Boston College Athletics
Photo by: John Quackenbos
Lessons Learned: Pound The Rock
September 26, 2016 | Football, #ForBoston Files
The goal was to get the running game back on track. Mission accomplished.
For the past three weeks, Steve Addazio has talked about the need to establish the run game. He's talked about the need for synergy in the offensive line, how the running backs need to hit holes, and the nature of what goes into each play.
Instead of seeing "run up the middle," it's an execution of several areas, from a zone block to a gap block to anything else short of a Tetris block. Pounding that rock, an element key to the Boston College offensive mindset, punishes an opponent and establishes the time of possession in their favor, thereby limiting the number of drives for an opponent.
With teams putting up video game numbers across the number, it's a different approach designed to limit chances. If your defense performs at the levels of its elite expectations, scoring struggles on limited drives ultimately shortens a game and wins lower-scoring games. That's done by owning the time of possession.
Heading into Saturday's game against Wagner, that's exactly what the Eagles intended to work on. The running game's been under the microscope for a variety of reasons, and this week served as a necessary opportunity to reset and reboot. Addazio said as much during the week, meaning there should have been an expectation that BC would do exactly that: pound the Seahawks on the ground.
BC ran 56 rushing plays, more than double the amount of passing attempts, gaining 300 yards against Wagner in a 42-10 victory. The Eagles ran 76 offensive plays in total, averaging 6.4 yards per play.
Mission accomplished.
"We felt like we hadn't run the ball well yet, up to what our standard is," said Addazio. "We wanted to emphasize running the football today. We did that. We had no turnovers on offense. We rushed for 300 (yards)."
The Eagles had 23 first downs, 14 of which were by the run, resulting in 37:12 of ball control time. In the first quarter, they possessed the ball for all but 4:42. In the fourth quarter, they owned it for all but 3:50. They were 7-for-15 on third-down conversions. In the first quarter, BC had a 68-yard, six-minute drive for a touchdown. In the second, an eight-play drive for a touchdown took up 3:25. In the fourth quarter, BC had only two drives to kill the clock - a 12-play, 65-yard drive and a seven-play, 42-yard drive.
These numbers typically inflate because FCS teams serve as target practice for power conference teams, but the root concept is the same. The Eagles needed to work on their run blocking, get reps and work on fundamentals. Regardless of the opponent, this was an opportunity to simulate situational plays against stronger teams, including ACC opponents. It builds the database, something key to development. That said, there's still a way to go.
"(The offensive line) was consistently inconsistent," said Addazio. "I need to watch that. We're young at wide receiver and on the offensive line, and this is what goes part and parcel with this. There were times (on Saturday) early in that game where we were literally blowing guys off the ball like six yards but losing sight on a gap scheme. (You're) getting so much push that you're not used to getting that all of a sudden you've lost vision on the linebacker."
That's why snaps and plays against Wagner are important. Moving forward, with Buffalo coming to town next week, it gives the team a chance to continue building that database with more and more information, this time against an entirely different opponent from the Mid-Americn Conference.
"It just takes a while for these guys to get accustomed to making these calls and have a feel for all of that," said Addazio. "That's why we wanted to kind of keep running the football a little bit because we felt like we don't have that feel yet. The first two years (here) we had a real feel for that up front. We don't have that yet. It's very much a work in progress and being consistently inconsistent stalls many drives. We're trying to get better, and it is getting better. There's really good young talent there. It just needs to soak and grow, and each week get a little better and it will."
Here's more of what came out of Saturday's win over Wagner:
**Despite the emphasis on the rushing game, BC didn't abandon the passing game. But the quarterback's role in the Eagles offense is to keep things moving. For a player like Patrick Towles, that allows him to use whatever he can to get a first down, including using his legs.
On Saturday, Towles had seven official rushes for 46 yards, including two scores, one of which was a 17-yard scamper. He finished with four all-purpose touchdowns after throwing for two more, one of which came on a long, 58-yard strike to Jeff Smith, their third TD connection of the year.
"You have to move the chains, move the chains," said Addazio. "At Florida, we won a national championship just moving the chains. We had a lot of breakdowns on third down and Tim (Tebow) would find a way to move the chains. Every time you move a chain, you get another series of downs. Every time you get another series of downs, it gives you another opportunity to help the offensive coordinator call the game. If the pocket breaks down, or you don't like your look and you've got a chance to go get the first down, go get the first down."
