The Tailgate: Virginia

Daveon Crouch is the exact type of player that checked plenty of boxes for the Boston College football program. The tackle machine led the Wharton Wildcats to Florida's state class 8A tournament before making his way north to develop his skill set within the team's overall defensive scheme, and the way he moved from a special teams player to a second team squad member offered a pipeline to a starting role for his third season in the system. As a linebacker, he represented the next diamond-in-the-rough three-star recruit, and his possible breakthrough linked him to the profiles of players who moved through similar paths before heading into the professional ranks.

Yet in August, 2021, Crouch proved exactly why he might have been one of the best representatives for Boston College's greater mission when circumstances beyond his control called him for a greater moment after a fellow student became unresponsive while walking along the Wharton High School campus. Other students - too many - passed or walked away, but Crouch - a player nicknamed "Bam" by his family - sprung into action because it was simply the right thing to do.

"It was an afternoon class," Crouch recalled, "and as I was walking by, another student just passed out in front of me and had a complete seizure. As a lot of students walked past, I stopped and asked if he was okay, and I started getting students to get help and things like that."

Crouch's efforts flagged school nurse Alicia Robertson and school resource deputy William Mellana, who in turn helped stabilize the student ahead of EMS's eventual arrival by utilizing CPR and a defibrillator, the entire episode being recorded on Mellana's body camera.

"The body cam shows the whole incident," Crouch said, "and I later got the news that if [they didn't act] right then, the student might have passed. So it wound up being a good thing for us to help. I'm glad I was able to help because it also was able to show the type of person I am."

Both Crouch and Deputy Mellana later received awards for their heroism, after which the Wharton senior graduated and matriculated to Boston College, a school known for its dedication in service to others. Three years later, Crouch finds himself on the field as a starting linebacker for the team's defensive unit, but the memory and story embodies how one person can make a difference by simply doing the right thing.

Here's what to watch for when Boston College plays Virginia on Saturday afternoon:

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Game Storylines (Stuart Scott Edition)

Like gravy on a biscuit, it's all good.

College football's October month compares perfectly to the Saturday third round of the Masters. Commonly referenced as "Moving Day," it's the time when golf contenders begin their move towards the top of the leaderboard ahead of the final round's championship push. They've all survived the first two rounds, and the ones that shanked too many approach shots or missed one too many putts are forced to watch others battle for the crown because of those early missteps.

It's the most exciting time in any college football season because the only teams without a chance at a conference tournament are the ones that truly misfired in the first month. Teams like Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Texas and Ohio State all held serve much like the Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy class of elite golfers, and outside unknowns like Indiana, Iowa State, UNLV, Utah and Kansas State all lurk behind their top-ranked tier. Frisky options like BC still hold their own chances at a fourth round run, but everyone understands that their work requires them to upset and take advantage if anyone misses a bunker wedge on hole No. 7.

"We have to approach every game in the same way," said head coach Bill O'Brien of BC's ACC championship chances. "It's a very business-like approach. We have to understand that it's going to take everything we have to be able to play with and beat Virginia. Virginia is a very good team. They're 3-1 and coming off of a bye, so they're a well-rested team [while] we're coming off of a hard-fought game. We've got to catch up this week."

Last year's five-game winning streak and undefeated October memorably set the Eagles onto the so-called "path" that led them to within striking distance of the ACC Championship race. The 2021 team, however, opened its season with a 4-0 record before losing four straight games and bowing out of the Atlantic Division race before November ever crested on the calendar's horizon. In both examples, September felt like a lifetime removed from the end of October, and what happened during the month's "moving day" mentality established the importance of November games - a callback to the idea that every game is critical and no game is any more or less important than the one ahead of it.

"[Virginia] is a very-well coached team," O'Brien said. "Coach Elliott does a great job. He's done a great job wherever he's been. They're tough. They're tough in all three phases, a very difficult team to stop with our defense against their offense and a very difficult team to go against for our offense against their defense. It's going to be a big challenge."

See, what had happened was…

It's not rocket science to determine how Virginia earned its three wins when its offense scored 108 points across the Richmond, Wake Forest and Coastal Carolina games while only scoring 13 points in the loss to Maryland, but how the Cavaliers notched their points is just as important as determining whether or not they actually scored against those four teams. In the first two games of the season, multiple drives sustained long yardage over three minutes' worth of game time while the Maryland game failed to produce more than a field goal on a 77-yard drive lasting longer than five minutes. The three goal line series producing little more than 10 points and a lost fumble against the Terps compared poorly to the 21 points and a kneel-down from the Wahoos' last game against Coastal, and getting shut out by a 20-0 margin in second half of the Maryland game tilted numbers against UVa ahead of a matchup with a BC team that simply hasn't surrendered points in the third or fourth quarter.

