BC Virginia Tech Recap

Boston College came out and played one of their worst games in a long time on Saturday.  They were beaten in all phases of the game.  BC could not do anything.  Their offense was shut down, and their defense gave up the most points in a game since 2012.  BC’s offense was shut out for the third time in 13 games.  Prior to last season, BC had been shut out once in 10 years.

When BC had the Ball: Absolutely nothing went right for BC on offense.  They ran a total of 2 plays in Virginia Tech territory, and fumbled on one of them.  They were completely unable to run the ball, and never really opened up the passing game.  This really showed off the inability of the offensive line to create holes against a good team, and the coaching staffs inability to make adjustments.  It was clear from the start that the offensive game plan was not going to work.  However, they kept on calling simple power run plays on first and second downs, leading to long third downs, which many times, they called short passing routes, which would not be able to pick up the first down even if it was completed.  They didn’t try anything crazy, or switch anything up.  BC should start thinking about playing Darius Wade at QB.  His running ability could help to open up some holes for the offense, and the passing game cannot get much worse, as they have only 35 completions all year.  While Towles has been a good leader, BC owes him nothing, as he has been here for 3 games.  By playing Wade, BC won’t be giving up on this year, while still improving for next year.

When Virginia Tech has the ball:  Virginia Tech found a weak spot in the BC defense and just exploited it all game.  They spread BC out, and then throw it over the deep middle.  BC had could not stop it.  Virginia Tech also had athletes at receivers who beat the BC quarterbacks one on one on the outside.  When BC adjusted to try to take away the middle, Virginia Tech beat them with fade routes.  Another key was BC’s inability to get to the Quarterback.  Evans was getting passes off quickly, which took away the advantage that BC had on the defensive line.  However, after halftime it was clear the defense had given up.  They knew that the offense was not going to be able to score 20+ points, and did not play with the same heart as in the first half. 

Overall: This is a game that causes BC to really have to start questioning their coaching staff and philosophy.  BC is a team that wins by running the ball and playing good defense.  Over the past two seasons they have played some of the best defense in the country but have not be able to run the ball.  Because of this they have not been able to win.  Now, it looks like the defense is coming back down to earth.  Instead of losing close games, BC most likely endure more blowouts like Saturday.  In the future, BC plays 3 teams better than the Virginia Tech team they faced on Saturday.  Unless something major changes, those games will be just as ugly as Saturday.  However, it has been made clear by this coaching staff that they are unable to make significant changes, and switch up the gameplan.  Instead of looking for adjustments, the coaching staff has just been making excuses for the past two years.  BC’s season could easily go down the drain.