Four Downs: Clemson

Photo by: Todd Drexler

September 24, 2017 | Football, #ForBoston Files

A grinding battle got away late in the fourth as the No. 2 Tigers defeated the Eagles

By: Dan Rubin, BCEagles.com contributor

Heading into Saturday afternoon, virtually nobody gave Boston College any kind of shot at winning. Underdogs by over 30 points against the No. 2 team in the nation, the question wasn't if the Eagles would lose but rather how many points the deficit would become.

The story within Memorial Stadium, however, became profoundly different. It's true the Eagles lost 34-7, but they played Clemson tough through a back-and-forth, 7-7 grind. And though the score slipped away, the Eagles showed what happens when a team plays with pride.

"We were definitely tested today, but every game has four quarters," Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant said. "We knew this game was going to be a physical game, and we just had to stick together. It wasn't pretty at first, but in the fourth quarter, we got it going."

The game became a grind thanks to the Boston College defense. Knowing the Eagles struggled last week against a mobile quarterback, Clemson let Bryant control the offense through both the air and ground. He was involved in over half of his unit's 41 plays prior to halftime found himself largely halted against the defense.

"That is a tough defense, and you have to give credit to Boston College," Bryant said. "They played with all they had. It took us a little time to get it going, but when we needed it, we got it. We had a bunch of guys come off the sideline and contribute."

Bryant gained 79 yards on 13 carries in the first half, but he only threw for 67 yards. He was 10-for-15, but five of those completions went to Hunter Renfrow. One of those completions was for 25 yards, meaning BC's defense kept him in check to the tune of 4.6 yards per completion.

The score got away from the Eagles in the fourth quarter, but there's nothing to hang their heads about. They took their pride on the road, and they displayed it before the Clemson faithful in Death Valley. Moving forward, with plenty of football left to play, there's plenty to build on as the season's grind continues to chop away.

"Our kids played their tails off," head coach Steve Addazio said. "That's the storyline of the game. I thought we went after them with everything we had. I thought we made plays on offense, we made plays on defense, and I'm proud of the way our kids fought and battled against this team. This team (is) one of the best, if not the best team and one of the best, if not the best, defenses in the country. And we had them nose-to-nose."

*****
First Down: Boston College's defense

Following last week's loss to Notre Dame, Steve Addazio identified two main areas to improve along his defensive unit. Because Notre Dame never physically controlled the line of scrimmage, fixing the scheme through preparation would repair that issue. And if they could control the line of scrimmage, it would open up the opportunities for the second level tacklers to stop plays.

On Saturday, BC succeeded in fixing those issues. Through three quarters, they held Clemson to under five yards per play with their leading tacklers all in the second level. Harold Landry led a disruptive defensive line, while the linebackers and defensive backs executed according to the scheme.

"Everybody wanted to go after (Clemson)," Addazio said. "The team came down here with an absolutely relentless attitude, and you could feel it."

Defensive backs Lukas Denis and Isaac Yiadom had monster games in the secondary. The Massachusetts natives combined for 21 tackles and two interceptions, with Denis recording nine solo tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. Yiadom added the other pick, returning it 21 yards, and he additionally broke up two passes while recording eight tackles, six solo.

At linebacker, Ty Schwab had 11 tackles and one-and-a-half sacks. Max Richardson assisted him, coming into his own with seven tackles before suffering an injury, and Kevin Bletzer recorded six tackles, defended two passes, forced a fumble and recorded the other side of Schwab's half-sack. The game got away after injuries took their toll, forcing inexperienced players like redshirt freshman John Lamot to see their first positional snaps in key spots against Clemson.

"A lot of guys played really well," Addazio said. "Our guys played well up front, but we've been playing well up front. Both sides of the ball, we're playing physical and playing well. We fit in our gaps a little bit better and got our guys in the right position. It was only at the end that we missed a couple of those, and we had a lot of different faces in there at that point."

*****
Second Down: Boston College's offense

There were moments on Saturday when Boston College's offense delivered clear blows to the Clemson defense. It hit for big plays, like an Anthony Brown 37-yard pass to Tommy Sweeney, a 33-yard completion to Jeff Smith and a fourth down conversion to Jon Hilliman. The running game rumbled for yards, capable of hitting for eight or nine yards.

But the offense didn't click with enough consistency to put more than seven points on the scoreboard. They failed to gain 300 yards for the first time this season, putting an emphasis on once again finding the next level of execution as they prepare for Central Michigan next weekend.

"They were hard, tough yards (against Clemson)," running back A.J. Dillon said. "Coach Addazio talks about how in the ACC, every team is always going to be a tough game. That's something as I start to play, I realize there's great competition on the field. You want to play against the best, and (Clemson) was a great opportunity to do that."

