Position Preview: With a new Staff, the Special Teams can be a Difference Maker In 2020
In our final spring preview, we are going to take a look at Boston College's special teams. The Eagles will be returning most of their key players in 2020, including Travis Levy, Aaron Boumerhi and Grant Carlson. This is a position group that needs to have more consistency, as it was marred by struggles under Steve Addazio specifically in place kicking. BC lost multiple games since 2013 because of missed kicks, which happens in college football, but statistics show that the Eagles were still below average.
Previous Previews: Quarterbacks, Running Backs, Wide Receivers, Offensive Line, Tight Ends, Defensive Line, Linebackers, Secondary
Returning Players: Grant Carlson (Sr.), Aaron Boumerhi (Gr.), Danny Longman (Jr.), John Tessitore (So.), Stephen Ruiz (So.), Travis Levy (Sr.),
Exiting Players: Ben Glines
Expectations: Boston College clearly needs to improve in place kicking, where they finished in 9th in the ACC in 2019. Aaron Boumerhi only had 12 attempts all season, hitting eight of them. But there were bigger issues then just the kicker, as was clearly on display against Wake Forest when the Eagles couldn't get the field goal unit in place, got called for a delay of game, missed the field goal, and lost the game by three points. Getting more consistency from the kicking game could really help a team that needs points.
In terms of punting, Grant Carlson finished 9th in the ACC in 2019 averaging just over 42 yards a punt (up two yards from 2018). This will be Carlson's final year at Boston College. Getting him in to the top half of the conference certainly should be a priority for Matt Thurin, the new special teams coordinator.
Travis Levy was serviceable as a kick returner finishing in the middle of the pack in the ACC. He seemed like a step down, which is a label that was hard to avoid after having to replace ACC leading return man Michael Walker. Levy also was 5th in the ACC in punt returns. Will be interesting to see if the new staff keeps him on returns or finds someone else to take the spot.
Areas of Improvement: Place Kicking
Steve Addazio's era of place kicking is mercifully over. Thankfully in his final season, BC never missed an extra point but as noted above they were still below average in kicking. These issues plagued Addazio's tenure with huge missed kicks every year from the 2014 Pinstripe Bowl, to the 2019 Wake Forest game. Getting a fresh set of eyes on this unit is going to be crucial, and hopefully Hafley and his staff will be able to make changes to make this unit click.
Impact Player: Aaron Boumerhi
We saw against Pittsburgh what a kicking game can do, and that is thanks to Boumerhi who drilled four field goals. Of course he wasn't perfect during the season, but he has potential, and a good leg.
Player To Step Up: Travis Levy....or whomever is returning kicks/punts
Levy finished in the middle of the pack in terms of average, but he also was near the top in the conference in 30+ yard kick returns. A bit of explosiveness at this position will be a nice addition to the new game plan. Whether that is with Levy, or someone else on the roster like a Bryce Sebastian.