Boston College Athletics
Photo by: John Quackenbos
Four Downs: Wake Forest
September 10, 2017 | Football, #ForBoston Files
Sometimes it's easy as pointing out the big, explosive plays
On their second offensive drive, the Eagles scored two first downs, moving from their own 36-yard line to the Wake Forest 32. On a second-and-12, quarterback Anthony Brown completed a 23-yard outlet pass to wide receiver Jeff Smith, pushing the Demon Deacons on their heels a little bit.
But on first-and-10 at the Deacon 32, a bad snap went over Brown's head. He ran after it, diving on the fumble to retain possession. A loss of 24 yards, it pushed BC back to their own 44, the site of its last play before that. It created second-and-34, an impossible situation outside field goal range. Though Brown rallied to complete a 14-yard pass to tight end Tommy Sweeney, the first down marker was too far away, and the Eagles had to punt.
That series provided the baseline story in BC's 34-10 loss to Wake Forest. Giving the Demon Deacons 21 points off turnovers, an otherwise close, evenly-played game turned into a scoreboard disparity and sent the Eagles into next week with their first loss of 2017.
"Statistically it's pretty close, pretty even numbers," head coach Steve Addazio said. "But we turned the ball over, and you can't turn the ball over. Our kids had a great look in their eye, played hard, did some good things. And that's it. We haven't turned the ball over like that. That can't happen, so I've got to do a good job in making sure that we get rid of the turnovers and go about our business so we can give ourselves a chance to win the game."
Sometimes a loss is a series of little things. It's "death by papercuts," where a series of little mistakes are exploited for a full 60 minutes. An opponent finds an edge and attacks it for the entire game, exposing a flaw for the entire game. Other times, a team costs itself the game by simply making mistakes on a few big, explosive plays.
A Boston College fumble deep inside its own territory led to a Wake Forest touchdown. A 30-yard run by John Wolford for a touchdown. There was a pick six and an interception returned to the Eagle two-yard line. Those four plays led directly to 28 Deacon points. If BC can limit or avoid those plays, a 34-10 game becomes much, much more even.
With that in mind, here are takeaways from yesterday's game.
*****
First Down: The Quarterback Position
After a good debut at Northern Illinois last week, starting quarterback Anthony Brown probably wants to put Saturday's statistics behind him. He threw for 119 yards and a touchdown - the first receiving TD of Jon Hilliman's collegiate career - but he only went 11-for-29 passing and threw three interceptions. Â With the game getting away from the Eagles in the second half, Steve Addazio changed to Darius Wade, who responded by going 7-for-12 for 44 yards.
"He looked a little uncomfortable from the get-go," Addazio said. "That's going to happen. It didn't show up last week. (This week) showed up in a little bit of a waterfall. A couple interceptions were tipped balls. It wasn't his fault. They were tipped like a volleyball. We got aggressive before the half. We did it a week ago, and we were successful with it. We went for it this week, and we were not successful with it."
Bringing in Wade moved the football enough so the quarterback room can review what worked (and what didn't work) in the film room. During the preseason, both Brown and Wade worked with one another to improve the other. If Brown did something well, the film room shared that information with Wade and vice-versa. Communication between the two improved the overall position. That didn't end with NIU, and it'll continue this week coming out of a loss.
"It's a matter of a young guy where it's rolling down on him a little bit, so you give him a breath," Addazio said. "We hung with (Wake Forest), came back with them in the second half. We made some plays but got a little flustered. So we wanted (Anthony) to have a breath, take a breath."
Brown had positives on Saturday but saw the game slip away because of miscues from the entire offense. With a talented team continuing to grow, that will happen, especially early in the season. Providing areas to improve, it falls to the coaching staff and team leaders to rally and improve into the next week.
"In college football, you're going to have your bad days," defensive end Harold Landry said. "You're going to have your good days. Today just happened to be a bad day. (Anthony) knows that. He knows we're behind him. We've just got to get back to work tomorrow."
*****
Second Down: The Road Continues
The mistakes overshadow an otherwise decent day on offense. BC amassed 305 yards of offense behind a balanced attack running 82 plays. Balanced at 41 plays apiece for the rush and pass, the Eagles averaged under 20 seconds per play in continuing an up-tempo attack that was at times good.
