What Boise State defensive leaders said after first fall camp practice

Boise State held its first practice of fall camp on Monday. 

Following practice, edge rusher Jayden Virgin-Morgan and linebacker Marco Notarainni met with the media.

“It’s great to really be able to see all of the work we put in in the offseason and be able to get back to actual football instead of just running and lifting all the time,” Virgin-Morgan said. 

Here are the highlights from Virgin-Morgan and Notarainni’s post-practice media availability. 

Virgin-Morgan on Boise State’s defensive upside

“I think we’re going to be an elite defense for sure. The work we put in in the offseason and the way we’re looking right now, obviously there are a lot of things we have to fix, but it’s Day 1 of camp.”

Virgin-Morgan on keys to maintaining a fierce pass rush

“I think it’s being able to work really hard in fall camp, continuing to attack the quarterback, continuing to take the little things in … and being able to really hone in on our techniques.”

Virgin-Morgan on being named a team captain

“It’s an honor, just being able to see that the guys really respect me. And having the honor of being a team captain of such an amazing team and such an amazing program, it’s just a blessing to be able to think about that.

“My entire life, this is exactly what I’ve worked for, this is what I prayed for … it’s almost more than what I prayed for. Being able to have the opportunities that I’ve been given, it’s just amazing being able to take advantage of those and not take them for granted.”

Notarainni on Day 1 defensive performance 

“It’s a little bit harder to gauge considering we’re still in a slower tempo. I think we definitely have a lot of gaps that we need to fill and jumps we need to take this camp, and that’s fine. 

“I usually always talk about Day 1 being high effort and high intensity. We’ll always come back in here and clean stuff up. That can be coached. But you can’t really coach effort and pursuit to the ball.”

Notarainni on areas for improvement 

“I think the biggest aspect of my game that I want to improve is my open-field tackling, kind of having that body control and getting guys on the ground. Having that trust in my teammates that I can take my shot, and they’ll cover for me. I think that was my biggest area of weakness last season. 

“I can always improve on my pass rush, pressuring the quarterback and pass coverage. We’ve done a lot of extra work over the summer as linebackers to hit that because there are some similarities across the board when it comes to those weaknesses. So we’re really, really focusing on that in this fall camp.”