Scouting Boston College (Longish)

Oct 4, 2016, 10:51 PM

In preparation of our game this Friday night, I did some in depth scouting of Boston College so far this season. I pulled some info together that you can see at the bottom of this post, so if you’re looking for some more info without going and digging for it, it’s here as well. So without further ado, 10 keys to the game:

1) Get pressure on BC’s quarterback

-Patrick Towles is only completing 50% of his passes on the season, but he has been effective when needed in the running game (he’s 6’5” 253lbs). Getting him down is going to require textbook tackling and even tackling by committee at times to get him down. Deceptively strong arm as well.

2) Stop the running game

-BC is built to run the ball first. They will run the traditional I formation with a FB lead blocker (their FB is 250lbs) but will also run shotgun and try to spread out the defense as well. Their offensive line is big, but not overly big where they are too slow to be effective (ex. #71 370lb O-lineman for Georgia Tech). #32 is 6’ and 230lbs and they love to give him the ball up the middle and for off tackle plays while running Jet sweeps with receivers when teams load the box to stop the run in the middle. Stop the run and make BC beat us through the air. If we do this, we will handle them. Virginia Tech held them to 44 yards rushing, and if VT can do it then there is no excuse for us not being able to as well, especially with our front 7 (I don’t have to mention our players because y’all know them as well as I do, but the most underrated member of our front 7? Kendall Joseph by far, he’ll have a big game Friday night).

3) Get them to 3rd and long

-This should go without saying, but with an offense that is not consistent and has struggled most of the season, we need to get them to 3rd and long and we can send the defensive line after the QB

4) Attack, Attack, and Attack

-BC is very fundamentally sound, especially on defense, but if you watch the VT (and even the opener against GT) game you will see that they struggled with the QB running game at times. I expect us to run Deshaun strategically at times while also throwing the deep ball to loosen up the defense for Gallman and our other running backs. #28 and #13 are outstanding linebackers that will make it difficult at times to run the ball.

5) Put together some longer drives

-Scoring quick is a double edged sword (ex. Louisville game last weekend). Points are the end goal but they also put your defense on the field more (ex. 62 plays for us vs 99 plays for Louisville last weekend). BC’s defense is not as good as previous years because of the lack of experienced depth behind their starters (lots of Sophomores and Freshmen on the 2 deep). Get them to have to substitute and watch the armor start to crack as the game wears on.

6) Our receivers versus their secondary

-Not much to say here. Our receivers are better than their secondary. If they double a receiver than that is going to open up opportunities for the rest of them. Leggett is also a huge matchup problem for them (he’s as big as their defensive ends and just slightly smaller than their D-linemen). I wouldn’t be surprised to see Leggett and Garret Williams or Milan Richard on the field at the same time to really stress the defense.

7) Eye Discipline

-BC loves to run lots of different formations and looks pre-snap. Shotgun with 4 WRs, I-formation with no WRs (all tight ends lined up next to the o-line), motion on all of these formations to try to get a read on what kind of coverage we are playing, quick formations to the line and audibles after looking at the defense, etc… They do it all. QB runs out of the shotgun are a real possibility too, especially in the red zone, so maintaining eye discipline is going to be key.

8) Use the numbers advantage

-Deshaun is a master of this pre-snap, and that is reading how many defenders are in the box vs how many blockers we have. Our offense runs a lot of only having 5 offensive lineman blocking (due to empty sets, 4 WRs with a RB next to Deshaun, etc…) so reading the box is key. If they have 8 in the box, then attacking the edges and quick throws are available. If they have 5 in the box, run the ball.

9) Get through the 1st quarter

-This will likely be their biggest game of the year (outside of Louisville playing there later in the year) and I expect their fans to show up to this game. It is also what they are dubbing as the "Red Bandana" game (if you don't know the story behind that, go look it up. Very emotional and powerful story). This will be a close game through the 1st quarter. Get through the first quarter and begin to separate.

10) Ball Security

-I don't have to tell y'all but we had 3 turnovers last weekend that came from fumbles/lazy hands (Deshaun's run, Legget's fumble at the goal line, ray ray's lazy attempt at catching that slant route pass which ended up bouncing in the air off his hands and letting Louisville pick it off). Boston College will be trying to strip the ball A TON this weekend. We left 35 points on the field against LOU, we don't need to leave any points on the field this weekend and let BC believe they have a chance to win the game.

