Boston College Athletics
Photo by: John Quackenbos
Development Tops Expectations As UMass Game Looms
September 08, 2016 | Football, #ForBoston Files
"You have to improve. You have to get better." -Steve Addazio
The first week of football season provides drama unlike anything else. The excitement of the anticipation explodes on gridirons across the country, and the results of games from the Atlantic Ocean out to the Pacific and beyond gives the first glimpse into what teams are and what teams aren't.
After the week ends, there's a tendency to use it as the baseline for the entire season, especially because a team's weaknesses, some of which are unexpected, come glaring through their strengths.
That's where the second week of the year comes into play. Armed with information about what they did well, coaches can reinforce good habits. Also armed with information about what what needs to improve, they also go to work coaching up their rosters, so that they can hit their stride when the season's grind is at cruising speed.
After opening the season with a 17-14 loss to Georgia Tech, the Boston College Eagles immediately went back to work to fix up their holes. Tired from the long flight and five hour time change, they still mustered the energy to get right back into the swing, preparing for a week that ends with a game against in-state opponent Massachusetts on Saturday.
"I don't know that you know (the toll of the travel)," said head coach Steve Addazio. "I can tell you this - we had two good days of practice. That's usually a good indicator. I think our guys were a little fatigued (on Tuesday), maybe a little more than usual for a Tuesday, and I think that's probably a little bit of the travel related. But we had a good day (on Wednesday)."
For the Eagles, the first game of the season provided a first glimpse into their new, pro-style offense. In the second half of last week, quarterback Patrick Towles showed how he earned his reputation as a thrower, going a perfect 5-of-5 in the third quarter en route to a 7-of-9 second half.
Though he didn't throw a touchdown, Towles opened up his arm, more than doubling his yards per attempt from the first half. He wound up with 94 yards in the second half alone, finishing with 176 yards on the day.
For BC, that 176 yards represented a key number; it was the same amount of yards they ran for. Jon Hilliman finished with 102 yards on the ground, including the 73-yard touchdown, and Towles added 27 yards of his own. Myles Willis, ever the cagey veteran, added 24 yards on six carries.
"While I've been here, we haven't had great balance," said Addazio. "We've been able to run the ball well (historically), but we did both (against Georgia Tech). We're a balance run/pass, (and) we work the ball around to a lot of different receivers. We have a variety of ways to attack people in the run game."
Those positives are what BC can continue to enhance. Though 17 passing attempts seems like a small sample size, it represents a segment of a strategy that matched time of possession with a Georgia Tech team known for being run-heavy. Working within a gameplan, BC knows execution is key, and it's something they were able to do.
As mentioned throughout the week, though, there's always negatives whenever there's a loss. For the coaching staff, that means identifying the areas where they need to get better after just one game of a long, grinding season.
"We're still young up front," said Addazio. "We're probably not where we need to be. We're going to get there, though, but we're young. There were times we looked really good, and there were times we left some real yards on the field. I think that can continue to grow and get better.
"I think as that happens, you're going to get even more productivity offensively," he continued. "We've got to make sure we have more productivity in the red zone. We had three trips in the red zone that we didn't convert on. We converted on one and didn't on three others. Two of them were field-goal related. It was almost even time of possession, which tells you a lot on nine possessions that we're moving the ball well. We've got to continue to do that, and we've got to become much more efficient and much more high-percentage of scoring in the red zone."
For the Eagles, that better execution will need to come come against a UMass team on Saturday that is a sudden draw on defense. In his first two years, Mark Whipple's defenses ranked 100th and 104th overall. On Saturday, they hung with nationally-ranked Florida through the better part of three quarters, trailing 10-7 late before the Gators pulled away.
The Minuteman defense held the Gators to barely 100 yards rushing with an average of less than four yards per carry. Quarterback Luke Del Rio did finish with 256 yards, but he averaged only 5.8 yards per pass. In the second quarter, he attempted just over three yards per pass. On third downs alone over the entire game, UMass held him to a 50 percent completion margin for only 48 yards, dropping his yards per attempt by two yards from first and second down.
