What Bill O’Brien said about Huskers and Dylan Raiola in postgame press conference at Pinstripe Bowl

NEW YORK – The season is officially underway for both the Boston College and Nebraska football programs.

The Huskers (7-6) secured their first winning season since a 9-4 loss in 2016 with a 20-15 victory over the Eagles (7-6) in the Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday at Yankee Stadium.

BC head coach Bill O’Brien then spoke at the postgame podium for a 10-minute press conference with national and local media.

O’Brien, the Eagles’ first-year coach who spent more than 30 years as a college and NFL coach, including 10 seasons as a head coach, was asked several direct questions about the Huskers and also discussed Nebraska’s performance during his unprompted run entire time at the Huskers podium.

Here’s everything O’Brien said about Nebraska, his thoughts on the Huskers’ future and their star freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola.

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“These guys fought hard. We have a strong football team that never gives up. This is what BC is all about. But give Nebraska a lot of credit. They obviously controlled the game. They controlled the game really well. In the end we had a chance there. In the end, they couldn’t stop them on the four-minute drive there. But I got the blocked punt and somehow stuck it out. Had trouble scoring in the red zone. I thought we were able to move the ball pretty well, but we had trouble running the ball, had trouble scoring in the red zone. So, like I said, give Nebraska a lot of credit. …Really, today could have been really ugly. That really might have been the case because Nebraska did a good job.”

“Look, we tried it a few times on fourth down. I decided to do this. We had problems kicking the ball. I didn’t want to oppose it. We were in an area where you’re either going to punt from plus 50 yards – which we could have done, but we’re not very good at that – or try to punt from 50 yards out. I’m definitely not ready to shoot a goal, which is what we’re doing. I tried it on fourth down and probably put the defense in some tough positions. But look, Nebraska did a good job. We had trouble running the ball, had trouble scoring in the red zone, we moved the ball (well). At halftime we had the time of possession, we had the distance, but we didn’t have the (points). It was just a combination of things.”

“I’ve known Dylan for a long time. Dylan came to the Alabama camp when I was coaching there. I have great respect for Dylan. He plays the game very calmly, the game comes to him quite easily, he has been involved in football all his life, his father was a great player and he just manages the game well. He has a bright future in football and I saw a lot of great things from watching him on film as he prepared for the game. I spoke to him right at the end (of the game). I have great respect for Dylan. He did a really good job today and he deserves a lot of praise for that.”