CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith was disappointed with the 23-19 loss at Boston College, Saturday night, but came away from the game feeling optimistic about what could be.

“I think we’ve got some upside,” Smith said following the game. “We want to coach guys that will finish. We have to keep going as coaches to make sure we are setting them up for success. I like the group. We’ve got a chance to get better if we stick to our process here.”

Smith was bothered by the four turnovers. That problem hasn’t gone away. But defense remained sturdy for most of the game, other than a key breakdown which yielded a 42-yard TD pass with 1:28 to go, and a sudden-change 36-yard TD run early in the third quarter. 

“We turn the ball over four times and they score 23 points,” Smith said. “That’s a pretty good effort, defensively.”

But Michigan State didn’t produce the plays that capture victory.

“A few plays here or there we have to be able to make,” Smith said. “I did think defensively throughout the night, a response effort. The goal line stand. We put them in a couple of bad spots, the kickoff return fumble, then we turn the thing over. I thought those guys battled throughout the night. 

“The turnover piece, we have to get better there.” 

Michigan State kicker Jonathan Kim was 4-for-4 on field goals. It might start to get easy to take him for granted, but nailing kicks from 41, 26, 51 and 27 helped put Michigan State in position to win, despite the problems with turnovers and red zone inefficiencies against Boston College.

“I thought Jonathan Kim came up huge for us,” Smith said. “These elements weren’t ideal for kicking the ball, snapping and holding.” 

Smith’s full post-game press conference is below:

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