BC rushed for 142 yards, once again juggling outside stretch plays opposite interior drives. A.J. Dillon ran 15 times, while Thadd Smith gained 46 yards on five runs outside. Travis Levy saw his first action, gaining 19 yards on a single run, while Davon Jones got into the action with a 20-yard run of his own.
"There was some traction," Addazio said. "It was intermittent. I thought Jon (Hilliman) had a couple of runs, and AJ (Dillon) had a couple runs. They all had a few runs. At times it looked pretty good."
This was the first game the Eagles played without Jon Baker on the offensive line. With Baker sidelined for the season, BC turned to Ben Petrula, a 6-foot-6-inch true freshman, at the position. Though Petrula had the bad snap early, he settled in shortly thereafter and began the process of refining and absorbing as the game went on.
"Ben's a little bit bigger, a little more physical (on the line)," Addazio said. "We know that we'd have to buy a little time with him, beef him up, get him a little bigger in there. We really feel like Ben is going to be our sixth man, and he did a fabulous job in practice. He really did. I thought he did a good job today."
With a true freshman guard-turned-center, there will be growing pains, but Petrula has the talent and ability to help the offensive line at the position. Recruited as a guard, this was his first game snapping, so look for the exchange to quarterback to become cleaner as the season continues.
"I can't do anything about it but let it grow, let it develop, let it soak," Addazio said. "I'm proud of that guy, proud of what he got done today. It's a tough, tough deal for a young guy, but he handled it with a lot of maturity. He'll get better."
*****
Third Down: Wake Forest
Saturday was a good mental win for a Wake Forest team who didn't learn a whole lot from its opening game win over Presbyterian. For head coach Dave Clawson, it's an important first step emphasizing both how tough it is to win in conference and the slim margin for error between winning and losing.
"Every league game is huge so it's kind of nice (to beat a team of BC's caliber)," Clawson said. "We don't play another ACC game for three or four weeks. So at least for a while we'll be near the top (of the standings). The goal is to try and stay there longer."
Without the turnovers, Clawson understood the game could've looked different. It didn't underscore the work needed to win the game or how hard future teams will need to work in competing with BC.
"We have a lot of respect for BC," he said. "They're a very physical football team, and I just think the big difference is we took care of the football. We created turnovers. We capitalized off turnovers. We had enough of a balance on offense. I think (we) had great effort today. In our mind, we beat a pretty good football team on the road."
*****
Fourth Down: The Next Step
The road ahead isn't any easier for the Eagles; next Saturday renews the Holy War when Notre Dame comes to Chestnut Hill for the first time since 2012.
BC is the first road game for the Fighting Irish, who lost to Georgia, 20-19, following a late Bulldog field goal. At 1-1 on the year, it becomes a huge game early in the season between two passionate rivals.
"What's in front of us is being as good a football team as we can be next Saturday at noon, and that's what we're going to go after," Addazio said. "That's all I really care about right now. I'm very, very excited about our guys. I know the ability that's there, and I just want to keep racing with it and go."
It's going to be an intense atmosphere for Boston College and Notre Dame fans alike. For BC, it's a chance to turn the page. For the Fighting Irish, it's a chance to rebound after a loss in a week where they returned to the national rankings.
"I love (our team's) attitude," he said. "I love their mentality. They took that (loss). They're deeply disappointed. They took that thing and they can see the upside, and we're in a race to get there as fast as we can get there."
*****
Point After: Defensive Line
Harold Landy had five tackles on the season while also recording his first sack of 2017. Now at 22 career sacks, he sits two behind Mike Mamula for second all-time in program history. Mathias Kiwanuka holds the record with 37.5 quarterback takedowns.
"We're trying to get (Harold) enough rest so he can be fresh and be a dominant player on third down for us," Addazio said. "That's what most people do when they have those kinds of guys. We're trying to do the best we can to make sure we have a guy that's not blown out by the time we get to the fourth quarter and will have a fastball pitch when it comes to get after the quarterback."
