Boston College Needs To Show More Balance On Offense This Weekend
Last Saturday the Boston College Eagles dominated NC State on the ground rushing for over 400 yards and five touchdowns in a 45-24 victory. AJ Dillon, David Bailey and the Eagles offensive line bullied the Wolfpack up front and asserted their will against a defense that was supposed to be very good against the run. This weekend the Eagles are set to take on a Clemson Tigers team that has cruised through their first seven games, beating teams by an average of 28 points. Like NC State they are a strong defense, but unlike the Pack they are filled with blue chip players up and down their depth chart. Dabo Swinney's crew will be a monumental challenge for Steve Addazio, but he feels they just need to go out there and play their game, which isn't just exclusively running the ball.
"We are going to do it all" Addazio said to reporters on Tuesday. "We're going to throw the ball, we're going to do our play action passes, throw the ball vertically down the field". While running will always be the bread and butter for the Eagles, the head coach knows that he needs to keep Clemson honest. "Play action plays are critical" he further elaborated, as these plays cause defenses to make errors and allow for offenses to capitalize on them. Play actions were the type of passes that worked well against NC State in the small sample of passes we saw, but quarterback Grosel is going to need to play a bigger role against the Tigers.
Addazio knows that he can't just run the ball with AJ Dillon and David Bailey. He is going to need to have new quarterback Dennis Grosel throw the ball more this weekend to prevent loaded boxes. Rightfully some question what the new quarterback can do especially in the "throw game". When asked about the redshirt sophomore Addazio explained ""He can run the whole offense, he's got a great arm".
According to the head coach the playbook will be open for his quarterback including more vertical throws and hitting his tight ends. "He can make all the throws". There certainly will be more pressure both internally and externally on Grosel on Saturday as Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venable will have his team ready to rattle the young QB.
Grosel seems confident going into Saturday's big matchup with the Tigers. He has played in hostile environments before he said, and feels ready to walk into Memorial Stadium and what will likely be a loud Saturday night crowd. "We are going to stick our guns and play our game, I like the way we match up". Confidence is great to see in a young quarterback, but let's see what happens Saturday Night against the Tigers.