What Stanford Head Coach Frank Reich Said About Boston College Ahead of Matchup

The Cardinal head coach spoke about Bill O’Brien, Dylan Lonergan, and the Eagles as the two get ready for a late night game on Saturday.

Aug 23, 2025; Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; Stanford Cardinal head coach Frank Reich is seen on the field before an NCAA college football game against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. Mandatory Credit: Marco Garcia-Imagn Images | Marco Garcia-Imagn Images

Boston College football opens ACC play on Saturday night with its second road game in as many weeks as it travels to Stanford, Calif., to take on the Stanford Cardinal. 

On Monday, Stanford head coach Frank Reich spoke about what he has seen from Boston College through the first two weeks of the season and his relationship with Bill O’Brien. 

“It really doesn’t affect the dynamic,” said Reich. “I do know Bill. Obviously we coached in the same division for a few years together, so we go up against him twice a year. I have a ton of respect for Coach O’Brien. He is a really good football coach, so I got a ton of respect for him. I got to see him at meetings and stuff so excited to compete against him. We’ve enjoyed competing against each other and I think he’s doing a great job there. They got things going pretty well. Their quarterback is playing at a high level. They’ve got two good defensive outings. They got some weapons on offense. They’re trying to get the ball to No. 11,  No. 4, he’s a big, tall guy with some speed. [The] Tight end’s a guy they’re targeting. The backs are good runners so they do a good job on offense and they’re multiple. They use all different personnel groups. 

“He’s always done that. Bill’s always done that. He’s always done a good job of giving you multiple looks on offense. And you know he wants to run the football. They’ve got a quarterback who can throw it all over the field and obviously had a really good day last week. But, I know Coach O’Brien, he likes to run the football. So, they’re gonna have a balanced attack and be multiple in formations and personnel groups. And then defensively, it’s a good team. [No.] 15 is a real deal pass rusher. No. 1 is the best linebacker and he’s playing well. He’s aggressive, he’s athletic, he’s a good pass rusher when he blitzes. And their secondary, No. 2, he’s their guy. He’s a good blitzer, good tackler, so this is a good, aggressive defense. They’re multiple on defense and they’re gonna play some odd fronts, some even front, they’re gonna mix it up in their coverages like everybody else. So, it’s a good challenge for our team.” 

Reich also talked about Eagles quarterback Dylan Lonergan and his performance so far this season, calling him a “good challenge.”

“Interestingly enough, I was watching their game last week against Michigan State, but I was obviously watching BC’s defense,” said Reich. “On the scoreboard, they kept showing the stats. They were always up there on the scoreboard. It got to halftime and I saw the passing yards for BC was like 200-something yards at halftime passing. I’m like ‘they’re lighting it up on the other side of the ball right now, throwing it all over the yard’. And then in the first game, started off a little slower, but then got hot. I think he has a lot of confidence right now. I think Coach O’Brien’s done a great job in building his confidence and it looks like he’s in full swing and has command over their offense. I think it’s gonna be a great challenge for our defense. I’m exicted to see our defense play this offense, this team, this quarterback. We have to find ways to put pressure on him. We have to be in tight coverage and not give him easy stuff. But they do a good job at a lot of short, intermediate stuff, but then has the arm to get the ball down the field, has the speed to get the ball down the field on the outside, so it’ll be a good challenge.” 

He mentioned the struggle of dealing with time zones and if he believes that gives the Cardinal any advantage in the matchup this weekend. 

“On paper that could be said but if I’m Coach O’Brien, cause we think the same way, we’re gonna adjust our schedule during the week to accomadate in some way, shape, or form,” said Reich. “Probably only a little bit because you can’t adjust it too much because the kids have school and so on and so forth. But, you just know as a coach, you’ve had every experience where you’ve gone in those sitautions and you or your team has played great and it doesn’t mean anything. So, I don’t really put a whole lot of stock in it. I let our sports science guys adjust our schedule [with] whatever tweaks they can and then you just go play football. And anything can happen in one night. So I don’t underplay it or overplay it. It’s just whatever time it is, we’ll be there, they’ll be there, and everyone’s gonna be excited to play.” 

Boston College and Stanford kick off on Saturday night at 10:30 p.m. ET on ACC Network.