Boston College Athletics
Photo by: John Quackenbos
Lessons Learned: Jay McGillis Spring Game
April 23, 2017 | Football, #ForBoston Files
A very encouraging 17-17 tie showed the first glimpse into the Eagles' future.
Most years, the Jay McGillis Spring Game is a chance to just watch some football, a break from spring's school year denouement. It's a chance to sit back, enjoy the promise of the upcoming fall, basking in thoughts of grilled meats and falling leaves. This year, however, is not most years.
Having now completed their spring practice, Boston College gave the first glimpse into their new identity, which, ironically enough, is built on many of the same themes of the previous year. They still have something to prove, something to show to the naysayers and prognosticators, but it comes with very different expectations. Instead of a team looking to develop into something special, it's now trying to strengthen the infrastructure from within, a point illustrated from the quarterback position.
"A lot of times you start worrying about what (other people) are doing and you kind of get sidetracked," junior Darius Wade said after the Maroon and Gold's 17-17 tie. "You're not focused on the most important thing, which is just improving yourself. The competition (amongst quarterbacks) - that's exactly what that does. It kind of forces you to really not be content and focus on every play and make sure that you know every play is important because you're being evaluated."
Wade and redshirt freshman Anthony Brown are both in the hunt for the all-important QB1 position on the depth chart to start the regular season. On Saturday, both played with the Maroon and Gold squads to show their respective repertoires with different looks and receiving corps. And though Wade finished with the better numbers - 16-for-27 combined for 194 yards to Brown's 10-for-27 and 84 yards - it's unlikely that the duo are done pushing each other quite yet.
"I thought they both had a pretty consistent spring," head coach Steve Addazio said. "Like everything else, certain days, certain guys perform a little bit better, but I thought they've all done a good job. I thought Darius moved the ball up and down the field pretty well. But you can see the ability to throw the ball with these guys is pretty good and both of them had a really great spring and have been very, very productive. I was excited to see those guys making some plays."
In past years, an open quarterback competition would create a controversy of sorts. When one player couldn't separate himself from the others, it generated an atmosphere where no candidate stepped forward and displayed the "it factor." This offseason, both Wade and Brown are displaying just what can happen in a well-timed, well-executed competition. They're playing off each other, looking to beat the other guy out even though they're also supporting one another.
"I try to look to (Darius) for advice sometimes," Brown said. "I also ask other people from back at home that have been in the same situation how they would handle this. As Darius said, (you have to) try to stay to yourself, try to make yourself better."
"You kind of worry about yourself but still know that we're teammates, still give encouragement, still give wisdom and knowledge," Wade added. "When they make mistakes, try and help them, continue to better themselves because at the end of the day, we're a team."
Here's some of what else was learned in Saturday's spring game:
***
I wanna go fast!
Last season, Addazio said he wanted his team to work on its tempo. The Eagles didn't have the personnel prepared or available to run the offense with speed and spread, instead relying on a traditional, ball control offense for the entire season. As the year developed, they began to work in gadget plays, like Davon Jones or Jeff Smith's option pass plays, but they also began to speed things up with different looks.
But they haven't forgotten to balance the football game. The Eagles opened up their first drive with Wade calling signals, running a no-huddle offense. They moved quickly down the field, ultimately stalling at the goal line. At the same time, they also balanced their play-calling alternating the throw game opposite the run game, a staple of what Addazio been looking to accomplish.
"From one back, two back to empty to throw to run to play action - we just did a lot more," Addazio said. "That's a reflection of having more depth, more guys, quarterback plays, etc. So I thought we saw a lot of that, which was good. Each offense had to run 50 plays - just about 50 plays in a half - which is a fair amount. Then once we were in the second half, I reduced the quarter length and the running time, and I just kind of said, 'I've seen enough.' Like I said, we did a lot of plays on Thursday, just a couple of days (before)."
It's only an exhibition designed for players to have fun, so it remains to be seen if this is something everyone can expect with more regularity. But the main takeaway is that the Eagles aren't afraid to experiment within their main staple basics and fundamentals.
"We're going to put the ball down the field, and both of those guys can that ball down the field," Addazio said. "They've thrown it well all spring. I think a couple of those deep fade balls, we kind of threw them out of bounds a little bit, which really all spring we've been pretty good with that. Those guys (Wade and Brown) are both accurate, accurate throwers. We've got to keep working and keep dishing the ball around and keep balancing it out. But I thought there was a lot going on the field in terms of styles of throws and runs. Pretty good."
 "The workload isn't anything too extreme (at Boston College)," Wade said. "The biggest thing is just the change in philosophy, just going from our typical, regular huddle, kind of ground and pound, and now we're doing this up-tempo thing like you guys were able to see in the bowl game. We're just now building upon that and just trying to add more, which is definitely exciting."
