University of Massachusets Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs. Boston College: September 11, 2021
Head Coach Walt Bell, Brady Olson and Elllis Merriweather
HEAD COACH HEAD COACH WALT BELL
Opening statement
“First and foremost, we went into the game today missing four of our starters, including our QB and starting nose guard. We were beat up going into today, and by the time we got to the second half, we didn’t have linebackers. I thought it was an unbelievably valiant effort by our guys, I thought they played their tails off. I thought those guys played hard.
“As long as we do that around here, we’re going to have a chance. If we can get that group to do that every week, when you are down five starters and you lose three more in the first ten minutes, we’re going to have a chance. We’re going to be ok around here. We’re going to be a group, that at the end of the day, you’re going to know you played us. I am incredibly excited about that. To fight the way we did, I’m proud of that. I told our players that.
“Number 2 is getting into the game, credit to BC on offense. Tons of shifts tons of motion. We had a bunch of young players on defense. When you lose some starters, things aren’t always right, but credit those guys, they had a good game plan on offense. We did not execute very well in goal-line scenarios. On fourth down, I’ll say that’s on me.
“On special teams, we have to do a better job of coaching in those situations. In my heart of hearts, it’s going to be tough to go to sleep tonight because we had opportunities to win that game. That is the expectation around here, is to win games. We have a chance moving forward to play really good football. I’m excited to prepare with this group next week.”
On Brady Olson’s performance in the second half
"He’s going to be a really great football player. I feel like I was babysitting the offensive line and Brady, and come halftime I was done babysitting. I thought our kids responded well with that, I took the training wheels off and we played better football. Brady has unbelievable self-confidence… he’s got a great moxie, a great demeanor, he’s going be a really good quarterback for a long time.
“He is probably sitting in that QB room right now ready to rewatch this game, he is one of the most intentional, purposeful, young people that I’ve ever been around. If we can keep him around for the long haul, he’s going to be a good one.”
On Tyler Lytle’s status
“I don’t know yet. When Tyler is healthy, he will play.”
On getting Olson into a rhythm in the second half
“As we started to call the game more aggressively, he responded really well. He put his eyes in the right place and reacted accordingly”
On when Olson knew he would be starting
“We pretty much knew during Thursday’s practice.”
On trying to keep Boston College off balance
“They play hard. Jeff does an exceptional job with those guys, they play the game the right way. Boston College is a tough group of guys, and they always play their (tails) off.”
On Zamar Wise seeing playing time
“Zamar has been growing so much, both academically and physically so it’s extremely important. He deserved to get in there and run a couple plays. He deserved to get out there and go fight with his guys.”
On having fans back at McGuirk Alumni Stadium for the first time since 2019
“It was great, but my biggest regret is that we didn’t finish the job”
I always knew I had it in myself. I had the ability and I trusted the guys around me that I could get the job done. I just had to stay ready. Right when Coach Bell told me (he was going to start), I just knew I had to lock in for the team.
On finding his rhythm in the second half
“I decided to take more shots and coach had confidence in me, so I just kind of developed from there. Coach Bell came out at halftime aggressive and wanted to take shots down field. It’s all stuff I felt comfortable with and I just had to believe in myself to make plays.”
On being able to draw Boston College offsides
“I think it’s coaching mostly. I haven’t done that much in my career but Coach (Frederick) Walker just taught me how to do it, brought me through it, how to undress defenses so I took it from there.”
On growing up around the game and making his first collegiate start
“It feels very good to see all my hard work with my uncles in the backyard just throwing the football around, just trying to get better every day. A lot has to do with the coaching here, they took my game to another level and I appreciate them for that.”
On getting additional reps
“Repetition brings about revelation – that’s what Coach Walker always tells us. The more reps you get, the more comfortable you get with plays and I definitely think that helped today.”
On Tyler Lytle’s tutelage
“He’s a great resource, his knowledge is just. We shared a hotel room last night, I can bounce ideas off of him and he can give me tips on how to stay calm.”
On where he goes from here
“We are a different team than we were last year. We have 110 people who have the same goal in mind and who are willing to work and put in the effort. It’s definitely hard to swallow a loss. If you are a competitor, you don’t like to lose. I definitely think I had a solid game and there’s stuff I can work on and be better at. But it’s learning from it.