The bulk of Towles' rushes this year trend towards areas where execution is key to keep drives alive. Between his own 20 and into plus territory, he has 24 carries for 108 yards, an average of 4.5 yards per carry. He's had nine carries for 44 yards on third downs alone in situations ranging between three and 10 yards to go to the sticks.
"We had a nice deep strike to Jeff (Smith) today," said Addazio. "We had another one that we had a great opportunity for a touchdown. So we're going to continue to work on that throw game, which means that on those third downs when things break down, we still have the ability, which we did a couple of times today, to go get a first down or in one case obviously go get a touchdown."
**With all the emphasis on offense, defense and special teams flew more under the radar despite a day featuring some positives and some negatives.
Let's start with Mike Knoll. He went a perfect 6-for-6 on extra point attempts, averaging 54 yards on his seven kickoffs, though he did kick one out of bounds and had a couple of short punts that didn't bounce his way. He didn't have a field goal attempt, but Knoll is  2-for-2 on field goals this year and hasn't missed an extra point since the first kick of the UMass game. For all of the criticism on the kicking game, his career numbers stand at 7-for-9 on field goals and 30-for-33 on PATs.
Tyler Rouse recorded a 44-yard kick return in the first quarter and a 53-yard punt return in the third quarter. He would've had another return on his day, but a return to the Wagner 20-yard line was pulled all the way back to the BC 27 thanks to a block in the back penalty.
Defensively, BC made only two mistakes the whole day. On the game's third drive, Wagner quarterback Alex Thomson faked a toss and took off up field for a 55-yard option run to daylight, giving the Seahawks an early 7-0 lead.
Later in the game, the defense forced a three-and-out on a drive that started at the Seahawk 46-yard line, but the Eagles took a personal foul after the play to push the ball over midfield to the defensive 41. Thomson, with new life, converted two first downs, setting up a field goal.
"(The penalties) don't occur in practice," said Addazio. "I'll bring officials in and purposely say, 'I really want you to call pass interference penalties close.' And we don't have them.
"You see less of that with more experience. I think we'll gain that as we go. Sometimes penalties can be extremely disruptive to your flow. We opened the game up on the first drive and had a holding penalty. That's the kind of stuf that we had a week ago as well early on. We've got to continue to coach it. Guys get into battle, into competition, and everybody wants to make a play. Everybody is so anxious to get out there. That's what I love about our team; they're so competitive. We have to learn how to channel that and funnel that in the right way."
Instead of seeing "run up the middle," it's an execution of several areas, from a zone block to a gap block to anything else short of a Tetris block. Pounding that rock, an element key to the Boston College offensive mindset, punishes an opponent and establishes the time of possession in their favor, thereby limiting the number of drives for an opponent.
With teams putting up video game numbers across the number, it's a different approach designed to limit chances. If your defense performs at the levels of its elite expectations, scoring struggles on limited drives ultimately shortens a game and wins lower-scoring games. That's done by owning the time of possession.
Heading into Saturday's game against Wagner, that's exactly what the Eagles intended to work on. The running game's been under the microscope for a variety of reasons, and this week served as a necessary opportunity to reset and reboot. Addazio said as much during the week, meaning there should have been an expectation that BC would do exactly that: pound the Seahawks on the ground.
BC ran 56 rushing plays, more than double the amount of passing attempts, gaining 300 yards against Wagner in a 42-10 victory. The Eagles ran 76 offensive plays in total, averaging 6.4 yards per play.
Mission accomplished.
"We felt like we hadn't run the ball well yet, up to what our standard is," said Addazio. "We wanted to emphasize running the football today. We did that. We had no turnovers on offense. We rushed for 300 (yards)."
The Eagles had 23 first downs, 14 of which were by the run, resulting in 37:12 of ball control time. In the first quarter, they possessed the ball for all but 4:42. In the fourth quarter, they owned it for all but 3:50. They were 7-for-15 on third-down conversions. In the first quarter, BC had a 68-yard, six-minute drive for a touchdown. In the second, an eight-play drive for a touchdown took up 3:25. In the fourth quarter, BC had only two drives to kill the clock - a 12-play, 65-yard drive and a seven-play, 42-yard drive.
These numbers typically inflate because FCS teams serve as target practice for power conference teams, but the root concept is the same. The Eagles needed to work on their run blocking, get reps and work on fundamentals. Regardless of the opponent, this was an opportunity to simulate situational plays against stronger teams, including ACC opponents. It builds the database, something key to development. That said, there's still a way to go.