***
Same old, same old
If it feels like all of the attention was on the offense, it's because the defense was, understandably, doing a lot of the same. Boston College has had the same defensive philosophy, albeit altered and tailored to fit its personnel groupings and strengths, since Steve Addazio arrived in Chestnut Hill. With many of their core players returning, there was no need to alter it.
"I don't think we made a lot of adjustments," senior Harold Landry said. "I think it's moreso the coaches really zoned in on our fundamentals and our technique and getting back to that. After the long season, you can get pretty sloppy with it, and just this whole spring, we've just been focused on developing everybody individually, making them a better player. I think that's what the spring is about, just becoming a better player, not so much focused on the scheme of things but moreso about just making everybody better, and I think that's what we did."
The BC defense did come up with a big-time stand in the first half. Brown, as QB of Gold, threw an interception to junior Taj-Amir Torres that was returned deep into plus territory. It set up the offense for a big play Jones, who used a 20-yard run to set up a six-yard touchdown carry that gave his team a 7-0 lead.
"I think defensively we just have like this chemistry," Landry said. "I think we all feed off each other, and I think once camp rolls around and get the few that are out right now, we get that chemistry with them back, I think we'll be pretty set for the season."
***
Run, run Rudolph
With an era of high-flying offenses popping up across college football, it's easy to look at the quarterback position to hyper-analyze and project how the offense might perform. That makes it easy to overlook that balancing an offense is only about output, not play selection.
BC has always been a tough, rugged football program built around the running game. Having a successful running game is imperative because it cleans up the parts where the passing game might not work. Remember that first drive, the one with the no huddle tempo work? As exciting as that feels, it stalled in the red zone because the offense couldn't punch it into the end zone.
Later in the game, when BC was able to get inside the red zone, they were able to pound on the defensive front seven to get points. Junior Richard Wilson scored twice for Gold, gaining 46 yards on 14 attempts, then gained another 25 for Maroon. Jones gained 51 yards while averaging almost nine yards per carry, scoring a touchdown for Maroon. Freshman Travis Levy, who was a high school senior this past fall, went for 67 yards on 17 carries. And junior Jon Hilliman, who feels like "Old Faithful" of this group, scored a touchdown of his own.
"I'm not going to split them up that much," Addazio said. "Jon Hilliman had a phenomenal, phenomenal spring. He had the best spring he's had since he's been here. Davon had a lot of productivity. Rich Wilson and the young Travis (Levy) - we need them all. What you learn in this conference is you need all those backs, but to play all of them equally or something like that, I wouldn't say that's our intent. It'll work itself out. In the course of a game, you need to play with a few, not necessarily equally distributed, but you need a few (backs). I think it's encouraging that we lost two really great guys, but we were able to have - I think you can get a good look at some guys that can be very productive."
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Having now completed their spring practice, Boston College gave the first glimpse into their new identity, which, ironically enough, is built on many of the same themes of the previous year. They still have something to prove, something to show to the naysayers and prognosticators, but it comes with very different expectations. Instead of a team looking to develop into something special, it's now trying to strengthen the infrastructure from within, a point illustrated from the quarterback position.
"A lot of times you start worrying about what (other people) are doing and you kind of get sidetracked," junior Darius Wade said after the Maroon and Gold's 17-17 tie. "You're not focused on the most important thing, which is just improving yourself. The competition (amongst quarterbacks) - that's exactly what that does. It kind of forces you to really not be content and focus on every play and make sure that you know every play is important because you're being evaluated."
Wade and redshirt freshman Anthony Brown are both in the hunt for the all-important QB1 position on the depth chart to start the regular season. On Saturday, both played with the Maroon and Gold squads to show their respective repertoires with different looks and receiving corps. And though Wade finished with the better numbers - 16-for-27 combined for 194 yards to Brown's 10-for-27 and 84 yards - it's unlikely that the duo are done pushing each other quite yet.
"I thought they both had a pretty consistent spring," head coach Steve Addazio said. "Like everything else, certain days, certain guys perform a little bit better, but I thought they've all done a good job. I thought Darius moved the ball up and down the field pretty well. But you can see the ability to throw the ball with these guys is pretty good and both of them had a really great spring and have been very, very productive. I was excited to see those guys making some plays."
In past years, an open quarterback competition would create a controversy of sorts. When one player couldn't separate himself from the others, it generated an atmosphere where no candidate stepped forward and displayed the "it factor." This offseason, both Wade and Brown are displaying just what can happen in a well-timed, well-executed competition. They're playing off each other, looking to beat the other guy out even though they're also supporting one another.
"I try to look to (Darius) for advice sometimes," Brown said. "I also ask other people from back at home that have been in the same situation how they would handle this. As Darius said, (you have to) try to stay to yourself, try to make yourself better."
"You kind of worry about yourself but still know that we're teammates, still give encouragement, still give wisdom and knowledge," Wade added. "When they make mistakes, try and help them, continue to better themselves because at the end of the day, we're a team."
