Post-Game Quotes: Boston College
9/6/2025 11:59:00 PM | Football
Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith
Opening statement…Â
I'll start with, that was a beautiful football game, really by both teams. 
I thought going back and forth competing, obviously into double overtime. Appreciate the crowd. I thought it made a difference. 
That was an electric atmosphere. Student section, yes, but the whole place. It was a beautiful football game and it was a beautiful locker room after that. I'm really proud of the guys just continuing to fight and you know, especially to think about the second half coming out and getting that early score, get some momentum going. 
They played well, too. I mean I thought both quarterbacks played really, really well tonight. It came down to us getting a stop on a two-point conversion and us executing to finish the deal. l was really proud of the guys.
On Armorion Smith having a big game…Â
Yeah, it means a lot - 
especially for that guy. The quality man that he is, effort - football means a lot to him. And I think he was a part of that early fumble recovery, and then to have the breakup on the two-point play, it's just awesome.
On the improvement from last year's team…Â
Yeah, I think there's been growth, there's a closeness, a bond, that we've got to do this thing together, experience. 
We've got some more experience. I mean, I go back to playing these guys last year, that experience, we need to learn from every game and that kind of thing. But I do think the conference grew offensively in the second half that you could continue to go and again, the defense hold them to six. 
I think there was some confidence there. And these guys are aware. These are long football games. 
There's going to be momentum swings going back and forth, just really proud of the toughness they showed for more than 60 minutes.
On being able to win a close game…Â
I think it's a step forward that we found a way to win it like this. 
Again, this is game two - we're hoping to play a lot more games beyond just 12 type thing. And so it's early, but we talked about how confidence can come from displayed performance, and these guys did it tonight, and hopefully their confidence continues to grow for them.
On seeing the team celebrate…Â
That was meaningful for them to that last thing out, get into that locker room, the hugs going around, accomplishment at home, to win a game like that is big, and we've got to take advantage of it now and grow from it. 
But I was really just happy because there's a lot of players in our locker room that have been working now. It hasn't always gone their way, but it came together tonight, and I think we're going to grow stronger from it.
On the confidence from Sophomore WR Nick Marsh…Â

I think if that's the case, he's probably right, if it's one on one. Nick's (Marsh) a competitor, I thought that was huge - talk about his first touchdown, he's carrying guys into the end zone on the slant like that. He is a competitive kid, talented, and so, yeah, we had to continue to find ways to get him the ball. 
I do like the fact we spread the ball out pretty well tonight. Multiple guys touching it, and then that helps an offense.
On coming out of halftime strong offensively…Â
It was big. 
Now, some of the logic at the end of that half is that we were going to start with the ball. But we needed to regroup, put together and execute it on the first drive – going to Nick (Marsh) on a deep ball. It's a seven point game. At that point, we didn't know we had a field goal kicker who bangs that thing through 50 yards. 
But obviously, I'm always learning out there on the field. (Redshirt Freshman K) Martin (Connington) was huge.
On what is known about the team now after two games…Â
Well, I think it's starting to grow a little bit more of the capabilities offensively, especially in that second half. You're right on, I did think their quarterback played really well; we got to find ways to make him more uncomfortable. 
We got to get better in all three phases - talked about the run game, we had some good stuff there, but we got to clean up our hands, we're going backwards on some penalties and things. 
We gave them a drive - it's third and 12, we hit the quarterback, he extended that, then that turned into seven. So you're always learning and there's things that we got to continue to get better at - clean up. 
Once we've displayed that we can do some things, the confidence level should go up and be able to do some things.
On knowing the toughness in his quarterback, Aidan Chiles…
I do. I think he's gets really tough. I mean, mentally, how competitive he is out there is running, giving so much effort, extending outside the pocket, put his foot in the ground. I know the kid's tough.
On the contributions of special team players…
Yeah, there's a bunch of names that made an impact, like Alante Brown on the kickoff return a couple of times, that was massive. I do think the resilience has been a genuine belief as this game goes on and knowing that we can still win the thing in the fourth quarter. Hopefully, we've learned and gained confidence that we can do that.
On how tonight's game helps the team the rest of the season…
Yeah. It's going to be tough because there's going to be a bunch of games that are competitive like this. We know what kind of conference we're playing in, and these games are going to be competitive.