BC is proving they have the talent and the playmakers to compete at a high level. They're executing plays against some of the best defenses in the nation. It chunked yardage against an underrated Northern Illinois team and hit for 300-plus yards against a still-undefeated Wake Forest team. The Eagles rolled up 400 yards against a Notre Dame team that steamrolled Michigan State on Saturday.

They proved they could get to that next level of execution at times against Clemson. Hitting that fourth down conversion to Hilliman directly led to BC's touchdown, and it came against one of the most talented defenses in the country. The next step has to be about how to do that with more regularity as the season continues to progress.

"We set a goal to get better every week," Dillon said. "We attack that every week. The coaches have a great plan in place to get us to the performance level we want to be at. We're just going to keep chopping away, and I'm very optimistic about where this program is going to go."

Last week taught BC that responding to an opponent's surge is incredibly tough. They held Clemson from surging until late in the fourth, and it remains an area where the Eagles need to continue improving. BC was unable to sustain a drive after Clemson took a 14-7 lead, then went three-and-out after giving up a long touchdown run. Moving forward, there are lessons to learn about repetitive successes and making more good plays.

"I thought early in the game, when we recovered a fumble (on defense), we had a good first down play," Steve Addazio said. "Then on the next play we fumbled the snap and that hurt us a little bit. Later at the end, when we were in two-minute mode, we dropped a couple of balls that hurt us moving the chains. Other than that, within the body of the game, there were a lot of good plays."

*****
Third Down: Mike Knoll

Boston College planned to turn Saturday into a grind by dragging the game into the fourth quarter. In order to limit Clemson's opportunities, the Eagles had to force the Tigers to make long, drawn-out drives. That meant tilting field position.

Enter Mike Knoll. His job arguably became the most important since he would be required to pin the Tigers inside their own half of the field. He wound up doing precisely that, punting nine times with six placed inside the Clemson 20-yard line.

"Mike Knoll did a fabulous job for us," Addazio said. "We've been so good in coverage right now."

Clemson started two drives the entire first half from outside their 20. The Tigers started four times within their own 10, only scoring one touchdown by sustaining a 13-play, 94-yard drive that took six minutes off the clock.

The Tigers sustained three drives of six or seven plays, but because of field position, they never got over midfield. Two of those drives chewed three minutes off the clock. If BC gave Clemson the ball out by midfield, those become scoring drives. Instead, Knoll forced the Tigers to operate from low percentage areas of the field.

*****
Fourth Down: Clemson

Teams coming off of a national championship reload more than they rebuild. Though the defense did their best to hold the Tigers at bay, Clemson found another level within their game to eventually salt the score away to improve to 4-0.

"We're a team that's 4-0 and we're learning more about our team every week," Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. "We're battle-tested, and we had our nose bloodied today, but at the end of the day, we came away with the win. This game was a challenge, but it's going to make us better."

True freshman Travis Etienne stood out in particular thanks to his game-changing speed. When he gets into the open, he has a second gear that's almost impossible to stop. Last week, he scored an 81-yard touchdown run against Louisville; against the Eagles, his 50-yard yard sprint gave the Tigers an insurance touchdown. Later, he rushed for 41 yards, taking a 10-yard sweep around the left end for one final late score.

"A guy like that...you give him the ball, and he just runs like his head is on fire," Kelly Bryant said. "It's fun to watch him get into space and run like that. We see it every day in practice, but in a game where the passing game isn't clicking, it's huge to have him on your team."

*****
Point After: Central Michigan

The Chippewas lost a 31-14 decision at home against Miami University, but they only surrendered three points in the second half after giving up 28 first half points. CMU had two key interceptions called back, including a pick six, due to penalties.

One of the penalties led to the Redhawks scoring a touchdown, meaning that the score could have potentially become 28-24 in favor of CMU. Learning from their razor-thin margin of error, they now come to Chestnut Hill on Saturday.

For BC, there is work left to be done, starting with roster numbers. Already without Jon Baker and Connor Strachan, the Eagles announced a foot injury to Charlie Callinan before the game. During the game, both Max Richardson and Aaron Monteiro were banged up. That forced inexperienced players like redshirt freshman John Lamot into his first career linebacker snaps in big spots.

"We're very concerned right now with the amount of injuries we have and what we just took in this game," Addazio said. "I don't know the extent of them yet, but we're just losing an incredible amount of starters right now. That's a big concern that I have, and I just have to get my arms around where we are. It seems like every week; we have to restart something. I just have to figure out the extent of these things and where we are right now."