Boston College Athletics
Test In Opener Not An "Option" For Eagles
September 01, 2016 | Football, #ForBoston Files
Georgia Tech's triple option stands as first test for Boston College
For any football team, preparations for the first game are always difficult. Scrimmages only allow for so much prognostication, and video tape review shows how the opponent played 10 months prior. Team identities aren't remotely close to established.
Preparing for the first game of the year is hard enough, but for Boston College football's 2016 iteration, it becomes that much more important: where half of the Atlantic Coast Conference's 14 teams will play tune-up opponents designed to give the coaches a better look at how their team reacts in real game situations, the Eagles are opening up the year against a conference opponent – Georgia Tech.
For Boston College, the opponent presents yet another added wrinkle to the season opener. Instead of preparing for a more common spread or pro-style offense, the Eagles are preparing for one of college football's most unique schemes – the triple option.
"I think it helps when you play a wishbone team to be able to have time to prepare for a wishbone team," said head coach Steve Addazio. "But I certainly think it's always a challenge when you open up with a tough ACC opponent for the opening game. Most people like to take an easier non-conference approach – gives yourself the chance to work kinks out."
The statistics back that up that need for preparation. Their 3-9 finish in 2015 was the first time the Yellow Jackets finished bowl ineligible under Paul Johnson. It was their first sub-.500 finish since a loss in the Independence Bowl doomed their 2010 season to 6-7. In this decade, they've finished first or second in the Coastal Division every season, culminating with an 11-3 mark in 2014, winners in the Orange Bowl.
Since 2010, Georgia Tech's never finished outside the top 10 nationally in overall rushing, with their lowest finish (eighth) coming last year, and 2015 represents the only year they've finished below 300 yards per game on the ground. They've also finished in the top 25 every year in time of possession, save for finishing 41st last year, averaging well over 30 minutes per game.
"Georgia Tech's offense is tough," said BC head coach Steve Addazio. "They have some fantastic players on their team, starting with Justin Thomas, their quarterback, who's coming back as a three-year starter and he's a dynamic player. Marcus Marshall, their fullback, is a dynamic player. Ricky Jeune, the receiver – they've got playmakers on offense. And they've got a bunch of linemen back.
"We all know this is offense is a tough offense to go against," said Addazio. "It will keep you on the field and limit your possessions for your own offense, and can really grind you out if you don't have the opportunity to get them off the field."
What makes the triple option so dangerous is its ability to wreak havoc on defenses. The option itself is predicated on the quarterback's reads. Based on the presnap read, the quarterback, in this case Thomas, has the option to either hand off the ball to his fullback or utilize the wing running backs. Because there's so many moving parts and so many reactions on the fly by the offense, the defense has to be able to adjust just as fast, if not faster.
"You've got to be really careful," said Addazio. "Somebody's got to get the dive, someone's got to get the quarterback and someone's got to get the pitch. People don't like to pressure hard option teams. You get toasted. You get caught in it, so it is difficult to do. You get a lot of people who want to run option against a blitzing team. When you zone off the ball, pitch it off to the end of the line. You get the blitzes all caught up inside. So you have to be careful blitzing against that kind of operation."
For BC, that meant preparing the defense through using different players in different roles. In an example, running back Myles Willis helped simulate the Georgia Tech speed. "We called it a fast jacket team, which was some of our starters on offense," said Addazio. "Then (we had) a scout jacket team, which was some of our back-up guys, so we could give them two different speeds."
The preparation against the run is totally unique simply because of the lack of passing. Georgia Tech's offense has ranked higher than 120th three times since 2010. In 2011, they finished 112th in the nation, their best finish of the decade, with 142 yards per game. Twice they finished 119th, including 2010, when their 83 yards per game was second to last in the bowl subdivision.
In the same breath, though, the Yellow Jackets have playmakers. There's quarterback Justin Thomas, who is one of the few option quarterbacks who remains a threat to pass, and there's receiver Ricky Jeune. It's not that Georgia Tech is a passing offense; they clearly won't chuck the ball up and down the field. Instead, they pick their right spots. Last year, despite the lack of flashy passing statistics, Jeune had four games with three catches or more. Against Duke, he made four grabs for 91 yards. Against Virginia, he eclipsed the century mark with 103 yards on five catches. In almost every game, he registered a catch of 20 yards or more.
With an offense so unique, it's imperative to draw on every comparison and ounce of game film available, no matter how old it might seem. "We played Army here," said Coach Addazio. "We played Army when I was at Temple and I ran this offense. So I have a good feel for this offense. It has answers to everything and once they get it going, sometimes it is very hard to stop it – really, really difficult."
"(Thomas) is a really dynamic athlete so we have had to simulate him this week and it's tough," he continued. "It is a very tough offense. Nobody wants to play that offense, just because it takes so much to time to devote. You're in a scheme that is not necessarily the scheme you are going to play against other people. It is a scheme specifically for that offense."
The Eagles and Yellow Jackets kick off on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2.