"I think they're pretty athletic (on defense), and they can run," said Addazio. "You saw that against Florida. They have some good personnel that's athletic and can run and they're all over the place. They've done a great job there of recruiting athletic talent. They play a lot of multiple coverages, and they do a lot of different things on third down. So they've got talent on that football team, and they played well last week."
After the week ends, there's a tendency to use it as the baseline for the entire season, especially because a team's weaknesses, some of which are unexpected, come glaring through their strengths.
That's where the second week of the year comes into play. Armed with information about what they did well, coaches can reinforce good habits. Also armed with information about what what needs to improve, they also go to work coaching up their rosters, so that they can hit their stride when the season's grind is at cruising speed.
After opening the season with a 17-14 loss to Georgia Tech, the Boston College Eagles immediately went back to work to fix up their holes. Tired from the long flight and five hour time change, they still mustered the energy to get right back into the swing, preparing for a week that ends with a game against in-state opponent Massachusetts on Saturday.
"I don't know that you know (the toll of the travel)," said head coach Steve Addazio. "I can tell you this - we had two good days of practice. That's usually a good indicator. I think our guys were a little fatigued (on Tuesday), maybe a little more than usual for a Tuesday, and I think that's probably a little bit of the travel related. But we had a good day (on Wednesday)."
For the Eagles, the first game of the season provided a first glimpse into their new, pro-style offense. In the second half of last week, quarterback Patrick Towles showed how he earned his reputation as a thrower, going a perfect 5-of-5 in the third quarter en route to a 7-of-9 second half.
Though he didn't throw a touchdown, Towles opened up his arm, more than doubling his yards per attempt from the first half. He wound up with 94 yards in the second half alone, finishing with 176 yards on the day.
For BC, that 176 yards represented a key number; it was the same amount of yards they ran for. Jon Hilliman finished with 102 yards on the ground, including the 73-yard touchdown, and Towles added 27 yards of his own. Myles Willis, ever the cagey veteran, added 24 yards on six carries.
"While I've been here, we haven't had great balance," said Addazio. "We've been able to run the ball well (historically), but we did both (against Georgia Tech). We're a balance run/pass, (and) we work the ball around to a lot of different receivers. We have a variety of ways to attack people in the run game."
Those positives are what BC can continue to enhance. Though 17 passing attempts seems like a small sample size, it represents a segment of a strategy that matched time of possession with a Georgia Tech team known for being run-heavy. Working within a gameplan, BC knows execution is key, and it's something they were able to do.
As mentioned throughout the week, though, there's always negatives whenever there's a loss. For the coaching staff, that means identifying the areas where they need to get better after just one game of a long, grinding season.
"We're still young up front," said Addazio. "We're probably not where we need to be. We're going to get there, though, but we're young. There were times we looked really good, and there were times we left some real yards on the field. I think that can continue to grow and get better.
"I think as that happens, you're going to get even more productivity offensively," he continued. "We've got to make sure we have more productivity in the red zone. We had three trips in the red zone that we didn't convert on. We converted on one and didn't on three others. Two of them were field-goal related. It was almost even time of possession, which tells you a lot on nine possessions that we're moving the ball well. We've got to continue to do that, and we've got to become much more efficient and much more high-percentage of scoring in the red zone."
For the Eagles, that better execution will need to come come against a UMass team on Saturday that is a sudden draw on defense. In his first two years, Mark Whipple's defenses ranked 100th and 104th overall. On Saturday, they hung with nationally-ranked Florida through the better part of three quarters, trailing 10-7 late before the Gators pulled away.
The Minuteman defense held the Gators to barely 100 yards rushing with an average of less than four yards per carry. Quarterback Luke Del Rio did finish with 256 yards, but he averaged only 5.8 yards per pass. In the second quarter, he attempted just over three yards per pass. On third downs alone over the entire game, UMass held him to a 50 percent completion margin for only 48 yards, dropping his yards per attempt by two yards from first and second down.
"I think they're pretty athletic (on defense), and they can run," said Addazio. "You saw that against Florida. They have some good personnel that's athletic and can run and they're all over the place. They've done a great job there of recruiting athletic talent. They play a lot of multiple coverages, and they do a lot of different things on third down. So they've got talent on that football team, and they played well last week."
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