Here's some of what else was learned in Saturday's spring game:
***
I wanna go fast!
Last season, Addazio said he wanted his team to work on its tempo. The Eagles didn't have the personnel prepared or available to run the offense with speed and spread, instead relying on a traditional, ball control offense for the entire season. As the year developed, they began to work in gadget plays, like Davon Jones or Jeff Smith's option pass plays, but they also began to speed things up with different looks.
But they haven't forgotten to balance the football game. The Eagles opened up their first drive with Wade calling signals, running a no-huddle offense. They moved quickly down the field, ultimately stalling at the goal line. At the same time, they also balanced their play-calling alternating the throw game opposite the run game, a staple of what Addazio been looking to accomplish.
"From one back, two back to empty to throw to run to play action - we just did a lot more," Addazio said. "That's a reflection of having more depth, more guys, quarterback plays, etc. So I thought we saw a lot of that, which was good. Each offense had to run 50 plays - just about 50 plays in a half - which is a fair amount. Then once we were in the second half, I reduced the quarter length and the running time, and I just kind of said, 'I've seen enough.' Like I said, we did a lot of plays on Thursday, just a couple of days (before)."
It's only an exhibition designed for players to have fun, so it remains to be seen if this is something everyone can expect with more regularity. But the main takeaway is that the Eagles aren't afraid to experiment within their main staple basics and fundamentals.
"We're going to put the ball down the field, and both of those guys can that ball down the field," Addazio said. "They've thrown it well all spring. I think a couple of those deep fade balls, we kind of threw them out of bounds a little bit, which really all spring we've been pretty good with that. Those guys (Wade and Brown) are both accurate, accurate throwers. We've got to keep working and keep dishing the ball around and keep balancing it out. But I thought there was a lot going on the field in terms of styles of throws and runs. Pretty good."
 "The workload isn't anything too extreme (at Boston College)," Wade said. "The biggest thing is just the change in philosophy, just going from our typical, regular huddle, kind of ground and pound, and now we're doing this up-tempo thing like you guys were able to see in the bowl game. We're just now building upon that and just trying to add more, which is definitely exciting."
***
Same old, same old
If it feels like all of the attention was on the offense, it's because the defense was, understandably, doing a lot of the same. Boston College has had the same defensive philosophy, albeit altered and tailored to fit its personnel groupings and strengths, since Steve Addazio arrived in Chestnut Hill. With many of their core players returning, there was no need to alter it.
"I don't think we made a lot of adjustments," senior Harold Landry said. "I think it's moreso the coaches really zoned in on our fundamentals and our technique and getting back to that. After the long season, you can get pretty sloppy with it, and just this whole spring, we've just been focused on developing everybody individually, making them a better player. I think that's what the spring is about, just becoming a better player, not so much focused on the scheme of things but moreso about just making everybody better, and I think that's what we did."
The BC defense did come up with a big-time stand in the first half. Brown, as QB of Gold, threw an interception to junior Taj-Amir Torres that was returned deep into plus territory. It set up the offense for a big play Jones, who used a 20-yard run to set up a six-yard touchdown carry that gave his team a 7-0 lead.
"I think defensively we just have like this chemistry," Landry said. "I think we all feed off each other, and I think once camp rolls around and get the few that are out right now, we get that chemistry with them back, I think we'll be pretty set for the season."
***
Run, run Rudolph
With an era of high-flying offenses popping up across college football, it's easy to look at the quarterback position to hyper-analyze and project how the offense might perform. That makes it easy to overlook that balancing an offense is only about output, not play selection.
BC has always been a tough, rugged football program built around the running game. Having a successful running game is imperative because it cleans up the parts where the passing game might not work. Remember that first drive, the one with the no huddle tempo work? As exciting as that feels, it stalled in the red zone because the offense couldn't punch it into the end zone.
Later in the game, when BC was able to get inside the red zone, they were able to pound on the defensive front seven to get points. Junior Richard Wilson scored twice for Gold, gaining 46 yards on 14 attempts, then gained another 25 for Maroon. Jones gained 51 yards while averaging almost nine yards per carry, scoring a touchdown for Maroon. Freshman Travis Levy, who was a high school senior this past fall, went for 67 yards on 17 carries. And junior Jon Hilliman, who feels like "Old Faithful" of this group, scored a touchdown of his own.
"I'm not going to split them up that much," Addazio said. "Jon Hilliman had a phenomenal, phenomenal spring. He had the best spring he's had since he's been here. Davon had a lot of productivity. Rich Wilson and the young Travis (Levy) - we need them all. What you learn in this conference is you need all those backs, but to play all of them equally or something like that, I wouldn't say that's our intent. It'll work itself out. In the course of a game, you need to play with a few, not necessarily equally distributed, but you need a few (backs). I think it's encouraging that we lost two really great guys, but we were able to have - I think you can get a good look at some guys that can be very productive."
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