Boston College Athletics
Week Two Providing Singular Focus for Holy Cross
September 05, 2018 | Football, #ForBoston Files
The goal for this week is to improve to 2-0
The college football world continued to take stock of Boston College this week following the Eagles' 55-21 dominating win over UMass last Saturday. The team moved to the cusp of the Associated Press Top 25, and it continued to earn votes in the Amway Coaches Poll. Chris Lindstrom earned the first individual honor after the ACC named him Co-Offensive Lineman of the Week.
It remains business as usual, however, in the locker room, where the team is continuing a singular focus to improve its record.
"We're excited to get going in week two with a chance to bring our team to 2-0," head coach Steve Addazio said. "I felt that our team improved in the areas that we really wanted to improve upon, and we want to continue to do that this week. I thought we played with effort, toughness and great demeanor on the field (against UMass)."
BC will play Holy Cross on Saturday in the renewal of a historic rivalry dating back to 1896. It's the first time the Eagles will play the Crusaders in football since 1986, but it marks the 83rd meeting, most among all opponents in BC program history.
"We've got to get our game plan solidified here for Holy Cross," Addazio said. "I think it's important that we're playing a traditional rival game. We're playing a really good football program. We need to get better. We need to improve. There's areas we need to focus on. Players and coaches all have to be focused right now on Holy Cross. It's all hands on deck."
Holy Cross opened its season this past weekend with a 24-17 road loss to Colgate. The Raiders jumped out to a 24-0 lead at halftime in that game before the Crusaders mounted a second-half and fourth-quarter comeback. Trailing 24-3 after three, Domenic Cozier scored two touchdowns, including one on a 41-yard pass from Emmett Clifford, as the rally fell just short.
The score indicated how the game went over the two halves. Colgate controlled the clock in the first two quarters to the tune of 20 minutes. Holy Cross committed three turnovers, including a fumble scoop-and-score on its first possession. The Raiders rattled off two drives of more than 10 plays that both lasted six minutes or more, and both ended in points on the board.
But the second half went markedly different. Holy Cross controlled the clock and sustained a couple of drives against the Raiders. The Crusaders scored their final touchdown on a 14-play drive that went for 69 yards and over four minutes of clock time. The score pulled them within a touchdown with seven minutes left, but they never got the ball back after Colgate ran a 13-play drive to end the game.
BC enters Saturday with a distinct size advantage over the Crusaders. The Eagles' offensive linemen average more than three inches of height and approximately 50 pounds more than the Holy Cross defensive front four, meaning quarterback Anthony Brown should receive enough protection to continue working with his receivers after throwing for 279 yards and four touchdowns in the first half last week.
"We were all on the same page (against UMass)," he said. "The fact of the matter now is that we have to make sure we stay that way and execute. We have to stay composed and who we are and keep playing."
"We're looking for big technique jumps," Chris Lindstrom said. "We had a clean week (against UMass), but we have to apply our technique. We have some things to clean up, including myself, where I have to keep working on my pulls and stuff like that."
The Crusaders will counter with a three-pronged approach spearheaded by quarterback Emmett Clifford. They finished Saturday with both Miles Alexander and Domenic Cozier averaging over four yards per carry, led by Alexander's 95 yards. Cozier had five receptions highlighted by the 41-yard touchdown, and Martin Dorsey added four catches of his own.
It was the debut performance for head coach Bob Chesney, who has been leading local area teams since the start of the decade. He spent three years building Salve Regina into a nationally-ranked team, leading the Seahawks to the final New England Football Conference Championship game in 2012.
He moved to the Northeast-10 Conference in Division II the next year as head coach of Assumption, and he built the Greyhounds into a championship team within three years. They went to three straight NCAA Division II Football Championships, advancing to the quarterfinals last year and finishing ranked No. 9 in the national poll. In December, Holy Cross named him the 28th head coach in program history.
"I've had a chance to interact with Bob Chesney, and I think he is just a really classy guy," Addazio said. "He did an unbelievable job at Assumption, and I think he is a heck of a football coach. I know that he will have his team prepared. We're looking forward towards that match-up on Saturday."
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It remains business as usual, however, in the locker room, where the team is continuing a singular focus to improve its record.
"We're excited to get going in week two with a chance to bring our team to 2-0," head coach Steve Addazio said. "I felt that our team improved in the areas that we really wanted to improve upon, and we want to continue to do that this week. I thought we played with effort, toughness and great demeanor on the field (against UMass)."
BC will play Holy Cross on Saturday in the renewal of a historic rivalry dating back to 1896. It's the first time the Eagles will play the Crusaders in football since 1986, but it marks the 83rd meeting, most among all opponents in BC program history.
"We've got to get our game plan solidified here for Holy Cross," Addazio said. "I think it's important that we're playing a traditional rival game. We're playing a really good football program. We need to get better. We need to improve. There's areas we need to focus on. Players and coaches all have to be focused right now on Holy Cross. It's all hands on deck."
Holy Cross opened its season this past weekend with a 24-17 road loss to Colgate. The Raiders jumped out to a 24-0 lead at halftime in that game before the Crusaders mounted a second-half and fourth-quarter comeback. Trailing 24-3 after three, Domenic Cozier scored two touchdowns, including one on a 41-yard pass from Emmett Clifford, as the rally fell just short.
The score indicated how the game went over the two halves. Colgate controlled the clock in the first two quarters to the tune of 20 minutes. Holy Cross committed three turnovers, including a fumble scoop-and-score on its first possession. The Raiders rattled off two drives of more than 10 plays that both lasted six minutes or more, and both ended in points on the board.
But the second half went markedly different. Holy Cross controlled the clock and sustained a couple of drives against the Raiders. The Crusaders scored their final touchdown on a 14-play drive that went for 69 yards and over four minutes of clock time. The score pulled them within a touchdown with seven minutes left, but they never got the ball back after Colgate ran a 13-play drive to end the game.
BC enters Saturday with a distinct size advantage over the Crusaders. The Eagles' offensive linemen average more than three inches of height and approximately 50 pounds more than the Holy Cross defensive front four, meaning quarterback Anthony Brown should receive enough protection to continue working with his receivers after throwing for 279 yards and four touchdowns in the first half last week.
"We were all on the same page (against UMass)," he said. "The fact of the matter now is that we have to make sure we stay that way and execute. We have to stay composed and who we are and keep playing."
"We're looking for big technique jumps," Chris Lindstrom said. "We had a clean week (against UMass), but we have to apply our technique. We have some things to clean up, including myself, where I have to keep working on my pulls and stuff like that."
The Crusaders will counter with a three-pronged approach spearheaded by quarterback Emmett Clifford. They finished Saturday with both Miles Alexander and Domenic Cozier averaging over four yards per carry, led by Alexander's 95 yards. Cozier had five receptions highlighted by the 41-yard touchdown, and Martin Dorsey added four catches of his own.
It was the debut performance for head coach Bob Chesney, who has been leading local area teams since the start of the decade. He spent three years building Salve Regina into a nationally-ranked team, leading the Seahawks to the final New England Football Conference Championship game in 2012.
He moved to the Northeast-10 Conference in Division II the next year as head coach of Assumption, and he built the Greyhounds into a championship team within three years. They went to three straight NCAA Division II Football Championships, advancing to the quarterfinals last year and finishing ranked No. 9 in the national poll. In December, Holy Cross named him the 28th head coach in program history.
"I've had a chance to interact with Bob Chesney, and I think he is just a really classy guy," Addazio said. "He did an unbelievable job at Assumption, and I think he is a heck of a football coach. I know that he will have his team prepared. We're looking forward towards that match-up on Saturday."
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