NC State 33 Boston College 7: Observations of the Offense
Boston College had their worst outing of the season on Saturday, falling to NC State 33-7. Here are some observations on the offense.
* First things first, quarterback Dennis Grosel clearly was off last night. He overthrew wide open receivers like Zay Flowers, put too much air on a pass to Trae Barry in the end zone, then seemingly got stuck in a never ending loop of three yard dump off passes. Is the long term answer? No. But if there is some one else on the roster that is in a better position to win BC games, I believe the staff would switch over to them. They aren't sticking to Grosel out of pigheadedness, or some warped loyalty to a veteran. They believe he is the best quarterback they have, something Hafley has said multiple times.
* That being said, Grosel should have been benched in the fourth quarter. The game was completely out of control, BC should have let Daelen Menard get a few reps.
* This loss wasn't all on Grosel, and the offensive issues weren't all on him either, that is far too simplistic. Let's go through some of the other major issues that cost BC on offense.
* The wide receivers had an abysmal game. Trevor Hass of the Boston Globe reported that there were 18 drops in this game, which seems a bit high given there were 17 incomplete passes, but it felt like there were that many drops. How many balls came off the finger tips of receivers? Zay Flowers had six drops himself. That is on the receivers, not Grosel.
* I also question the play calling. Boston College did an excellent job in the first half establishing the run, especially with some impressive physical runs by Patrick Garwo III. However, after half, where the Eagles had -3 rushing yards the entire second half. Garwo himself ran the ball only four times in the second half. Some of this was due to NC State improving on their run defense, but it was also because BC went away from Garwo, who had gotten them to where they were.
* Jaelen Gill probably was the MVP of the game for Boston College. Had a couple of nice catches for BC, and looked strong and quick.
* Thought the offensive line did really well especially in the first half, but as the game slipped away from the Eagles, their play slipped as well.