Keeping Landry fresh is an easy call with a defense capable of filling in seamlessly. Ray Smith had nine tackles yesterday, while Wyatt Ray registered six. Linebacker Max Richardson joined the fray as well, recording six tackles and a sack.
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But on first-and-10 at the Deacon 32, a bad snap went over Brown's head. He ran after it, diving on the fumble to retain possession. A loss of 24 yards, it pushed BC back to their own 44, the site of its last play before that. It created second-and-34, an impossible situation outside field goal range. Though Brown rallied to complete a 14-yard pass to tight end Tommy Sweeney, the first down marker was too far away, and the Eagles had to punt.
That series provided the baseline story in BC's 34-10 loss to Wake Forest. Giving the Demon Deacons 21 points off turnovers, an otherwise close, evenly-played game turned into a scoreboard disparity and sent the Eagles into next week with their first loss of 2017.
"Statistically it's pretty close, pretty even numbers," head coach Steve Addazio said. "But we turned the ball over, and you can't turn the ball over. Our kids had a great look in their eye, played hard, did some good things. And that's it. We haven't turned the ball over like that. That can't happen, so I've got to do a good job in making sure that we get rid of the turnovers and go about our business so we can give ourselves a chance to win the game."
Sometimes a loss is a series of little things. It's "death by papercuts," where a series of little mistakes are exploited for a full 60 minutes. An opponent finds an edge and attacks it for the entire game, exposing a flaw for the entire game. Other times, a team costs itself the game by simply making mistakes on a few big, explosive plays.
A Boston College fumble deep inside its own territory led to a Wake Forest touchdown. A 30-yard run by John Wolford for a touchdown. There was a pick six and an interception returned to the Eagle two-yard line. Those four plays led directly to 28 Deacon points. If BC can limit or avoid those plays, a 34-10 game becomes much, much more even.
With that in mind, here are takeaways from yesterday's game.
*****
First Down: The Quarterback Position
After a good debut at Northern Illinois last week, starting quarterback Anthony Brown probably wants to put Saturday's statistics behind him. He threw for 119 yards and a touchdown - the first receiving TD of Jon Hilliman's collegiate career - but he only went 11-for-29 passing and threw three interceptions. Â With the game getting away from the Eagles in the second half, Steve Addazio changed to Darius Wade, who responded by going 7-for-12 for 44 yards.
"He looked a little uncomfortable from the get-go," Addazio said. "That's going to happen. It didn't show up last week. (This week) showed up in a little bit of a waterfall. A couple interceptions were tipped balls. It wasn't his fault. They were tipped like a volleyball. We got aggressive before the half. We did it a week ago, and we were successful with it. We went for it this week, and we were not successful with it."
Bringing in Wade moved the football enough so the quarterback room can review what worked (and what didn't work) in the film room. During the preseason, both Brown and Wade worked with one another to improve the other. If Brown did something well, the film room shared that information with Wade and vice-versa. Communication between the two improved the overall position. That didn't end with NIU, and it'll continue this week coming out of a loss.
"It's a matter of a young guy where it's rolling down on him a little bit, so you give him a breath," Addazio said. "We hung with (Wake Forest), came back with them in the second half. We made some plays but got a little flustered. So we wanted (Anthony) to have a breath, take a breath."
Brown had positives on Saturday but saw the game slip away because of miscues from the entire offense. With a talented team continuing to grow, that will happen, especially early in the season. Providing areas to improve, it falls to the coaching staff and team leaders to rally and improve into the next week.
"In college football, you're going to have your bad days," defensive end Harold Landry said. "You're going to have your good days. Today just happened to be a bad day. (Anthony) knows that. He knows we're behind him. We've just got to get back to work tomorrow."
*****
Second Down: The Road Continues
The mistakes overshadow an otherwise decent day on offense. BC amassed 305 yards of offense behind a balanced attack running 82 plays. Balanced at 41 plays apiece for the rush and pass, the Eagles averaged under 20 seconds per play in continuing an up-tempo attack that was at times good.