On the mindset at halftime…
We needed to regroup. I mean, at halftime, offensively, we needed more snaps. We need to stay on the field, get in, and vice versa defensively. We need to get off the field on third down and stuff, and that's why halftime is important. Just regroup, readjust. Coaches made some nice adjustments, and these guys aren't in panic mode at halftime. There was definite frustration but not panic mode.
On the challenges of the Boston College offense…
They challenge you schematically too because they flood the boundaries, and you don't get a lot of people doing that. Again, I think they were on the same page with being accurate, he could go through a progression. He's not just throwing it to the first guy. He's going through multiple reads. I think No. 11 (Lewis Bond) is a really good player. Tight end that can catch the ball. He's a good player. Throw that along in with a coaching staff, schematically, those guys are really good. So, with all of that, challenges; I know on our end, we did miscommunicate a couple of times.
On Jordan Hall and limiting the penalties…
I think Jordan (Hall) does a great job communicating, but we've got to make sure that all 10 guys got their eyes locked in on them. They're on that call. We just didn't follow what he was communicating. I'll say it that way. Without watching the tape deeply, I'll get back to you on Monday on some of that. But on Stanton's (Ramil) too, the guy continues to battle that whole front. Again, we rotated multiple guys in the game again and they showed no back down, and no letdown.
On Malik Spencer…
He's a pretty big piece. He's a good player, who is experienced out there. So, yes, he's one of our better players on defense. Again, we miss him when he's out there, but again, next man up and we had some of that. I will watch this tape, I thought Justin (Denson Jr.) had some good snaps. (Devynn) Cromwell got out there, but we definitely miss him when he's done it.
On Ryan Eckley's start to the season…
It's phenomenal. Because they're giving me a little bit of grief. I think it's about fourth and a yard, maybe half. Offensively, they wanted to go do this thing, where this guy bombs at 60 yards, puts the thing on the 16, totally flips the field, and that's a that's a weapon in this day and age to have that. I don't exactly know how he's got this technique where the thing just sits and doesn't continue to go into the end zone, but he's got it.
On Jay Cone's receiving touchdown…
Well, you're calling it in a tight situation, whether you're in a tight red zone or a short yardage situation. I do love that kid in regard to how hard he works. He's helping a ton on kick off, and now he's growing his skills by being the fullback…It's an effective play. So, I was happy for him.
Boston College Head Coach Bill O'Brien
(Note: some of BC media was on Zoom)
Obviously, a disappointing loss there in East Lansing. Can you talk about the performance from your young quarterback Dylan Lonergan?
He is a hell of a player. We have a lot to build on, we have a lot to fix. To come out on the road, I think, a really good team. He played tough. It hurts to lose like that. I give Michigan State a lot of credit. They are very well coached, they have a lot of really good players, and they did a great job. They played a little bit better than us, but we have a lot to build on. We have a lot of things that are positive, and we have to really clean up the negative things. A lot to build on.
More on Dylan, at the line of scrimmage he seemed pretty in control but what did you think about his overall poise?
He is a smart guy. He's got a lot of experience in the system that we run. It's very similar to what we ran at Alabama, so he understands it and he's got a lot of poise. I thought the offensive line pass protected very well. I still think we have a ways to go to be able to run the football. Again, give Michigan State a lot of credit, they have a very good run defense. I think we are on the right track. Like I said, we have to fix it. I think defensively we played hard but gave up the cut back runs too much, and couldn't contain the quarterback (Aidan Chiles). The guy is a great player. A lot to build on though. It's never good to lose. We don't accept losing at Boston College, but there are a lot of positives that came out of this game.
What do you think went wrong with containing MSU Quarterback Aidan Chiles?
He's a great player. I'm not sure, I have to watch the tape. Seems like they were there, sometimes we missed him, got him wrapped up, missed some tackles. Other times the rush lanes weren't where they needed to be. I have to watch the tapes and figure it out.
On MSU's pass protection...
They did, they pass protected very well, I don't think there is any doubt about that. They did a great job on pass protection. I thought the backs helped in blitz pick up when Michigan State blitzed, but I still think we need to run the ball better. I'm not blaming the offensive line for that, I'm just saying overall we have to be able to run the ball better. We aren't going to be able to run the ball you know, fifty-five times or whatever we did. Fifty-five, sixty times a game, I don't think that is a recipe for winning so we have to figure it out. But, yeah they definitely kept them clean for most of the night.
On running back Turbo Richard's effort to run the ball back after the early fumble...