“One thing that [Coach Bell] drives home: the process. And it’s an every day thing. Like he says, the process doesn’t care how you feel. You just have to see it at eye level.”
“For this group, a young group, we are going to use that as fuel, as fire. It’s more about learning a lesson. We might not have prepared 100% the way we should have throughout the week and seeing the turnovers in the game is probably the biggest message on how to understand how dedicated and committed and how much we have to prepare to go out Saturday and execute everything.
“We will learn from that and get better from that. Coach Bell came in and gave us a great talk after the game, and I think everyone understands what we could have done to execute better on the field.”
On Brady Olson’s evolvement from the start of the game to the end
“Brady’s a tough guy. I saw it in him in the very first day of practice. He knows how to face adversity and I saw him gain confidence well through the passes, through the plays. He learns through the mistakes, too. He might actually learn better through the mistakes than he does through the good stuff. He is a tough dude.
“I saw it in his eyes after the first interception. He knew it wasn’t his best stuff and that was a critical play. I saw it in his eyes, he didn’t sit down and pout. I looked him in the eyes and told him it was going to be ok and he said ‘I know.’”
On having fans back at McGuirk Alumni Stadium
“It was amazing. The energy felt like real football. COVID-19 kind of shut down a lot of stuff and we were going out there playing in front of nobody. It took a little bit of the fun out of what college football really is. It felt amazing, the energy was there and I’m so happy and proud that everyone came out and turned up.”
On the critical plays in the game
“We just beat ourselves in certain aspects and on certain plays we didn’t execute as well as we should have. They came in as a good team and we beat ourselves on some plays.”
On the difference between today’s game and last week against Pittsburgh
“I just think we are growing as we go along. A lot more dudes are stepping up and we don’t just have one leader on this team. We have a lot of leaders emerging everyday. Through work ethic and through communication we have a lot of people who want to go out there and lead and do the right things. I think that we got to just keep going along and keep bringing everybody along.”
Opening statement
“First and foremost, we went into the game today missing four of our starters, including our QB and starting nose guard. We were beat up going into today, and by the time we got to the second half, we didn’t have linebackers. I thought it was an unbelievably valiant effort by our guys, I thought they played their tails off. I thought those guys played hard.
“As long as we do that around here, we’re going to have a chance. If we can get that group to do that every week, when you are down five starters and you lose three more in the first ten minutes, we’re going to have a chance. We’re going to be ok around here. We’re going to be a group, that at the end of the day, you’re going to know you played us. I am incredibly excited about that. To fight the way we did, I’m proud of that. I told our players that.
“Number 2 is getting into the game, credit to BC on offense. Tons of shifts tons of motion. We had a bunch of young players on defense. When you lose some starters, things aren’t always right, but credit those guys, they had a good game plan on offense. We did not execute very well in goal-line scenarios. On fourth down, I’ll say that’s on me.
“On special teams, we have to do a better job of coaching in those situations. In my heart of hearts, it’s going to be tough to go to sleep tonight because we had opportunities to win that game. That is the expectation around here, is to win games. We have a chance moving forward to play really good football. I’m excited to prepare with this group next week.”
On Brady Olson’s performance in the second half
"He’s going to be a really great football player. I feel like I was babysitting the offensive line and Brady, and come halftime I was done babysitting. I thought our kids responded well with that, I took the training wheels off and we played better football. Brady has unbelievable self-confidence… he’s got a great moxie, a great demeanor, he’s going be a really good quarterback for a long time.
“He is probably sitting in that QB room right now ready to rewatch this game, he is one of the most intentional, purposeful, young people that I’ve ever been around. If we can keep him around for the long haul, he’s going to be a good one.”
On Tyler Lytle’s status
“I don’t know yet. When Tyler is healthy, he will play.”
On getting Olson into a rhythm in the second half
“As we started to call the game more aggressively, he responded really well. He put his eyes in the right place and reacted accordingly”
On when Olson knew he would be starting
“We pretty much knew during Thursday’s practice.”