"These guys, the coaches and players, have made adjustments at halftime," said O'Brien of his team's success. "The thing is, it goes back to needing to start better. We've been behind at the half quite a bit and would like to try to get off to a better start, but give credit to our coaches and players for adjusting at halftime."

Playin' his enemies like a game of chess.

Getting out to that fast start requires BC to avoid falling behind quarterback Anthony Colandrea's ability to produce high percentages in the Virginia passing game. The true sophomore is a centerpiece with dual-threat capability in the running game, but he shredded Richmond and Wake Forest for 75 percent of his throws in each of the first two weeks of the season. He more specifically threw for 375 games in the win over the Demon Deacons with three touchdowns, and while he threw two interceptions, his dueling 24-yard touchdown passes in the second and fourth quarters kept the 'Hoos within a one-touchdown deficit that they eventually overcame.

"He has a strong arm," said O'Brien. "I can see why he's [at Virginia] and starting at quarterback because he runs the show. Everything centers around him. He's got really good running ability and escapability. They have a lot of quarterback runs. This will be a very difficult offense to defend."

Like Caden Veltkamp from last week, Virginia built its offense around the quarterback's ability to move the football within a scheme that incorporates multiple weapons operating in multiple formations. Both Xavier Brown and Kobe Pace are threats to run and catch out of the backfield, and wide receivers Malachi Fields and Chris Tyree flank Tyler Neville's breakout from long catches. Including Trell Harris, who missed the Coastal game with an injury, Virginia can throw to any one of three different regular receivers with a per-play average over 10 yards with a separate ability to average anywhere from five to nine yards per carry.

"They have two really good backs that are really different players," O'Brien noted, "and they have three wide receivers that I think are really, really good. Then they have a tight end that's excellent, and their offensive line has a center that's one of the best centers in the conference. It's going to be a big challenge for us."

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Question Box

What's the word on Thomas Castellanos?

The lone nugget early in the week pertaining to quarterback Thomas Castellanos indicated that he was improving after missing last week's game against Western Kentucky with an injury. Coach O'Brien did tell the Greg Hill Show on his Thursday morning call-in on WEEI that Castellanos is ready to play on Saturday, a message that reflected in a tweet from ESPN's Pete Thamel later in the day.

It should also be noted that O'Brien has pointed to BC having two capable players that can and will be leaned on to win games this season. The 168-yard performance by the backup quarterback silenced the debate about which quarterback - a healthy James or a banged-up Castellanos - needed to work on primary snaps. Both quarterbacks hold full trust within this program, and either player is more than capable of executing a game plan designed for a defense with multiple fronts and coverages.

How many different fronts does Virginia use?

Speaking of that versatility, Virginia arguably holds one of the most nonconformist schemes of any opponent on the Boston College schedule. Several different hybrid positions dot a depth chart that refuses to restrict players to their individual positions, which highlights BC's need to understand how the coverages attack from different areas and regions on the field.

Pay close attention to Chico Bennett and Corey Thomas within the defensive alignment or coverages because both play positions that aren't clearly defined by their spot on the field. Bennett, the "bandit," is a six-foot, four-inch, 262-pound defensive end who plays a stand-up style ahead of his pass rush, but playing away from the line or in a position resembling a linebacker allows him to shade into coverage while other positions blitz the quarterback while Thomas, the "spur" plays a similar hybrid style in the defensive backfield. His linebacker-safety model allows him to avoid piling tackle numbers in lieu of wiping out coverages, so rotating players through motion, option routes, and presnap reads are critical to beating the Virginia defense with BC's overall intelligence.

How do I balance watching college football against the baseball playoffs and the start of college hockey season?

Noon kickoff means the kids wake up from their nap in time for the fourth quarter. I personally can't wait to watch the last few minutes on a laptop in my garage while my kids demand Cocomelon or Bluey.

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Meteorology 101

I came up with a theory that Virginia weather was like Massachusetts weather if Massachusetts could rewind the clock by a month. Its general location in the Mid-Atlantic requires it to enjoy some type of winter platitude while summertime and spring generally lasts longer than the one month of decent weather sitting ahead of the miserable Boston winter.

Sure enough, Saturday's game should feel plenty like an early September day in Boston. Temperatures should hit the high 70s during the afternoon kickoff as sunshine drenches Charlottesville through partly cloudy skies before the night dips into the high 50s after the Eagles board their flight to return home. Humidity is a factor, which is to say it exists, but the swampy conditions in Tallahassee were likely much worse.