He did. He did a good job. He ran the ball hard, he's a tough player, he caught the ball out of the backfield. I thought Jordan had a couple decent runs. So yeah, it was good to see those guys make some plays.
On Boston College's special teams...
Yeah, kickoff coverage was not very good. That's why we sky kicked it. Give them a lot of credit, they did a great job. We had the guy tackled a lot of times, missed tackles, let the guy break free, avoided the wrong way. We have to go back to work. That's what I'm saying. A lot of positives, but the negatives are why we lost the game. They did a better job of having more positive plays than we did. We had a lot of positive plays, but they had more. In a game like that, that's why you lose or you win. The coverage, especially kickoff coverage, really hurt us tonight.
Michigan State Junior Quarterback Aidan ChilesÂ
On the touchdown in overtime…
We wanted it. We wanted that game; we needed that game. We faced a lot of adversity. It's a great football team we just played against. They didn't have any adversity last week so, we just came out to see who was the tougher team and today we were.Â
On what went right in overtime…
Everything, we went out there, and we played football everything went right.Â
Michigan State Junior Linebacker Jordan Hall
On the fumble and the 2-point conversion…
For the opening drive or the second drive, we were on man-to-man, and it kind of got out of us a little bit, so I tried my best to get this ball on the ground as I'm trying to make the tackle. You know ball carriers get close to the end zone to reach the ball, and you know I reached in and punched it, and it bounced in our favor. And on the 2-point conversion, I spoke about this last week. If this game doesn't talk about response, the defense's goal that we have adopted since January. There were times in this game where we felt things couldn't go our way, a lot of missed assignments, but at the end of the day we were able to respond when we needed to most and put our offense in the best possible position to win the football game.
Michigan State Wide Receiver Omari Kelly…
On finishing the game…
Something I live by is don't flinch. Like, whatever happens, you know, however things go, good or bad, don't flinch. Because things can change in a second and, on that two-point, Aidan just trusted me, and I am grateful for that honestly.
Did you expect Aidan to come back…
I didn't really know what was going on, man. I just know, honestly, I know Aidan is a tough player and to be in a moment like that, I knew deep down like he wasn't going to give that up. He wanted to be out there, and it showed that he wanted to be out there. The toughness and the courage showed to get back out there after, you know, getting hurt, it says a lot about him.
Â
Opening statement…Â
I'll start with, that was a beautiful football game, really by both teams. 
I thought going back and forth competing, obviously into double overtime. Appreciate the crowd. I thought it made a difference. 
That was an electric atmosphere. Student section, yes, but the whole place. It was a beautiful football game and it was a beautiful locker room after that. I'm really proud of the guys just continuing to fight and you know, especially to think about the second half coming out and getting that early score, get some momentum going. 
They played well, too. I mean I thought both quarterbacks played really, really well tonight. It came down to us getting a stop on a two-point conversion and us executing to finish the deal. l was really proud of the guys.
On Armorion Smith having a big game…Â
Yeah, it means a lot - 
especially for that guy. The quality man that he is, effort - football means a lot to him. And I think he was a part of that early fumble recovery, and then to have the breakup on the two-point play, it's just awesome.
On the improvement from last year's team…Â
Yeah, I think there's been growth, there's a closeness, a bond, that we've got to do this thing together, experience. 
We've got some more experience. I mean, I go back to playing these guys last year, that experience, we need to learn from every game and that kind of thing. But I do think the conference grew offensively in the second half that you could continue to go and again, the defense hold them to six. 
I think there was some confidence there. And these guys are aware. These are long football games. 
There's going to be momentum swings going back and forth, just really proud of the toughness they showed for more than 60 minutes.
On being able to win a close game…Â
I think it's a step forward that we found a way to win it like this. 
Again, this is game two - we're hoping to play a lot more games beyond just 12 type thing. And so it's early, but we talked about how confidence can come from displayed performance, and these guys did it tonight, and hopefully their confidence continues to grow for them.
On seeing the team celebrate…Â
That was meaningful for them to that last thing out, get into that locker room, the hugs going around, accomplishment at home, to win a game like that is big, and we've got to take advantage of it now and grow from it. 
But I was really just happy because there's a lot of players in our locker room that have been working now. It hasn't always gone their way, but it came together tonight, and I think we're going to grow stronger from it.
