BC Scrimmage #2: Offense And Defense Both Take Steps Forward

One of the big things you want to see between scrimmage one and two are improvements where mistakes were made. According to Steve Addazio that is what we saw on both sides of the ball on Saturday, but like any team, at this point of their progress, there were still parts of the game that need to be cleaned up.

In between some situational plays such as a 4 minute and 2-minute drill, along with some rare but necessary drills like a purposeful safety, certain groups really stood out. Right away running back AJ Dillon showed that he is physically at the top of his game, with some tough runs. True freshman Patrick Garwo looks like he is ready to be involved with the offense sooner rather than later, while a slim downed David Bailey showed off that he can be a factor in the passing game, taking a pass for a long touchdown.

Anthony Brown looked confident and made most of his throws, and had a great designed read run that showed what kind of speed he has when he gets past the line of scrimmage. He may have missed a pass or two, but never had a moment where he threw a pass he shouldn't have. There looks to be a battle for the QB2 job as Matt Valecce and Dennis Grosel both could make an argument for the job. Valecce looked to be more of the pro-style QB, who had a nice zip to his passes, while Grosel was elusive and could scramble when flushed out of the pocket. Sam Johnson and Daelen Menard both saw times with the 3rd team.

Easily the most impressive new player at the scrimmage had to be wide receiver/ returner Zay Flowers. He had a huge 50 yard catch, and showed elite speed and evasiveness in the open field. While he wasn't perfect (had a tough punt return mistake), he wracked up multiple missed tackles, and looked like a player ready to be on the field day one. Kobay White continued to look like a WR1, and had good chemistry with Anthony Brown.

The offensive line looked strong as well. Transfer Zion Johnson spent a lot of time with the first unit, at tackle. Alec Lindstrom, Tyler Vrabel, Ben Petrula and John Phillips played mostly with the first unit as well. The tight end unit looks particularly deep with Hunter Long who had a nice touchdown catch, Chris Garrison, Korab Idrizi, and Danny Dalton all making catches at various points, with some of the younger players like Brendan Smith with catches in the second and third unit.

Defense was a little more hit or miss. Brandon Barlow and Marcus Valdez both saw a ton of minutes with the first defense, with Tanner Karafa also making a big play. The linebackers were intriguing, John Lamot didn't play, but true freshman Joe Sparacio made a huge hit and showed why the coaches were really high on him. Max Richardson also had a turnover at one point during the scrimmage. Jaleel Berry made a big thumping hit as well, and could be BC's second defensive tackle going into the season.

I thought the secondary had the best performance out of any defensive unit. They did a really good job with tipped balls, snagging at least two interceptions (I believe both were by Elijah Jones), and very rarely were beaten or missing assignments.

Grant Carlson had a series of excellent punts, that would have flipped the field in a real game situation. Extra points and field goals still look they need work, but that could have been due to Aaron Boumerhi still getting back into the swing of things after last year's injury.

This was the final scrimmage of the summer, as BC is looking to get ready for Virginia Tech in a few weeks.

(lead photo courtesy of BCEagles.com)

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