Four Downs: Richmond

There was an undeniable air of confidence surrounding Boston College as fans filed into Alumni Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles were about to kick off against Richmond, and the people arriving couldn't help but let themselves dream about a potentially-dominant FBS win over an FCS opponent.

Six plays into the game, Zay Flowers started turning those fantasies into reality. The rookie speedster turned a jet sweep into a 46-yard turbo touchdown, burning by the Spider defense to give BC a 7-0 lead. It was part of a three-touchdown first quarter that pushed the Eagles well away from the visitors' upset bid in a 45-13 victory.

"(We) feel great about the fact that we're 2-0," head coach Steve Addazio said. "Some good things happened today. We came out fast on offense. We scored a bunch of points and had a bunch of offense in the first two weeks, which is a good thing."

It began a relentless march through a thoroughly-dominant first half. BC scored five touchdowns with five completely different methods. The Eagles posted 227 yards in the first quarter before hitting two long touchdown passes in the second. It included a 42-yard catch-and-run by Dillon and a 55-yard reception by Jake Burt without a defender within five yards.

"We're just really good right now at putting different pieces of the puzzle all over," tight end Jake Burt said. "(We're) keeping the ball spread out, keeping our run game proficient, and that's been the key for us. It's hard to game plan for any one person when you play us."

It wasn't perfect at times, but it was exactly what BC needed after an emotional win last weekend. Most importantly, though, it was a second win in 2019. It allowed the team to begin turning the page to Kansas before the final whistle, and it was simply a good day on the Heights.

Here's what else can be learned from Saturday's victory:

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First Down: Call Mr. Plow, That's My Name. That name again is Mr. Plow

Boston College cemented the win by simply dominating the point of attack with 346 yards rushing. Bailey and Dillon combined for 30 carries and 185 yards, and Flowers added 92 yards on three carries. Travis Levy added 20 yards on five carries, and Patrick Garwo had the first six carries of his career in the second half.

"I actually thought it would be best for our team if we had some long, slow drives," Steve Addazio said. "(That) isn't really how we want to play, but I thought in that situation, it was warranted. It didn't always work out that way, so we kind of shifted into that."

It was a direct result of the time allotted to make play calls. BC came out in its usual tempo offense, but gradually transitioned to concentrating on longer, sustained attacks. The 35-point first half came on just under 12 minutes of possession time, so the offense used the third quarter to ground out the Spiders.

"I actually said before we started the game (to) play wide open and do our thing," Addazio said. "When I saw what was going on a little bit defensively there, I think the best thing you can do to help your defense is give them a chance to regroup a little bit sometimes. So I started to become conscious of that, to be honest with you."

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Second Down: RPOkay, it's pretty good.

"What happened to the defense" was Richmond's Run-Pass Option offense. The Spiders successfully chewed the clock on a number of drives and finished the first half with over 17 minutes of possession. The first drive set a particular tone when Joe Mancuso and Xavier Goodall chunked the BC defense for 30 yards of explosive plays.

The drive stalled out when Joey Luchetti blew up a screen pass in the backfield, setting a trend where explosive defensive plays and discipline issues compensated for offensive success. Goodall ran for 18 yards late in the first quarter, but the drive ended when Nolan Borgersen intercepted a pass at midfield.

The one time Richmond didn't run into issues, it scored when Mancuso went 75 yards in seven plays with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Fuller. It almost hit a second big play over the middle to Ryan Coll in the second quarter, but Coll dropped a wide open pass; it wound up not mattering because of an ineligible man downfield penalty.

"I thought defensively, we tightened up a little bit in the second half," Steve Addazio said. "I thought, in the first half, we had some things we had to kind of really get corrected, but there were some big plays on defense as well with the interceptions."

It was a perfect combination to at least push BC. Richmond's RPO offense isn't like anything the Eagles will see this season, and it combined with a natural comedown from the Virginia Tech game to generate some big plays. The unit overcame them to commit two interceptions, its tenth straight game with at least one pick. So there's a feeling of satisfaction tinged with the knowledge that things will clean up this week.

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Halftime Hits

-I'm not becoming a meteorologist anytime soon. I woke up to blustery winds and cloudy skies from Hurricane Dorian's overnight pass. That led me to fire off several text messages regarding pants and extra shirts. It was 70 and sunny at kickoff.

-There were some real instant classics this weekend. Army-Michigan went two extra sessions before the No. 6 Wolverines beat the Black Knights, 24-21, but No. 25 Nebraska lost to Colorado, 34-31, on the road. BYU went into Rocky Top and beat Tennessee in double-OT. No. 24 Boise State survived a scare against Marshall, 14-7.