Bottom line, take what the defense gives us and stop the running game, we'll be 6-0 after friday night. GO TIGERS!!

Boston College Scouting
• Record 3-2
o Wins over Buffalo, UMass, and Wagner
o Loses against GT (3 points), VT (blown out 49-0)
? GT had a 4th and 20ish and converted and eventually scored on the same drive at the end of the game to win. BC should have won that game but couldn’t convert redzone chances (5) into points consistently.
• Key Stats
o QB is only completing 50% of his passes on the season with 6 TDs and 3 INTs, 800 yards on the season
o 800 rushing yards as a team with one RB and their QB having the most rushing yards (295 for J. Hillman and 174 for their QB P. Towles).
o 16 offensive touchdowns on the season through 5 games
o 2 Field goals
o 117 Points scored (14 total against GT and VT)
o 86 Points allowed (66 PA against GT and VT)
o FG kicker is 2/4 on the season
o 30/81 on 3rd downs (37% on the season)
o 8 turnovers on the season
o Only one bad game on defense (against VT)
? Held GT to 238 total yards (119 passing and 119 rushing)
• Team Info
o Offense
? QB Patrick Towles is 6’5 and 253lbs with a decent arm (VT got a lot of pressure on him and forced bad throws)
? O-line is big (the smallest linemen on the 2 deep is 290lbs, weights are between 290-310, heights 6’4” – 6’7”)
? TEs are 260lbs as well
? RB #32 is a big running back (6’ but 230lbs)
? WRs are average size (6’ 190ishlbs) but are quick
? WR #83 is massive (6’4 240lbs)
o Defense
? DEs are not big and not a lot of experienced depth (only 2 ends over 260lbs (#93 260lbs, #2 272lbs, but both these two play one end spot)
? DTs are not big either (#96 292lbs, #97 288lbs, 2 others at 272lbs) and are young (key note: the backup DT for #97 is #94 who is only 227lbs)
? LBS are solid, by far the strength of the defense, #13 237lbs is a great player, #10 230lbs is another solid LB, and #28 221lbs but has a nose for the ball.
? Secondary is solid but not a lot of experience
• Only 1 senior in the group
• Left corners are tall (#14 is 6’3” and his backup #20 is 6’1”), right corners are average height and weight (6’0” 195lb average, I expect us to attack this side of the field throwing the ball)
• Safeties as a group are light (heaviest one is #14 204lbs, the rest are 200lbsish)
• Corners are light as well (#14 is the only one @ 200lbs, 2 others at 195, the rest are 185 or lighter)
? Long snapper is a senior (very experienced) but the holder is a sophomore (has some experience but not as much as the LS, could be a spot to watch Friday night)
? The starters are experienced (a lot of Juniors and Seniors) but the backups are not (a LOT of true sophomores and freshman in the 2 deep)
? #98 kicks FGS/PATs while also kicking punts and kickoffs.
• Worst Loss of the Season = Virginia Tech
? 6 first downs
? 44 total rushing yards
? 80 total passing yards
? 9/29 passing
• 8.9 yards/completion
? VT had 253 passing and 223 rushing (balance is key here)
• 476 total yards
? 12 penalties for 93 yards (another key here)
? They punted 13 times
? 4/17 on 3rd down (VT was 7/14 on 3rd down)
? 15 total drives, Average drive was only 1 minute, 40 seconds
? VT didn’t have any sacks
? BC had 2 turnovers (1 fumble, 1 Pick)
? Most plays in a drive was 6 on 3 different drives (15/27/15 yards on each of those drives
respectively, 2 punts and a pick)
? VT threw 5 Touchdown passes
? Youtube link to this game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imDJU3gKFVA

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Scouting Boston College (Longish)

Wow, excellent analysis! Thank you so much!***

Thanks! Had a few request this after the one for LOU game***

Good job! Most glaring for me was the

bump for today***

Gameday bump!***

Great write-up. Thanks!***

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