Four Downs: NC State

October transformed the public perception of Boston College football. The 2-4 Eagles won three games in a row to become 5-4. Everything clicked, and a much-needed bye week allowed the team to reboot and recharge. Saturday brought a national television audience, and confidence overflowed as bowl eligibility stood right within its grasp.

But No. 23 NC State had other ideas. The Wolfpack provided a reality check instead of a coronation, beating BC, 17-14, at Alumni Stadium on Senior Day. It's a game that brought with it deep storylines and still managed to create a number of different areas to unpack in the coming week.

"They found a way to win in the end," BC head coach Steve Addazio said. "Stats are pretty even in the game. Obviously, we lost our starting quarterback. It was a tough deal here today, and we lost Kam Moore, our third captain. I don't know the status of where that is moving forward at this particular time. We ran the ball well on offense. We were struggling in the second half throwing the football, and that showed up. On defense, we weren't great on third down."

Both teams made mistakes, but they offset miscues by explosive plays. Anthony Brown threw an interception in the end zone, but AJ Dillon offset it with a 66-yard touchdown run. NC State fumbled a trick play into a short field BC touchdown but offset it with a 50-yard run by Nyheim Hines. NC State missed a number of field goals, but they hit the one that wound up being the difference after a botched snap cost the Eagles an attempt of their own. So it becomes hard to pin down blame; NC State simply made more plays when it had to.

"You recruit guys like (Hines) for a reason," NC State head coach Dave Doeren said. "When you get a difference-maker with the heart of a champion like Nyheim's, it matters."

The loss resets the bar for the Eagles. This entire season stressed the need to find the next level of execution. The beginning of the season taught BC how to execute in certain situations, which hardened it through defeat and ultimately created breakthrough moments in the winning streak.

NC State is a teachable moment in the same respect. BC showed it can execute with regularity, but now the focus centers on how to get those plays against top-tier opponents that become the difference when adversity kicks into another gear.

"We've got to deal with what's been thrown at us," Addazio said. "We've got no time for that right now. We can't wallow in what could have been and what happened. We have to have our complete focus on next Saturday because we have some legitimate things that we've got to overcome right now."

Here's what else can be discovered from yesterday's loss:

*****
First Down: Bradley Chubb

Steve Addazio spent time last week specifically talking about Bradley Chubb. He called him a "first round pick" and talked about his ability to disrupt with his talent. He's physical, fast and agile. His skillset is special, and he complements it with both a high football IQ and unflappable on-field swagger.

He dominated Saturday against one of the best pass protections in the nation. He finished with two-plus sacks, breaking the NC State program career record held by former No. 1 overall NFL draft pick Mario Williams. He finished Saturday with four tackles for losses for -21 yards.

"We gave him the game ball," Dave Doeren said. "That's pretty special when you talk about defensive linemen that NC State's had and Mario Williams, the first overall pick. For now to be better statistically, to be called the all-time greatest defensive linemen at NC State is a big thing."

There's one specific play to highlight. There was a passing play where running back Jon Hilliman chipped Chubb back inside towards the interior of the line. Chubb shrugged through Hilliman but got bunched up with his teammate in the rush. He still got to the quarterback on the blindside and didn't allow Wade any time to actually wait for a passing route to develop.

"We put a chip protection in there (for Darius Wade)," Steve Addazio said. "We took the back and doubled Chubb with the tackle. That was in an effort put a double team on (Wade's) backside. There's not a whole lot more you can do than that. We doubled him. (Hilliman) chipped the heck out of him. He chipped him so hard that he distorted (Chubb) back inside to the point where we kind of lost him."

Few things are ever certain about football season, but it's obvious someone is going to make a phone call to Bradley Chubb on the first night of the NFL Draft.

*****
Second Down: M*A*S*H

Injuries are always a touchy subject because they're always layered differently. On one hand, injuries to key players disrupt game plans. Backups prepare as best as they can, but they aren't in weekly game plans. They always have to be ready to execute, and coaches have to be ready to adapt to potentially different skillsets. "The twos" always come in hoping to replicate what "the ones" can do.

At the same time, there's only so many injuries to key players a team can afford. Teams with razor thin depth charts have even smaller margins for error when it comes to the medical tent. Injuries are never an excuse, but there's only so many a team can take before there's a very real impact.

BC moved on from losing key players earlier in the season. But it lost two more key athletes during Saturday's game - quarterback Anthony Brown and defensive back Kam Moore. That only intensified the different sides of the argument, which the coach acknowledged in the postgame.

"(Brown) is going to have some testing done, and we're going to have to find out exactly what we're dealing with," Steve Addazio said. "I can't speculate on his injury. So we'll have to wait and see there. With Kam, it's the same shoulder injury he had last week. We tried to rest it, he was doing really well, and obviously that shoulder slipped again. What that means for next week with him is uncertain to me.