-In the ACC, Louisiana-Monroe shocked Florida State before the Seminoles rallied to win in overtime, but Syracuse surrendered 63 points to Maryland. Those indicate that the ACC Atlantic Division, save for perhaps Clemson, is wide open again, and prognostications about what could happen in November need to first clear September. I talk about it every year: there's no way to predict the end of the season from August, no matter how hard everyone tries.

-Leave it to the New England Patriots to send a buzz through Alumni Stadium. Also, welcome to Boston, Antonio Brown.

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Third Down: Always Look On The (Mr.) Brightside

There's no questioning that the "FCS game" lacks the same panache or flair as an ACC opponent. BC is 27-1 since the NCAA split Division I into two subdivisions, and the Eagles are undefeated since losing their first "split game" against UMass back in 1978. The Eagles attacked this week in preparation, but there's no real way for Richmond to match the drama and pageantry of playing Florida State or Clemson.

The game's appeal then relies strictly on BC's ability to generate interest. Saturday was a resounding success in that regard, then, because 30,000 football fans filed into Alumni Stadium, packing the lower bowl and upper sidelines to support the Eagles.

"I really want to thank the fans for coming out," Steve Addazio said. "(They) did a great job for us. I really appreciate our administration working hard on a great gameday atmosphere. That was important. And our players really appreciate that as well."

I know it goes without saying, but fans have a way of altering a home field advantage. Alumni Stadium isn't the same size as FSU or Clemson, but 30,000 fans in that stadium can wreak havoc on an opponent. It's smaller than those places, and it feels even tinier because the bleacher construction puts fans right on top of the action.

The fans turning out for a game against Richmond makes me wonder aloud what the atmosphere will be like on Friday night before a national television audience. It also makes me wonder what can happen later in the season if BC finds itself hosting Florida State with season aspirations hanging in the balance.

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Fourth Down: Nah, we're good.

The coaching staff made a conscious decision not to feature certain elements of its game plan on Saturday, choosing instead to limit the amount of preparatory film is available for Kansas this week. As a result, Anthony Brown didn't scramble or move as often as he did against Virginia Tech, and BC opted against using trick plays or double options out of the jet sweep or multi-back backfields.

"There's a lot of stuff that we intentionally didn't really want to do in this game," Steve Addazio said. "We have another piece of our game, both in the throw game and really in the option game that wasn't necessary. We didn't want to run Anthony Brown. We felt really good about handing the ball off to our tailbacks."

The stripped-down BC offense still featured a couple of different parts, especially with Dillon catching a pass out of the backfield. He also blocked out of two-back sets for Bailey and Levy as a change, but that's more of an experimental type of play than it is something that the Jayhawks can expect next weekend.

"We practiced all week with a bunch of stuff with the intent that if we didn't need it, we wouldn't do it," Addazio said. "So we didn't (use it), and we got most of the guys off, probably, early in the third quarter. I'm hoping that we'll have a chance to be in good shape because Monday is our Tuesday. We kind of got to get going (on Kansas)."

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Point After: Kansas

Everything in the BC gameplan geared itself perfectly towards a readiness for next week. The Eagles play Kansas on Friday night, meaning everything is accelerated by a shortened day. Tuesday gameplan sessions are now on Monday, and it's one less day for players to heal bodies before a power conference opponent makes its arrival in Chestnut Hill.

"Sunday is kind of like a day off," Steve Addazio said. "It will be a little bit of mental work, but not a lot. Monday, we'll be right back at it. We've looked at all pieces of that right now. It's hard.

"I'm going to be real conscious of how many periods we have in practice because Monday, we're right back at it. We've talked about strength and conditioning, how much we want to do in the weight room this week."

The Jayhawks, meanwhile, will arrive at BC on the heels of a deflating loss to Coastal Carolina. Kansas' well-documented struggles to consistently win games aside, new head coach Les Miles is a proven winner from his time at LSU. He started on the right foot by beating Indiana State at home, but the loss on Saturday is stinging because it potentially tempers any excitement from that first game.

CJ Marable ran for 148 yards and a touchdown and had a separate 20-yard touchdown reception in the 12-7 loss to the Chanticleers. A road game at BC on a short week could make for an interesting bounceback opportunity for a team with nothing to lose and everything to prove.

"We'll watch tape (on Sunday) but won't go outside with (the players)," Addazio said. "The 'player day off' will be next Saturday that falls in our week so that we can come back in (the following) Monday."

BC and Kansas will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill. The game will be televised on ACC Network and can be heard on the BC Learfield IMG Sports Network. The ACC Network announced last week that Cox Communications is officially added to the list of television providers, so check www.getaccn.com to determine the updated list.

Players Mentioned

Nolan Borgersen

Anthony Brown

Jake Burt

Zay Flowers

Travis Levy

Joey Luchetti

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