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BC-Virginia X Factor

When you don't feel good and you still get hits, that's when you know you're a bad man. - Manny Ramirez

Running back Kye Robichaux returned to the Boston College lineup last week after missing the Michigan State game by pummeling his former teammates at Western Kentucky to the tune of 81 yards on 18 carries. He averaged just under five yards per carry for the third time this season while blasting a red zone touchdown that halved the Hilltoppers' first half lead in the late stages of the second quarter.

Yet despite the grind-it-out nature of the power backs, Robichaux felt more like the missing link than the numbers indicated. Even without the Red Bandana Game, the former fourth-string running back enters this week second on the team with 202 rushing yards, and his three total touchdowns are nearly equal to the two rushing touchdowns and two receiving scores by stablemate Treshaun Ward.

"It felt great to be back," said the burly, 215-pound running back. "As anybody that loves football would say, you don't want to miss any games."

Regaining a healthy Robichaux makes all the more difference against a defense known for its ability to disrupt different gaps with off-balance rushes and disguised coverages. For one of the first times this season, center Drew Kendall is expected to face a nose tackle, which in turn translates to a blocking scheme designed to help on the center instead of the center helping the guards. From a gap standpoint, the holes in and around the off-guard locations then shift further inward, which means a back like Robichaux is almost more necessary to finding those regions between to slip into the second level. Gaining that yardage between those scrums would then open up opportunities for Ward and Turbo Richard, both of which utilize smaller and speedier frames either around the outside or lower than pad level.

"Turbo's going to be a good one," Robichaux laughed. "He works hard in practice. He studies the playbook, comes [into practice] and gets his extra work. I feel like he's going to be one of the next big, great Boston College running backs."\
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Dan's Non-Football Observation of the Week

My obsession with baseball largely stems from my days spent studying the differences in pitchers, but learning about how hitters approached different types of throwers led me to several different players who had these obsessive competitive streaks running through their veins. As a Red Sox fan in the 2000s, I learned and admittedly fell in love with watching Paul O'Neill after I heard about how he destroyed bats and a locker after every loss because he wanted to go 162-0, and I separately watched hitters batting sixth and seventh in the Red Sox - players like Kevin Millar and Trot Nixon - battle through superior pitchers because they refused to walk back into their dugout.

Finding those hitters who loved getting dirty led me to a natural conversation about Pete Rose as part of that learning curve, and I spent decades watching highlights while reviewing the statistics of a player who was borderline obsessive about competing for every inch of the diamond. He ran out groundballs like his life depended on it, but he finished his career as baseball's hit king because he maintained his skills or compensated with a keen eye for the game itself.

Rose admittedly couldn't overcome his many, many, many, many, many personal flaws, but his excellence in hitting is a constant topic among my collection of seamheads. Even after his death this past week, I couldn't help but feel romantic about his style of play and the success associated with his on-field prowess.

I don't know if Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame, but I know I could spend three hours on a road trip talking about his merits as a ballplayer. He's one of the best hitters that ever lived and a player every bit on par with Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle and the others enshrined in Cooperstown, but his personal demons rank even deeper than Shoeless Joe Jackson and the 1919 Chicago White Sox.

As a hitter and a player, I'd always want nine Pete Rose-type players on my team because they'd run through the fires of hell to ensure they'd keep winning. His legacy is whatever is written about him, but there's no questioning that baseball lost one of its cockiest, most brash personalities - and one of the greatest players that ever walked the planet.

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Pregame Quote and Prediction

Somebody's gotta win, and somebody's gotta lose, and I believe in letting the other guy lose. -Pete Rose

Bill O'Brien started this week with questions about Boston College's ability to generate hotter starts from a football team that used two second half comebacks to topple Michigan State and Western Kentucky. I guess I'm going to operate differently and look at the four-quarter output. I know the team wants to start better, but as long as it's scoring more points than the other guy, it won't matter to me how it happens. It doesn't matter if you win by one or 100, as long as you win, and for that matter, a road trip to Charlottesville is about as tough as it gets as ACC play gets underway in earnest.

Boston College takes on Virginia on Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia. Kick-off is scheduled for noon with television coverage set for the ACC Network and online streaming through the ESPN family of Internet and mobile device apps for cable subscribers with access to the channel. Once again, ESPN's Jorge Sedano will handle play-by-duties with Orlando Franklin on color commentary and Morgan Uber on the sidelines.

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Players Mentioned

Daveon Crouch

Drew Kendall

Turbo Richard

Kye Robichaux

Treshaun Ward