"But you what? It's football," he said. "We moved in the game and still competed our tail off in the game."

*****
Third Down: Darius Wade

Earlier this season, Anthony Brown's shoulder injury against Louisville forced Boston College to shift into different formations for Darius Wade. It highlighted the physical differences and tendencies between the quarterbacks while working within the same fundamentals of the offensive mindset. That shift happened again this week when Brown went to the sidelines, highlighting some of the different packages the Eagles might use with Darius Wade under center.

"We have some things that we think are better for Darius," Steve Addazio said. "It's not a revelation or anything like that. I just think that Anthony's forte is to get the ball our really quickly."

Wade played well in the immediate aftermath of Brown's injury. He completed his only pass of the second quarter, then went 4-for-5 in the third quarter for 23 yards and hit a 20-yard pass in the fourth. But with three minutes remaining in the fourth with no timeouts, BC had to go to the pass from inside its own 30-yard line. It didn't pan out with four straight incompletions, highlighting the need for further execution.

"We had no timeouts," Addazio said. "We had to throw the football. We had a play to Kobay (White), first down, (to) move the chains. (He) dropped it. But we wanted to the stop the clock. I was really hoping for a good punt return, and then at that point, you start running it."

The offense may change slightly with Wade versus Brown. Wade is different physically, which goes beyond even handedness. He's a little bit stockier and a little bit stronger where Brown is faster and more agile. That doesn't change the offense fundamentally, but it does change how the team would call situational football.

"We're going to have to adjust a little bit to this," Addazio said. "We're going to have to make some adjustments moving forward. I don't know exactly what that's going to be right now. I don't think first and second down is going to be a big difference in terms of play actions, the way we run the ball. But I think on third down, we had a pretty good groove on what we were doing there, and we're going to have to go back and take a hard look at that."

*****
Fourth Down: Ryan Finley

Good college quarterbacks usually have the physical skills that scouts love to see. They have length, size, arm strength and accuracy. They can make a throw on a dime, and they can execute a playbook.

Great college quarterbacks have the intangible skill to excel in situational football, though. They make those tough throws when a game isn't going well, and they keep the chains moving on third down. NC State quarterback Ryan Finley is the latter.

Finley was uncharacteristically off on Saturday. He overthrew some of his receivers downfield and threw the first leg of a double pass to Jaylen Samuels behind, resulting in a fumble recovery by Kevin Bletzer. He threw an additional interception, which is a rarity.

But he was great on third down. NC State finished 9-for-17 in those situations, which allowed them to own time of possession. The Wolfpack held the ball for over 17 minutes in the first half, limiting BC's offensive chances and wearing down the Eagles defense with long, sustained drives.

"Being in the pass rush, I'm just focused on my matchup on the offensive line, so I really wasn't able to tell (what happened downfield)," defensive lineman Zach Allen said. "But he's a great quarterback. He's obviously highly rated. His touchdown-to-interception ratio is off the charts, and he's really a pro quarterback. When we don't get there, he's going to make the throws. We didn't get there, so he made the throws."

There are a number of college quarterbacks who are all over NFL scouting boards. Players like Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield are turning heads and drawing the most attention.

But NC State is a cradle of pro quarterbacks. Jacoby Brissett, Philip Rivers and Mike Glennon all came out of Raleigh, and Russell Wilson started there before transferring to Wisconsin. Teams would behoove themselves to review Finley, who is a pro style signal caller learning the ropes against tough defenses like on Saturday.

*****
Point After: UConn

BC enjoyed a bye week after its previous game before Saturday. It will not have that luxury this week because the calendar clock is already ticking down to next week's Fenway Park game against Connecticut.

NC State earned its seventh win and improved to 5-1 in conference play; it now has a great chance at nine wins and an open shot at one of the ACC's top bowl games. The Citrus Bowl or Camping World Bowl is very much in the Wolfpack discussion.

The loss hurts, but it doesn't do much to hurt the Eagles' bowl aspirations. BC remained in third place in a tightly-packed ACC Atlantic Division with one conference game remaining. A win over Connecticut at Fenway Park now becomes the most important game on the schedule, with the Syracuse game looming further in the distance. If BC can clinch bowl eligibility over the Huskies, then discussion can pivot back to clinching third place behind NC State and Clemson.

"We're excited," Allen said. "We're 5-5 right now and we have a great opponent (next week) in UConn."

Saturday will represent a virtual bowl game atmosphere, especially to the Huskies. Saturday's loss to Central Florida rendered UConn bowl ineligible with seven losses. That means the "neutral site home game" at Fenway against the power conference opponent becomes its de facto bowl. It also means it's a short turnaround against a regional rival who will be motivated to keep the Eagles from becoming bowl eligible in their own right.

Boston College Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Zach Allen

Kevin Bletzer

Anthony Brown

AJ Dillon

Jon Hilliman

Darius Wade

Related Videos