Photo by: Jordan Arnold
The 2025 Boston College Football Preseason: The Turnover Machine
August 22, 2025 | Football, #ForBoston Files
BC drove its defense to a top-20 rating for the first time since 2018 by creating takeaways.
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Football changed considerably during the 2010s. The advent of the spread offense forever altered defensive lines of thinking as the pistol and short shotgun formations replaced the traditional under-center exchange, and nearly every position group changed its perception of size, speed, skill and situational awareness. Formations with empty backfields became more commonplace as multiple wide receivers shifted into quick motions and fast-paced attacks, to which running backs moved away from the burly bruisers that once pounded through three yards and a memorable cloud of dust.
Defenses were slow to react at the time. The traditional roster constructed four-man and five-man fronts under the notion of attacking the snap between the guards, so few teams pursued downfield coverages. The Seattle Seahawks' Legion of Boom helped accelerate the shift towards a secondary-based defense after Rex Ryan rebuilt the New York Jets around pressure and disruption, but it wasn't until the decade's latter years that the 3-3-5 "spread defense" installed more standard rover backs and nickelbacks.
At Boston College, the now-standard scheme attacks backfields with a vicious outside-in mentality that produced a three-year turnover turnaround. With the 2025 season almost a week away, a continued surge behind defensive coordinator Tim Lewis has the Eagles primed to build on their two-season jump from one of the worst turnover defenses in the nation, but staying atop the national rankings is just one of the reasons why success flows from this new line of thinking.
"Those guys in the defensive back room are amazing," said sophomore Omar Thornton. "It starts with the other safeties that everybody speaks about and continues with the ones that don't have that top-notch name yet. They're good, like Syair [Torrence] and the freshmen that came in. They're all good. That group is really good. We're going to be on the rise soon."
The 2022 season was one that most people around Alumni Stadium hoped to forget. The 3-9 record stood out like a sore thumb after six straight seasons at or above .500, and the 2.4 per-game average skewed BC into a turnover machine for opposing defenses. The Eagles averaged well over three giveaways over the final third of the season because they committed five follies in the snow-driven game at Notre Dame, and even the upset win over No. 16 NC State required four takeaways to overcompensate a three-interception performance by then-quarterback Emmett Morehead.
Unsurprisingly, even the most modest improvement in 2023 drove a three-win bump in the regular season. The defense didn't reinvent any wheels, so getting to the Fenway Bowl and winning a postseason game for the first time since 2016 pointed more towards a fixation with overcoming those offensive turnover issues that still existed. In the Virginia game, for example, a well-placed interception in the second half helped the Eagles turn a 21-17 deficit into a 24-21 advantage only after three first half interceptions dug that early hole.
Jumping 40 spots was modest, but BC remained in the lower half to lower third of the bowl subdivision, so improving both sides of the football naturally produced an explosion under defensive coordinator Tim Lewis. For the first time since 2018, the Eagles that jumped into the top-20 of the national takeaway numbers finalized a formational change into a staple 3-3-5 by utilizing more agile and mobile defensive linemen, and each of those final two games that were wins included turnover battle wins with a pick-six in each week.
"We have to think about one play at a time," said head coach Bill O'Brien. "We run the play, succeed or fail on the play, and we move onto the next play. If we start thinking about what's going to happen in October and what's going to happen in November, we're not going to be the program that we want to be. We really have to not worry about results and stick to our process and our progression to execute each and every day. That's a big part of what we do."
That attention to detail is moving BC into a more fluid era built around masked coverages and complex formational schemes. Defensive backs are capable of blitzing while the defensive linemen and linebackers can stand up and move into coverage. Misdirections not commonly seen at the collegiate level are baked into attack modes, and incoming personnel are versatile in their combination of size and speed. Recruits are sought for intelligence akin to the transfers who succeeded at other levels and other schools while their selflessness offers more lethal combinations for teamwork and communication.
"Coach Lewis and our defense are geniuses," said Merrimack transfer Favor Bate. "He's a guru. The way he plans our defense is amazing. When I came here and realized I'm going to get the tools that I need for my size to go to the NFL, it was a match made in heaven, especially when I saw the way they had defensive linemen dropping into coverage and the way they had us rushing. [Defensive line coach Jordan Thomas] is teaching me technique, which is something that I'm getting better at, every single day. I love it. It's challenging at times, but if it's not a challenge, it's not worth doing."
