiruaku. In my opinion, Grayson James performed admirably and is generally a cool, collected individual. Thus, it’s a strong victory.
Though I think our guys deserve a lot of credit, I believe we have a greater ceiling—or perhaps no ceiling at all. We can play better now that we did. All I’m saying is that.”
