Louisville 28 Boston College 14: Quick Takeaways From the Eagles Offense
Boston College dropped their third game in a row on Saturday, falling to the Louisville Cardinals 28-14 in Kentucky. Here are some of our quick takeaways from the game.
* Something needs to happen with the quarterback position. Dennis Grosel again struggled, with three turnovers, and multiple opportunities throughout the game. At this point he is clearly not the answer. Now he brings leadership, and respect in the locker room but when BC can't move the ball, and he can't get the ball to Zay Flowers more than ten yards out, that is a big problem. And his problems with the deep ball have been well documented, and included a big one in this game where he could have hit Zay Flowers for a huge gain/touchdown. After the game Jeff Hafley told reporters that he will need to watch the film to decide where the team is going with the position. Only he knows what that truly means, and maybe he sees something the rest of the world didn't see on the film, but it looks like changes may be brewing.
* Still a bit puzzled that they stuck with Grosel as long as they did. Thought after his second interception he would have been pulled, as BC's offense was clearly not clicking, but they stuck with him.
* If BC is going to make a change, I wouldn't be surprised if they decide it Sunday, to give that new QB the time to work with the first team all week. That being said don't be surprised if you don't hear any news on the quarterback situation (if they make a change) until fifteen minutes before the Syracuse game.
* The offensive line is still having problems and this is leaking into both the rushing and passing game. The first few drives had two plays that illustrated these issues. Louisville overloaded on a blitz on one side, where there were enough blockers to pick them up, but BC didn't communicate, Grosel was sacked, and Tyler Vrabel was left without an assignment. Now the issues weren't as egregious as this throughout the game, but it is still something that is worrisome, and something else that BC is going to need to fix.
* Patrick Garwo and Alec Sinkfield had an excellent game, both averaging over 5 yards a carry. My bigger issue is how they were used. The way BC's offense is working the Eagles can't just "abandon the run", and lean on Grosel, it isn't working. But that is what seemingly happened for almost two whole quarters (the second and third) where BC rushed the ball only ten times for 15 yards.
* Great bounce back game for Jaden Williams who needed to have a big game with CJ Lewis out with an injury. Three receptions for 27 yards.
* Hafley's goal of trying to get Zay Flowers the ball was clearly on display. However, when the opposing defenses know he can't beat them deep (there was a brutal missed pass long to a wide open streaking Flowers) they can just try to keep him in front of them and try to rally to the ball which is exactly what they kept doing.
* Hopefully Trae Barry's injury isn't too bad, it looked pretty bad. Would be the icing on the bad game cake if the Eagles lost him for extended period of time.