On the confidence from Sophomore WR Nick Marsh…Â

I think if that's the case, he's probably right, if it's one on one. Nick's (Marsh) a competitor, I thought that was huge - talk about his first touchdown, he's carrying guys into the end zone on the slant like that. He is a competitive kid, talented, and so, yeah, we had to continue to find ways to get him the ball. 
I do like the fact we spread the ball out pretty well tonight. Multiple guys touching it, and then that helps an offense.
On coming out of halftime strong offensively…Â
It was big. 
Now, some of the logic at the end of that half is that we were going to start with the ball. But we needed to regroup, put together and execute it on the first drive – going to Nick (Marsh) on a deep ball. It's a seven point game. At that point, we didn't know we had a field goal kicker who bangs that thing through 50 yards. 
But obviously, I'm always learning out there on the field. (Redshirt Freshman K) Martin (Connington) was huge.
On what is known about the team now after two games…Â
Well, I think it's starting to grow a little bit more of the capabilities offensively, especially in that second half. You're right on, I did think their quarterback played really well; we got to find ways to make him more uncomfortable. 
We got to get better in all three phases - talked about the run game, we had some good stuff there, but we got to clean up our hands, we're going backwards on some penalties and things. 
We gave them a drive - it's third and 12, we hit the quarterback, he extended that, then that turned into seven. So you're always learning and there's things that we got to continue to get better at - clean up. 
Once we've displayed that we can do some things, the confidence level should go up and be able to do some things.
On knowing the toughness in his quarterback, Aidan Chiles…
I do. I think he's gets really tough. I mean, mentally, how competitive he is out there is running, giving so much effort, extending outside the pocket, put his foot in the ground. I know the kid's tough.
On the contributions of special team players…
Yeah, there's a bunch of names that made an impact, like Alante Brown on the kickoff return a couple of times, that was massive. I do think the resilience has been a genuine belief as this game goes on and knowing that we can still win the thing in the fourth quarter. Hopefully, we've learned and gained confidence that we can do that.
On how tonight's game helps the team the rest of the season…
Yeah. It's going to be tough because there's going to be a bunch of games that are competitive like this. We know what kind of conference we're playing in, and these games are going to be competitive.
On the mindset at halftime…
We needed to regroup. I mean, at halftime, offensively, we needed more snaps. We need to stay on the field, get in, and vice versa defensively. We need to get off the field on third down and stuff, and that's why halftime is important. Just regroup, readjust. Coaches made some nice adjustments, and these guys aren't in panic mode at halftime. There was definite frustration but not panic mode.
On the challenges of the Boston College offense…
They challenge you schematically too because they flood the boundaries, and you don't get a lot of people doing that. Again, I think they were on the same page with being accurate, he could go through a progression. He's not just throwing it to the first guy. He's going through multiple reads. I think No. 11 (Lewis Bond) is a really good player. Tight end that can catch the ball. He's a good player. Throw that along in with a coaching staff, schematically, those guys are really good. So, with all of that, challenges; I know on our end, we did miscommunicate a couple of times.
On Jordan Hall and limiting the penalties…
I think Jordan (Hall) does a great job communicating, but we've got to make sure that all 10 guys got their eyes locked in on them. They're on that call. We just didn't follow what he was communicating. I'll say it that way. Without watching the tape deeply, I'll get back to you on Monday on some of that. But on Stanton's (Ramil) too, the guy continues to battle that whole front. Again, we rotated multiple guys in the game again and they showed no back down, and no letdown.
On Malik Spencer…
He's a pretty big piece. He's a good player, who is experienced out there. So, yes, he's one of our better players on defense. Again, we miss him when he's out there, but again, next man up and we had some of that. I will watch this tape, I thought Justin (Denson Jr.) had some good snaps. (Devynn) Cromwell got out there, but we definitely miss him when he's done it.
On Ryan Eckley's start to the season…
It's phenomenal. Because they're giving me a little bit of grief. I think it's about fourth and a yard, maybe half. Offensively, they wanted to go do this thing, where this guy bombs at 60 yards, puts the thing on the 16, totally flips the field, and that's a that's a weapon in this day and age to have that. I don't exactly know how he's got this technique where the thing just sits and doesn't continue to go into the end zone, but he's got it.
On Jay Cone's receiving touchdown…
Well, you're calling it in a tight situation, whether you're in a tight red zone or a short yardage situation. I do love that kid in regard to how hard he works. He's helping a ton on kick off, and now he's growing his skills by being the fullback…It's an effective play. So, I was happy for him.