"(The offensive line) was consistently inconsistent," said Addazio. "I need to watch that. We're young at wide receiver and on the offensive line, and this is what goes part and parcel with this. There were times (on Saturday) early in that game where we were literally blowing guys off the ball like six yards but losing sight on a gap scheme. (You're) getting so much push that you're not used to getting that all of a sudden you've lost vision on the linebacker."
That's why snaps and plays against Wagner are important. Moving forward, with Buffalo coming to town next week, it gives the team a chance to continue building that database with more and more information, this time against an entirely different opponent from the Mid-Americn Conference.
"It just takes a while for these guys to get accustomed to making these calls and have a feel for all of that," said Addazio. "That's why we wanted to kind of keep running the football a little bit because we felt like we don't have that feel yet. The first two years (here) we had a real feel for that up front. We don't have that yet. It's very much a work in progress and being consistently inconsistent stalls many drives. We're trying to get better, and it is getting better. There's really good young talent there. It just needs to soak and grow, and each week get a little better and it will."
Here's more of what came out of Saturday's win over Wagner:
**Despite the emphasis on the rushing game, BC didn't abandon the passing game. But the quarterback's role in the Eagles offense is to keep things moving. For a player like Patrick Towles, that allows him to use whatever he can to get a first down, including using his legs.
On Saturday, Towles had seven official rushes for 46 yards, including two scores, one of which was a 17-yard scamper. He finished with four all-purpose touchdowns after throwing for two more, one of which came on a long, 58-yard strike to Jeff Smith, their third TD connection of the year.
"You have to move the chains, move the chains," said Addazio. "At Florida, we won a national championship just moving the chains. We had a lot of breakdowns on third down and Tim (Tebow) would find a way to move the chains. Every time you move a chain, you get another series of downs. Every time you get another series of downs, it gives you another opportunity to help the offensive coordinator call the game. If the pocket breaks down, or you don't like your look and you've got a chance to go get the first down, go get the first down."
The bulk of Towles' rushes this year trend towards areas where execution is key to keep drives alive. Between his own 20 and into plus territory, he has 24 carries for 108 yards, an average of 4.5 yards per carry. He's had nine carries for 44 yards on third downs alone in situations ranging between three and 10 yards to go to the sticks.
"We had a nice deep strike to Jeff (Smith) today," said Addazio. "We had another one that we had a great opportunity for a touchdown. So we're going to continue to work on that throw game, which means that on those third downs when things break down, we still have the ability, which we did a couple of times today, to go get a first down or in one case obviously go get a touchdown."
**With all the emphasis on offense, defense and special teams flew more under the radar despite a day featuring some positives and some negatives.
Let's start with Mike Knoll. He went a perfect 6-for-6 on extra point attempts, averaging 54 yards on his seven kickoffs, though he did kick one out of bounds and had a couple of short punts that didn't bounce his way. He didn't have a field goal attempt, but Knoll is  2-for-2 on field goals this year and hasn't missed an extra point since the first kick of the UMass game. For all of the criticism on the kicking game, his career numbers stand at 7-for-9 on field goals and 30-for-33 on PATs.
Tyler Rouse recorded a 44-yard kick return in the first quarter and a 53-yard punt return in the third quarter. He would've had another return on his day, but a return to the Wagner 20-yard line was pulled all the way back to the BC 27 thanks to a block in the back penalty.
Defensively, BC made only two mistakes the whole day. On the game's third drive, Wagner quarterback Alex Thomson faked a toss and took off up field for a 55-yard option run to daylight, giving the Seahawks an early 7-0 lead.
Later in the game, the defense forced a three-and-out on a drive that started at the Seahawk 46-yard line, but the Eagles took a personal foul after the play to push the ball over midfield to the defensive 41. Thomson, with new life, converted two first downs, setting up a field goal.
"(The penalties) don't occur in practice," said Addazio. "I'll bring officials in and purposely say, 'I really want you to call pass interference penalties close.' And we don't have them.
"You see less of that with more experience. I think we'll gain that as we go. Sometimes penalties can be extremely disruptive to your flow. We opened the game up on the first drive and had a holding penalty. That's the kind of stuf that we had a week ago as well early on. We've got to continue to coach it. Guys get into battle, into competition, and everybody wants to make a play. Everybody is so anxious to get out there. That's what I love about our team; they're so competitive. We have to learn how to channel that and funnel that in the right way."
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