Boston College opens its 2025 season on August 30 when the Eagles host Fordham at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, MA. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 PM with television coverage available through the ACC Network Extra streaming platform, which is part of the ESPN family of Internet and mobile device apps.
Defenses were slow to react at the time. The traditional roster constructed four-man and five-man fronts under the notion of attacking the snap between the guards, so few teams pursued downfield coverages. The Seattle Seahawks' Legion of Boom helped accelerate the shift towards a secondary-based defense after Rex Ryan rebuilt the New York Jets around pressure and disruption, but it wasn't until the decade's latter years that the 3-3-5 "spread defense" installed more standard rover backs and nickelbacks.
At Boston College, the now-standard scheme attacks backfields with a vicious outside-in mentality that produced a three-year turnover turnaround. With the 2025 season almost a week away, a continued surge behind defensive coordinator Tim Lewis has the Eagles primed to build on their two-season jump from one of the worst turnover defenses in the nation, but staying atop the national rankings is just one of the reasons why success flows from this new line of thinking.
"Those guys in the defensive back room are amazing," said sophomore Omar Thornton. "It starts with the other safeties that everybody speaks about and continues with the ones that don't have that top-notch name yet. They're good, like Syair [Torrence] and the freshmen that came in. They're all good. That group is really good. We're going to be on the rise soon."
The 2022 season was one that most people around Alumni Stadium hoped to forget. The 3-9 record stood out like a sore thumb after six straight seasons at or above .500, and the 2.4 per-game average skewed BC into a turnover machine for opposing defenses. The Eagles averaged well over three giveaways over the final third of the season because they committed five follies in the snow-driven game at Notre Dame, and even the upset win over No. 16 NC State required four takeaways to overcompensate a three-interception performance by then-quarterback Emmett Morehead.
Unsurprisingly, even the most modest improvement in 2023 drove a three-win bump in the regular season. The defense didn't reinvent any wheels, so getting to the Fenway Bowl and winning a postseason game for the first time since 2016 pointed more towards a fixation with overcoming those offensive turnover issues that still existed. In the Virginia game, for example, a well-placed interception in the second half helped the Eagles turn a 21-17 deficit into a 24-21 advantage only after three first half interceptions dug that early hole.
Jumping 40 spots was modest, but BC remained in the lower half to lower third of the bowl subdivision, so improving both sides of the football naturally produced an explosion under defensive coordinator Tim Lewis. For the first time since 2018, the Eagles that jumped into the top-20 of the national takeaway numbers finalized a formational change into a staple 3-3-5 by utilizing more agile and mobile defensive linemen, and each of those final two games that were wins included turnover battle wins with a pick-six in each week.
"We have to think about one play at a time," said head coach Bill O'Brien. "We run the play, succeed or fail on the play, and we move onto the next play. If we start thinking about what's going to happen in October and what's going to happen in November, we're not going to be the program that we want to be. We really have to not worry about results and stick to our process and our progression to execute each and every day. That's a big part of what we do."
That attention to detail is moving BC into a more fluid era built around masked coverages and complex formational schemes. Defensive backs are capable of blitzing while the defensive linemen and linebackers can stand up and move into coverage. Misdirections not commonly seen at the collegiate level are baked into attack modes, and incoming personnel are versatile in their combination of size and speed. Recruits are sought for intelligence akin to the transfers who succeeded at other levels and other schools while their selflessness offers more lethal combinations for teamwork and communication.
"Coach Lewis and our defense are geniuses," said Merrimack transfer Favor Bate. "He's a guru. The way he plans our defense is amazing. When I came here and realized I'm going to get the tools that I need for my size to go to the NFL, it was a match made in heaven, especially when I saw the way they had defensive linemen dropping into coverage and the way they had us rushing. [Defensive line coach Jordan Thomas] is teaching me technique, which is something that I'm getting better at, every single day. I love it. It's challenging at times, but if it's not a challenge, it's not worth doing."
Boston College opens its 2025 season on August 30 when the Eagles host Fordham at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, MA. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 PM with television coverage available through the ACC Network Extra streaming platform, which is part of the ESPN family of Internet and mobile device apps.
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