Boston College Head Coach Bill O'Brien
(Note: some of BC media was on Zoom)
Obviously, a disappointing loss there in East Lansing. Can you talk about the performance from your young quarterback Dylan Lonergan?
He is a hell of a player. We have a lot to build on, we have a lot to fix. To come out on the road, I think, a really good team. He played tough. It hurts to lose like that. I give Michigan State a lot of credit. They are very well coached, they have a lot of really good players, and they did a great job. They played a little bit better than us, but we have a lot to build on. We have a lot of things that are positive, and we have to really clean up the negative things. A lot to build on.
More on Dylan, at the line of scrimmage he seemed pretty in control but what did you think about his overall poise?
He is a smart guy. He's got a lot of experience in the system that we run. It's very similar to what we ran at Alabama, so he understands it and he's got a lot of poise. I thought the offensive line pass protected very well. I still think we have a ways to go to be able to run the football. Again, give Michigan State a lot of credit, they have a very good run defense. I think we are on the right track. Like I said, we have to fix it. I think defensively we played hard but gave up the cut back runs too much, and couldn't contain the quarterback (Aidan Chiles). The guy is a great player. A lot to build on though. It's never good to lose. We don't accept losing at Boston College, but there are a lot of positives that came out of this game.
What do you think went wrong with containing MSU Quarterback Aidan Chiles?
He's a great player. I'm not sure, I have to watch the tape. Seems like they were there, sometimes we missed him, got him wrapped up, missed some tackles. Other times the rush lanes weren't where they needed to be. I have to watch the tapes and figure it out.
On MSU's pass protection...
They did, they pass protected very well, I don't think there is any doubt about that. They did a great job on pass protection. I thought the backs helped in blitz pick up when Michigan State blitzed, but I still think we need to run the ball better. I'm not blaming the offensive line for that, I'm just saying overall we have to be able to run the ball better. We aren't going to be able to run the ball you know, fifty-five times or whatever we did. Fifty-five, sixty times a game, I don't think that is a recipe for winning so we have to figure it out. But, yeah they definitely kept them clean for most of the night.
On running back Turbo Richard's effort to run the ball back after the early fumble...
He did. He did a good job. He ran the ball hard, he's a tough player, he caught the ball out of the backfield. I thought Jordan had a couple decent runs. So yeah, it was good to see those guys make some plays.
On Boston College's special teams...
Yeah, kickoff coverage was not very good. That's why we sky kicked it. Give them a lot of credit, they did a great job. We had the guy tackled a lot of times, missed tackles, let the guy break free, avoided the wrong way. We have to go back to work. That's what I'm saying. A lot of positives, but the negatives are why we lost the game. They did a better job of having more positive plays than we did. We had a lot of positive plays, but they had more. In a game like that, that's why you lose or you win. The coverage, especially kickoff coverage, really hurt us tonight.
Michigan State Junior Quarterback Aidan ChilesÂ
On the touchdown in overtime…
We wanted it. We wanted that game; we needed that game. We faced a lot of adversity. It's a great football team we just played against. They didn't have any adversity last week so, we just came out to see who was the tougher team and today we were.Â
On what went right in overtime…
Everything, we went out there, and we played football everything went right.Â
Michigan State Junior Linebacker Jordan Hall
On the fumble and the 2-point conversion…
For the opening drive or the second drive, we were on man-to-man, and it kind of got out of us a little bit, so I tried my best to get this ball on the ground as I'm trying to make the tackle. You know ball carriers get close to the end zone to reach the ball, and you know I reached in and punched it, and it bounced in our favor. And on the 2-point conversion, I spoke about this last week. If this game doesn't talk about response, the defense's goal that we have adopted since January. There were times in this game where we felt things couldn't go our way, a lot of missed assignments, but at the end of the day we were able to respond when we needed to most and put our offense in the best possible position to win the football game.
Michigan State Wide Receiver Omari Kelly…
On finishing the game…
Something I live by is don't flinch. Like, whatever happens, you know, however things go, good or bad, don't flinch. Because things can change in a second and, on that two-point, Aidan just trusted me, and I am grateful for that honestly.
Did you expect Aidan to come back…
I didn't really know what was going on, man. I just know, honestly, I know Aidan is a tough player and to be in a moment like that, I knew deep down like he wasn't going to give that up. He wanted to be out there, and it showed that he wanted to be out there. The toughness and the courage showed to get back out there after, you know, getting hurt, it says a lot about him.
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