On trying to keep Boston College off balance
“They play hard. Jeff does an exceptional job with those guys, they play the game the right way. Boston College is a tough group of guys, and they always play their (tails) off.”
On Zamar Wise seeing playing time
“Zamar has been growing so much, both academically and physically so it’s extremely important. He deserved to get in there and run a couple plays. He deserved to get out there and go fight with his guys.”
On having fans back at McGuirk Alumni Stadium for the first time since 2019
“It was great, but my biggest regret is that we didn’t finish the job”
FRESHMAN QUARTERBACK BRADY OLSON
On making his collegiate debutI always knew I had it in myself. I had the ability and I trusted the guys around me that I could get the job done. I just had to stay ready. Right when Coach Bell told me (he was going to start), I just knew I had to lock in for the team.
On finding his rhythm in the second half
“I decided to take more shots and coach had confidence in me, so I just kind of developed from there. Coach Bell came out at halftime aggressive and wanted to take shots down field. It’s all stuff I felt comfortable with and I just had to believe in myself to make plays.”
On being able to draw Boston College offsides
“I think it’s coaching mostly. I haven’t done that much in my career but Coach (Frederick) Walker just taught me how to do it, brought me through it, how to undress defenses so I took it from there.”
On growing up around the game and making his first collegiate start
“It feels very good to see all my hard work with my uncles in the backyard just throwing the football around, just trying to get better every day. A lot has to do with the coaching here, they took my game to another level and I appreciate them for that.”
On getting additional reps
“Repetition brings about revelation – that’s what Coach Walker always tells us. The more reps you get, the more comfortable you get with plays and I definitely think that helped today.”
On Tyler Lytle’s tutelage
“He’s a great resource, his knowledge is just. We shared a hotel room last night, I can bounce ideas off of him and he can give me tips on how to stay calm.”
On where he goes from here
“We are a different team than we were last year. We have 110 people who have the same goal in mind and who are willing to work and put in the effort. It’s definitely hard to swallow a loss. If you are a competitor, you don’t like to lose. I definitely think I had a solid game and there’s stuff I can work on and be better at. But it’s learning from it.
“One thing that [Coach Bell] drives home: the process. And it’s an every day thing. Like he says, the process doesn’t care how you feel. You just have to see it at eye level.”
REDSHIRT JUNIOR RUNNING BACK ELLIS MERRIWEATHER
Thoughts on today’s game“For this group, a young group, we are going to use that as fuel, as fire. It’s more about learning a lesson. We might not have prepared 100% the way we should have throughout the week and seeing the turnovers in the game is probably the biggest message on how to understand how dedicated and committed and how much we have to prepare to go out Saturday and execute everything.
“We will learn from that and get better from that. Coach Bell came in and gave us a great talk after the game, and I think everyone understands what we could have done to execute better on the field.”
On Brady Olson’s evolvement from the start of the game to the end
“Brady’s a tough guy. I saw it in him in the very first day of practice. He knows how to face adversity and I saw him gain confidence well through the passes, through the plays. He learns through the mistakes, too. He might actually learn better through the mistakes than he does through the good stuff. He is a tough dude.
“I saw it in his eyes after the first interception. He knew it wasn’t his best stuff and that was a critical play. I saw it in his eyes, he didn’t sit down and pout. I looked him in the eyes and told him it was going to be ok and he said ‘I know.’”
On having fans back at McGuirk Alumni Stadium
“It was amazing. The energy felt like real football. COVID-19 kind of shut down a lot of stuff and we were going out there playing in front of nobody. It took a little bit of the fun out of what college football really is. It felt amazing, the energy was there and I’m so happy and proud that everyone came out and turned up.”
On the critical plays in the game
“We just beat ourselves in certain aspects and on certain plays we didn’t execute as well as we should have. They came in as a good team and we beat ourselves on some plays.”
On the difference between today’s game and last week against Pittsburgh
“I just think we are growing as we go along. A lot more dudes are stepping up and we don’t just have one leader on this team. We have a lot of leaders emerging everyday. Through work ethic and through communication we have a lot of people who want to go out there and lead and do the right things. I think that we got to just keep going along and keep bringing everybody along.”