Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green Post-Boston College Quotes
October 06, 2007 | Football
Oct. 6, 2007
Recap | Final Stats
Bowling Green Head Coach Gregg Brandon post-Boston College quotes
Does this game have any more or less significance than a MAC game and how will you prepare for your upcoming league game?
"Great question - coming off the field [BGSU Athletics Director] Greg Christopher said to me, `Short memory.' I will tell you what, that might have arguably been the best team we have ever played in my tenure as a head coach here at BG. They are the best overall complete football team - they were really good and they showed that today.
"We really did not give ourselves a chance against them. I think [sophomore QB] Tyler [Sheehan] played uncharacteristically today. This was a spotlight that he was really fired up to be in and I think he forced some things that created those turnovers. We took ourselves out of it before we had a chance to get in it. We never really got the momentum that we needed to win a game like this."
Was that his youth showing then?
"In today's game you saw a fifth-year future first round draft pick [QB Matt Ryan] operating a highly effective offense and then you saw a first-year quarterback kind of trying to do some things out side of himself against a pretty salty defense. Their defense is well coached and in great position for most of the day."
Offensively it seemed as if their running and passing lanes were open whenever they wanted.
"It was as if there were 13 players out there. They are just very efficient in everything they do. They have deep threats in their wide receivers and that quarterback can make all the throws - which he did. But that didn't surprise me, I have seen him do it for five prior weeks already. We knew what we were getting into. We had to play `lights out' defense to have a chance to win today. We were hanging in there until the turnover barrage. The two for the touchdowns broke our backs and the rest put the defense in bad field position. You can't give Boston College the short field and expect to win many battles that way."
Do you think the turnovers were as big a problem as they were last week?
"Once I watch film I will evaluate that and we shall see what is going on there."
Earlier in the season you mentioned that playing a team like Boston College is dangerous at this point in the season. Do you think if you would have played them around the time of Minnesota or Michigan State the game would have been different?
"Boston College has been clicking the entire season. They were on against Wake Forrest, NC State and Georgia Tech - all quality ACC teams. Ryan was efficient those games too and threw the ball a lot. Like I said, we had to execute a great plan and keep him off balance but we were not able to do that. Nobody else was able to do that. I don't know if we would have needed to play against him in the first, sixth or whatever game. They were just a better team overall."
Was there anything special about the defense that threw [QB] Tyler [Sheehan] off of his game?
"There were some things that he did not manage today that we have managed in the past. Again, I think he was just trying to make some plays. He made some young, inexperienced mistakes today that we will evaluate and correct for the future. He will learn from today."
Were there any positives from the day?
"Yes, I thought when we did throw the ball, we did it well and moved the ball quite nicely through the air. If you take the turnovers out, then who knows? I thought our defense did some things but there were too many mistakes on turnovers to really evaluate what might have been."
BGSU post-Boston College player quotes
Sophomore, QB Tyler Sheehan
Coach Brandon mentioned that a team must have a short memory, do you agree?
"We had some positive things happen today but I have to have a very short memory and the team does as well. We are going into MAC play and to do well in the league is what we have been striving for the entire season. We just need to have a short memory and get ready for Miami (OH)."
What are your thoughts on the game today?
"We had some good things happening before I threw the interceptions. I am just going to take the game and learn from it.
What did Boston College do defensively today?
"They are a very well coached team. Their players are very intelligent and they had answers for what we were doing today. They threw a lot of new blitzes at us and gave us a lot of things we hadn't seen yet. We needed to have answers for what they were doing as well."
Junior DB Antonio Smith
There has been a lot of Heisman hype surrounding [QB] Matt Ryan, what are your thoughts on him?
"We should have put more pressure on him, I believe. He got the ball where it needed to be and I think he did a great job of controlling his offense. In the future we have to do a better job of stopping players like that and I also have to learn from my mistakes."
Is there a way to prepare for a team that is as good as this one?
"Of course there is. You have to be adamant about your film study; not only learn about your opponent, but also you have to know your assignments. Once game time comes, you just have to lock-in, focus and execute."
Looking forward to the MAC, is this an important game?
"I believe every game is important. This game was important to us because it was an opportunity for us to do something we had never done [beat a top ten team]. Even though we did not get it done we do have more MAC games and we need to move on [from this loss]."