BC rushed for 142 yards, once again juggling outside stretch plays opposite interior drives. A.J. Dillon ran 15 times, while Thadd Smith gained 46 yards on five runs outside. Travis Levy saw his first action, gaining 19 yards on a single run, while Davon Jones got into the action with a 20-yard run of his own.
"There was some traction," Addazio said. "It was intermittent. I thought Jon (Hilliman) had a couple of runs, and AJ (Dillon) had a couple runs. They all had a few runs. At times it looked pretty good."
This was the first game the Eagles played without Jon Baker on the offensive line. With Baker sidelined for the season, BC turned to Ben Petrula, a 6-foot-6-inch true freshman, at the position. Though Petrula had the bad snap early, he settled in shortly thereafter and began the process of refining and absorbing as the game went on.
"Ben's a little bit bigger, a little more physical (on the line)," Addazio said. "We know that we'd have to buy a little time with him, beef him up, get him a little bigger in there. We really feel like Ben is going to be our sixth man, and he did a fabulous job in practice. He really did. I thought he did a good job today."
With a true freshman guard-turned-center, there will be growing pains, but Petrula has the talent and ability to help the offensive line at the position. Recruited as a guard, this was his first game snapping, so look for the exchange to quarterback to become cleaner as the season continues.
"I can't do anything about it but let it grow, let it develop, let it soak," Addazio said. "I'm proud of that guy, proud of what he got done today. It's a tough, tough deal for a young guy, but he handled it with a lot of maturity. He'll get better."
*****
Third Down: Wake Forest
Saturday was a good mental win for a Wake Forest team who didn't learn a whole lot from its opening game win over Presbyterian. For head coach Dave Clawson, it's an important first step emphasizing both how tough it is to win in conference and the slim margin for error between winning and losing.
"Every league game is huge so it's kind of nice (to beat a team of BC's caliber)," Clawson said. "We don't play another ACC game for three or four weeks. So at least for a while we'll be near the top (of the standings). The goal is to try and stay there longer."
Without the turnovers, Clawson understood the game could've looked different. It didn't underscore the work needed to win the game or how hard future teams will need to work in competing with BC.
"We have a lot of respect for BC," he said. "They're a very physical football team, and I just think the big difference is we took care of the football. We created turnovers. We capitalized off turnovers. We had enough of a balance on offense. I think (we) had great effort today. In our mind, we beat a pretty good football team on the road."
*****
Fourth Down: The Next Step
The road ahead isn't any easier for the Eagles; next Saturday renews the Holy War when Notre Dame comes to Chestnut Hill for the first time since 2012.
BC is the first road game for the Fighting Irish, who lost to Georgia, 20-19, following a late Bulldog field goal. At 1-1 on the year, it becomes a huge game early in the season between two passionate rivals.
"What's in front of us is being as good a football team as we can be next Saturday at noon, and that's what we're going to go after," Addazio said. "That's all I really care about right now. I'm very, very excited about our guys. I know the ability that's there, and I just want to keep racing with it and go."
It's going to be an intense atmosphere for Boston College and Notre Dame fans alike. For BC, it's a chance to turn the page. For the Fighting Irish, it's a chance to rebound after a loss in a week where they returned to the national rankings.
"I love (our team's) attitude," he said. "I love their mentality. They took that (loss). They're deeply disappointed. They took that thing and they can see the upside, and we're in a race to get there as fast as we can get there."
*****
Point After: Defensive Line
Harold Landy had five tackles on the season while also recording his first sack of 2017. Now at 22 career sacks, he sits two behind Mike Mamula for second all-time in program history. Mathias Kiwanuka holds the record with 37.5 quarterback takedowns.
"We're trying to get (Harold) enough rest so he can be fresh and be a dominant player on third down for us," Addazio said. "That's what most people do when they have those kinds of guys. We're trying to do the best we can to make sure we have a guy that's not blown out by the time we get to the fourth quarter and will have a fastball pitch when it comes to get after the quarterback."
Keeping Landry fresh is an easy call with a defense capable of filling in seamlessly. Ray Smith had nine tackles yesterday, while Wyatt Ray registered six. Linebacker Max Richardson joined the fray as well, recording six tackles and a sack.
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