Boston College vs. NC State: Final Grades
With Saturday's game now in the rear view mirror, here are our final grades for the positional groups.
Quarterback: Dennis Grosel did not have a good game, missing on a lot of his deeper targets and struggling to move the ball down the field. He ended up with close to 200 yards but was largely ineffectual in the second half of the game. It certainly was a frustrating game to watch, and in the end his play did not do much to help BC stay in it. Grade: D
Wide Receivers: Jaelen Gill was the lone bright spot in this group, as Jaden Williams had a tough game with multiple drops, as the team really struggled to hold on to the ball. Zay Flowers was open a bunch too, but Grosel couldn't hit him. The interception was due to a bobble by a wide receiver as well. Grade D
Running Backs: Patrick Garwo and Alec Sinkfield were strong in the first half, and ended up averaging over six yards a carry. But, for no fault of their own, BC went away from the rushing attack in the second half. Grading basically on just how they played, I thought this was the best positional group in the game. Grade A
Tight Ends: Trae Barry had a touchdown punched out of his hands, which was partially on the throw from Grosel, but also partially because he didn't secure it. Grade B-
Offensive Line: Looked pretty stout in the first half, playing very well in pass and rush block. When things got away from Boston College, their play slipped as well. Penalties were greatly reduced. Grade B
Defensive Line: Marcus Valdez had an incredible game through limited snaps, getting a rush and a sack. The Eagles did a good job limiting Zonovan Knight and Ricky Persons. Like always would have liked to see more from this unit, especially winning more 1-1 battles in the trenches. But certainly an average game. Grade C+
Linebackers: Really quiet game from this group. Isaiah Graham Mobley only had two assisted tackles, while Kam Arnold had four. Grade: C
Defensive Backs: BC got burned on two odd plays, Elijah Jones had picture perfect coverage on the first quarter touchdown. But the NC State wide receiver grabbed the ball off Jones's back for a touchdown. Then the Thayer Thomas touchdown was a couple of miscues with a safety (Jason Maitre) going for the swat and missing, and the underneath DB Jaiden Woodbey missing the tackle. Grade C
Special Teams: A missed field goal, a dropped punt that sparked the onslaught, it was the the Upside Down for a special teams crew that has played VERY well all season Grade D
Coaching: I thought Boston College had the right gameplan heading into this game, leaning heavily on the run and play action and it was working. But like lots of other issues execution became an issue. Leaving points on the board in a couple of spots. Then once NC State had that fourteen point swing, everything came unglued. If there is a spot Jeff Hafley and his staff need to improve on it is slowing things down when the wheels starting coming off. It seemed like the game went from close to out of control in a blink of an eye. Grade C-
Overall: The third quarter was a complete disaster, and the fourth quarter was just two teams trying to get off the field before someone got hurt. The first half was an evenly matched battle, with some mistakes but about as good as you could hope for. That being said, BC can't have those third quarters (they probably won't), and BC really needs to continue looking at the offense to prevent those long attempts that Grosel is struggling to hit. The score isn't indicative to the way most of the game was played, but that being said that third quarter was atrocious. Grade C-