Boston College Athletics
W2W4: Eagles Looking To Avoid Swarm in Dublin
September 02, 2016 | Football, #ForBoston Files
As the 2016 season dawns, here's what to watch for on the Emerald Isle
We're almost there.
In less than 24 hours, the Boston College Eagles and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets kick off their respective 2016 football season with an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup against one another. After nine months of waiting, it's time to stop the prognostication and let everything settle itself where it belongs – on the gridirion.
With BC and Georgia Tech in Ireland putting the final touches on their game preparations, here're some of the final storylines to watch throughout the game on Saturday morning at Aviva Stadium. With the game taking place on the Emerald Isle, it'll be fitting that we get some help this week from one of my favorite bands: the Dropkick Murphys.
The first game of the season presents one of the most unique settings in college football this year. The Eagles open up in Dublin - of all places - against a triple-option team in Georgia Tech. Back home, the game kicks off at 7:30 a.m. It's unlike anything anyone's ever experienced, and it's likely to be something that won't be replicated for a long time, if ever again. So there has to be a trust in the process that got the team to this point.
"It is a challenge to start right out of the blocks with a young team traveling all the way to Ireland, playing an ACC game against Georgia Tech, there's no question," said Eagles head coach Steve Addazio. "We prepared really hard for that. I like our preparation. I like the way our team has gelled together. I like the mentality of our team. But obviously we're going to see how we're going to play."
"I don't think there is a set answer for (the travel and time change)," said Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson. "I'm sure we'll be tired and get up the next morning and try to be on that time frame. But that's all I know to do. I wasn't going to go over there and try to spend a week or extra days. Both teams have to do it, so you just go play."
While there's so much to adjust to, from a five-hour time adjustment to the Irish climate (expected to be in the mid-60s temperature wise with rain) to the nearly 50,000-strong that will be in attendance, it's a level playing field for both teams. The team that is able to adjust quicker gets the obvious early advantage.
Despite the turnover at the coordinator positions, Boston College will remain largely the same tough football team they've been throughout the Addazio era. The Eagles are predicated on tough defense, meaning the mentality is the same for BC after a year in which they had arguably the best unit in the nation. If anything forces them to change, it won't be their mentality or approach to the game. It'll be their opponent.
"We're in the same defense," said Addazio. "What is going to look different is we're playing a triple-option team. We're not playing a conventional one-back, two-back spread, I-formation team. You can't be as exotic as we really were last year or will be this year – because we will be (exotic later this year). But for this particular game, I don't think you're going to get as good a gauge, might not look the same just because we're playing a triple-option team.
"In general, we're running the same defense, same calls, same everything," Addazio continued. "It's our system of defense that I wanted when I came to BC. (Defensive coordinator Jim Reid) and (defensive line coach Paul Pasqualoni) are here, have a great understanding and great feel for the whole thing. We haven't changed anything."
What will make this week so compelling is the matchup between that BC defense against the Yellow Jacket offense. The preparation is the same, and the mentality is the same. The idiosyncrasies of football, however, reside in multiple variables. This is the first game, played against an unfamiliar opponent running a unique scheme unlike anything the Eagles will see all year.
"We certainly are playing a football team that we know is going to be physical and was outstanding a year ago defensively for sure," said Georgia Tech's Johnson. "(They were) in the top five in the country in most every defensive category and return a lot of players, so it's going to be a great measuring stick for us to see how much progress we've made since last year."
Rose Tattoo is probably one of my favorite songs ever written. It gives a deep look into the story of Dropkick front man Ken Casey and how each tattoo on his body tells a story, the good times and the bad. They're all part of a story that's written for him, and one glance reminds him of the way things were at a given time. In particular, the rose tattoo reflects a memorial to his grandfather, who raised him after his own father passed away. In a charitable move in 2013, the band rerecorded the song with help from another big time personal favorite, Bruce Springsteen, and the product is incredible.
There's no way the 2016 season can begin without a mention of what happened a year ago. Finishing the season 3-9 without a conference win is something that happened. That said, 2015 is over. And while it's over, this a new year with new challenges and an entirely new book that needs to be written. There's a new excitement, with renewed hope. If nothing else, having gone through those tougher times, BC is a tougher football team for it. Tough times, after all, don't last. Tough people do. That's something exhibited in the quarterback position.
"I'm extremely excited about quarterbacks right now," said Addazio. "Obviously last year we had just one quarterback, Darius (Wade) got hurt against Florida State in game three, put us into the well-documented tailspin.
"(Patrick Towles has) fit in great," he continued. "You feel like he's been here his whole career. I think his relationship with our players is phenomenal. Just a really high-character young man that cares about his degree. Really sincere guy. Good leadership skills.
"Darius is a really talented guy. Obviously we have a tremendous amount of faith in him as a player. The same reason we named him the starter last year, he's shown throughout camp – great skill level, both throwing the ball, running the ball, et cetera. He's a very talented player.
"(And) we have a young man by the name of Anthony Brown, John Fadule. John played a lot of ball last year. It's so radically different than it was a year ago really," Addazio said.
Our long wait is over. Football is finally back. Boston College and Georgia Tech kick off the ACC season in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday morning at 7:30 AM local time.
