Boston College got their first ACC win in 700 days and a
potentially season saving win over NC State on Saturday. The Eagles came out strong and played
more aggressively than they have all year. They used a big play touchdown, a trick play touchdown, and
the defense lived in the Wolfpack backfield all day.
When BC had the Ball: BC came out aggressively and threw the ball early and
often. Patrick Towles had his best
half as an Eagle in the 1st half of this one. However, he struggled in the second
half, particularly in the 3rd quarter. Towles did make enough key plays in the fourth to produce a
game winning drive. This was the
Towles that BC expected all year, not perfect, but gave BC an aerial
threat. The Eagle receivers played
their best game of the year so far.
Tommy Sweeney had the best game of this career, and did a great job of
sneaking off of the line on play action, in order to get open. It was very
reminiscent of the way Alex Amidon used to get open on play action, by faking
that he was going to block the corner.
Jeff Smith and Michael Walker were also playmakers for the Eagles. Smith took a jet sweep for a 60 yards
TD, while Walker had 6 catches for 78 yards. The BC offense excels when those 2 are making long
gains. While BC didn’t dominate on
the ground, they were able to create some long runs, and gain yards when
needed. NC State only had 3
tackles for loss, which was a huge improvement for the line. Jonathan Hilliman received the bulk of
the carries after missing last week, and had a decent game, and picked up a few
key first downs. Myles Willis was
very efficient with the carries he got, and had 41 yards on just 5
carries. Overall, it was the best
offensive game BC has played against an ACC opponent this year. They came out aggressive, threw the
ball more, especially early, and produced 8 plays of over 15 yards. The one area where BC struggled was
scoring TDs instead of field goals in the red zone, which will need to improve
if BC wants to knock off Louisville or Florida State.
When NC State had the Ball: BC completely dominated the line of scrimmage on
Saturday. The defense held NC Sate
to just 1.3 yards per carry, and discounting sacks it was still only 2.9. NC State was forced to throw on the
goal line at the end of the game, resulting in the interception to seal the
win. The Eagles had a great pass
rush as well, and seemed to get pressure every time Ryan Finley dropped back in
the second half. This helped the secondary, which
improved as the game progressed.
The pressure helped the BC secondary play tighter on receivers, lowering
Finley’s completion percentage in the second half. The one area where BC struggled again was giving up the long
touchdown as NC State had an 80 yards TD and a 50 yard TD which got called
back. The biggest reason for the
defense playing so well, was the aggressiveness. Paul Pasqualoni called plays in replace of Jim Reid who
missed the game with a medical issue, and did an excellent job of getting pressure
on the QB. That is the way BC must
play all the time.
Overall: BC got the first ACC win by playing the way it
needed to play all year. They came
out aggressive on both sides of the ball, and capitalized on big plays. The win saves the season for now, and
allows BC to have a chance again at going bowling. Steve Addazio might be able to survive for another year with
this victory and another of Uconn.
Hopefully, the team uses this win as a stepping stone for the rest of
the season.
