Three Keys to Victory: Syracuse vs. Boston College
The Boston College Eagles have reached the nadir of their 2021 season. After suffering three consecutive, increasingly disappointing losses, the Eagles take to the road again to face their rival, the Syracuse Orange. After a bit of a rocky start, Syracuse is in the midst of a bounce-back season, with running back Sean Tucker leading the charge to save Dino Babers’ job. Even after losing most of their secondary to the NFL, the Orange still sport a relatively stingy defense, especially against the pass. In short, this will not be an easy game for the Eagles. Nevertheless, let’s get into what Boston College needs to do to stop their skid and save their season.
“Disappointed, but not concerned”
During his Sunday press conference, several media members asked Jeff Hafley about the Eagles’ run defense against Louisville. Obviously, the Cardinals were extremely successful on the ground. Even with Malik Cunningham removed from the equation, Louisville repeatedly ripped off big chunk runs with multiple running backs. Their outside zone rushing attack, thanks to a very athletic offensive line, did an excellent job opening multiple wide lanes for their backs to run through. That, along with an elite playmaker like Cunningham, led to the Eagles .
But Hafley expressed confidence in his defense, specifically their ability to stop the run. He said he was disappointed, but not concerned. Based on his quotes, he still felt the scheme was sound; Louisville just did a better job of executing, and their athletes made better plays in space. While part of Hafley’s job is to defend his players, I still think he’s right and the previous results bear it out. Until this week, Boston College did an excellent job defending the run in their previous games. They did a solid job limiting Tyler Badie from Missouri, there were one or two busts against Clemson but they were still fundamentally sound, and NC State’s two-headed monster never really got going.
However, with all that being said, the Eagles will face a different test this weekend. For the vast majority of the Dino Babers era at Syracuse, the Orange were a fast-paced up-tempo air raid offense. The results were mixed at best. But since Babers replaced Tommy DeVito with Garrett Shrader and decided to lean on running back Sean Tucker, Syracuse has undergone a very positive metamorphosis on offense.
Tucker has a very strong case for being the best running back in the ACC this year and could even win the conference offensive player of the year award. He brings a unique balance of speed and explosiveness along with power and balance. Schrader has been no slouch on the ground either; he is and leads in rushing touchdowns with 12. He’s not the slippery elusive athlete that Cunningham is, but he can make a defender miss in the open field and can run through defensive backs.
Therefore, the primary key for BC to win this game is getting their run defense fixed after last week’s debacle. As Hafley said, the scheme is good; the players just need to be more disciplined and execute. I think he and Lukabu will utilize some heavier defensive personnel packages and put more players in the box to stop the Orange’s rushing attack.
But at the end of the day, it’s up to the players. TJ Rayam and Izaiah Henderson need to be more stout at the point of attack to prevent the offensive linemen from climbing to the second level; Isaiah Graham-Mobley, Vinny DePalma, and Kam Arnold need to maintain their gap integrity and fill the right gaps; finally, Jaiden Woodbey and Jahmin Muse need to fly downhill and put hits on the ball carrier. If the Eagles can slow down Syracuse’s run game and force them to throw, they have a good shot to get back in the win column.
Lend a Helping Hand
After an abysmal outing against Louisville, Dennis Grosel’s stint as Boston College’s starting quarterback could be coming to a close. Grosel is still listed as QB1 on the latest depth chart, and while Hafley defended Grosel, he was very clear that he and the coaching staff would be taking a closer look at the quarterback situation this week. Even though we at BC Bulletin preached patience with Grosel and balked at the idea of making a change, with the Louisville performance fresh on the mind, our position has now changed. It’s not about contending for the ACC Atlantic division crown anymore; now it’s just about getting to at least a 6-6 season, something Grosel does not seem capable of achieving anymore.
However, while Grosel has struggled this season, he is not solely to blame for the offense’s struggles. In the last two weeks, the receivers have dropped the ball, literally and figuratively, far too many times, especially in high-leverage situations. In each of the last three games, Grosel threw some accurate passes that all the receivers had no good reason to drop. Against Clemson and Louisville (to a lesser extent), the offensive line committed too many penalties and made mistakes in pass protection. The running backs have been pretty good, despite being bottled up in the second half against NC State; they have not been given the best opportunities due to the issues with the passing offense.
With all that being said, regardless of who plays quarterback for the Eagles on Saturday, the rest of the offense needs to elevate their game to make sure the quarterback has the best chance to succeed. Unfortunately, tight end Trae Barry looks like he might miss this game due to a knee injury suffered late against the Cardinals. Frankly, even if Barry could play, I think it would be best to sit him, as BC has a short week coming up. Luckily, Joey Luchetti has been a reliable blocker and check-down option so far and the Eagles are pretty deep at tight end. In general, however, the rest of the receivers need to be focused and make sure they secure as many targets as possible, even at the expense of some yards after catch opportunities.
On the offensive line, the veterans need to make sure the protections are sound before the ball is snapped. Alec Lindstrom, Zion Johnson, and Ben Petrula need to help the new QB by communicating with him and each other about what the blocking scheme is and if it’s changing. Additionally, Lindstrom has had some issues with bad snaps this season; if there is a new starter, he'll need plenty of reps with Lindstrom this week to mitigate and eliminate these mistakes.
Overall, the line has been quite solid as run blockers, and a strong running game should help settle a young quarterback. If BC’s new quarterback is to have a successful debut, his teammates will need to play their best football to help elevate the offense, collectively as a unit. This means no pre-snap penalties, limiting the mistakes in pass protection, and securing the football.
Complete One (1) Pass Beyond 20 Yards
Perhaps this key is somewhat unfair to Dennis Grosel. But any fan who has watched Grosel this season knows that he struggles to hit the deep pass. In fact, on passes further than 20 yards downfield this year, he has only completed three of 22 such attempts. Despite these struggles, Frank Cignetti and Grosel have not stopped trying to throw those deep shots.
But the tipping point might have come this week when Grosel missed Zay Flowers on another deep post route where Flowers was wide open. Flowers threw his hands up in the air in exasperation as the ball bounced to the turf out of his reach. On the broadcast, the sideline reporter said that Grosel and Flowers were having an “open dialogue” about the passing offense. The camera did not show the two, so it’s not clear whether this discussion was civil or caustic. Nevertheless, given Grosel’s inaccuracies, it’s obvious that the receivers are getting frustrated.
With that in mind, as previously mentioned, it seems that BC will be making a quarterback change on Saturday, depth charts notwithstanding. Regardless of who earns the start, they just need to hit that deep shot play one time. I don’t think it will have the full effect of forcing Syracuse to consistently respect the Eagles’ passing offense. But it could serve as a much-needed injection of confidence for the entire offense. After three tough losses, where the offense arguably looked worse in every game, this team just needs some confidence. Hitting the deep shot, possibly even for a touchdown, should be just what the doctor ordered to get this team fired up and back on track.