New Starting Quarterback Dennis Grosel Is Prepared And Ready To Go
It was a moment that had taken years of preparation, and one that Dennis Grosel felt blessed to be ready for. As he watched his teammate quarterback Anthony Brown go down against Louisville with a nasty lower leg injury, the preferred walk on sophomore knew this was his time, that his teammates that he had built relationships with over the years were now going to depend on him to lead them on the field. With no hesitation and his adrenaline pumping Grosel found his center, took some practice snaps and was prepared to "get up and get going". He started off red hot, hitting Korab Idrizi on a little play action pass for a touchdown and continued to make plays to keep BC in the game, even as the defense continued to let up huge chunks of yards.
After the game was complete, with the Cardinals snagging a 41-39 win, Grosel finished the game with three touchdowns an interceptions and some moments to build off of.Head coach Steve Addazio praised him, "You saw him in full live color the second half of the game. He played, I thought, really well. Great leadership skills, threw the ball well. We had a few drops on him. Ran the ball well, made good decisions, had great leadership, I thought he did a great job." Grosel did not look like a player only in his meaningful collegiate game.
With it clear that he would be getting the starting role, Grosel found himself with two weeks due to a bye week to prepare, and knew that he had to use that time wisely. "I spent time with schematics, mechanics fine tuning himself" Grosel explained to the media on Monday. The young quarterback talked about making sure that he looked at his foot work, his arm motion and preparing for his next game against NC State. But he also took time to reflect on where he came from and to "Remember who was and how he got here, and how lucky he is to be in this position...to lead his teammates out of the tunnel every week"
For those not familiar with Grosel's story, he is a redshirt sophomore who came to Boston College as a preferred walk on from St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio where he threw for 1800 yards and 18 touchdowns his senior season. Not recruited by any schools, he took the PWO from the Eagles where he became part of a deep room of quarterbacks, and it looked like he would never see the field at least in a meaningful way for Steve Addazio's program. To his luck the Eagles room thinned out as Johnny Langan, Matt McDonald and EJ Perry all transferred this offseason. This left Grosel as the most veteran backup on the team, and through his "work with some great coaches and players to improve my skill and my craft" impressing many with his play in scrimmages and practices, he became the backup this season.
On Saturday, he will lead the Eagles on the field as the starting quarterback, and fans will see a player that is different than Anthony Brown. Grosel is a physical runner who seems to not shy away from a hit, and has a good fastball on his throws. But against NC State, who have one of the top defenses in the ACC, Grosel will have to learn quickly and he'll have to minimize his mistakes. There are still a lot of questions about what his game will look like, but Dennis Grosel seems ready for the challenge.