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

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

The Huskers (7-6) secured their first winning season since going 9-4 in 2016 by way of a 20-15 win over the Eagles (7-6) in Saturday’s Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.

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

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

Here is 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 tough football team, they never quit. That’s what BC’s all about. But give a lot of credit to Nebraska. They controlled the game, obviously. They did a really good job of controlling the game. In the end, we had a shot there. Couldn’t stop them on the four-minute drive there at the end. But got the blocked punt, kind of hung in there. Had trouble scoring in the red zone. I thought we moved 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’ve got really ugly. It really could’ve because Nebraska did a good job.”

“Look, we went for it on fourth down a few times. I decided to do that. We were having trouble kicking the ball. I didn’t wanna kick it. We were in that area where you’re either gonna punt it from the plus-50 – which we could’ve done, but we’re not great at that – or try to kick a 50-yard field goal, which we’re definitely not ready to do that. I went for it on fourth down and probably put the defense in a couple tough positions. But, look, Nebraska did a good job. We had trouble running the ball, had trouble scoring in the red area, we moved the ball (well). At halftime, we had the time of possession, we had the yardage, 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 coached there. I’ve got a lot of respect for Dylan. He plays the game very calmly, the game comes pretty easily to him, he’s been around football his whole life, his dad was a great player, and he just does a good job of managing the game. He’s got a great future in football, and I saw a lot of great things from him getting to watch him on film while getting ready for the game. I talked to him right there at the end (of the game). I’ve got a lot of respect for Dylan. He did a really good job today, give him a lot of credit.”