Five Things We Learned From Boston College Football's Second Fall Camp Scrimmage

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Boston College football held its second scrimmage of fall training camp inside Alumni Stadium on Saturday morning in front of a group of season ticket holders.

Compared to the first scrimmage last weekend, the fluidity improved drastically on both sides of the ball, and plays were made in all phases at all levels of the field.

Here are five things we learned on Saturday:

1. The defensive line, if healthy, has extremely high potential

This was expanded upon in yesterday’s article on which of the Eagles’ defensive position groups looks the most improved since last year, but Saturday’s scrimmage gave even more backing to this statement.

The defense racked up sack after sack after sack on Saturday, and they came from all over the depth chart. That also included a handful of linebackers getting in on the action, which speaks to the style of defense that Ted Roof is going to run in Chestnut Hill — a heavy-metal, all-forces-go scheme that dizzies opposing quarterbacks with all forms of pressure.

Edge rushers Onye Nwosisi and Kris Jones had the most overall pressures out of the crop, but they also came from linebackers Justin Medlock, Zacari Thomas, and Kemori Dixon, along with defensive linemen Josiah Griffin, Demetrius Ballard, Micah Amedee, Favor Bate, KJ Sampson, and Christian Hudson, so pretty much the entire two-deep lot.

Chris Marable Jr. has also led the charge up front, but his action was more limited on Saturday.

“I’ll be very up front with you,” head coach Bill O’Brien said. “When you’re talking about Kris Jones, Onye, and Demetrius Ballard, I mean, you got some dudes coming off the edge now. Some real-deal guys, which is different than last year.”

“I’m not comparing anybody to [Donovan] Ezeiruaku, but yo got some guys that can really pressure the passer.”

2. Grayson Wilson is QB2

One of the more impressive drives of the morning came at the end of practice, when Wilson executed a two-minute drill to perfection, capped off by a 47-yard, game-winning field goal by freshman kicker Jonathan Hewitt.

While Wilson and freshman quarterback Femi Babalola have split most of the snaps behind Mason McKenzie, it is clear that Wilson, with his prior FBS experience included, is the obvious No. 2 in the quarterback room.

Babalola made a nice throw to freshman wideout DJ Biggins for a 40-yard touchdown earlier in the scrimmage, which is worth noting. But the way that Wilson is able to conduct O’Brien’s offense with tempo, timing, and an impressive pocket awareness is not in Babalola’s wheelhouse just yet.

Wilson had the longest throw of the day with a dime to VJ Wilkins for a 60-yard gain, and he made throws to all levels of the field with precision. He doesn’t have as strong of an arm as McKenzie, but the command of where his ball ends up is his strong suit.

3. The run game will carry the offense

No matter who the ball carrier is, the Eagles just seem to click in the run game, whether that’s from a blocking, scheme, or running-ability standpoint.

And the ball carriers in the room are all capable of making that go, whether it’s Evan Dickens, who rushed for over 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns last year, or redshirt freshman Mekhi Dodd, who shined in Saturday’s scrimmage and is receiving more opportunities everyday.

Combined with McKenzie’s dual-threat skillset, this offense will be one that filters primarily through the ground attack with occasional downfield-passing action, at least by the way it looks right now.

“I thought that certain run schemes that we ran were executed better [today],” O’Brien said.

4. The punting and kicking units have real depth

While starting kicker Luca Lombardo did not participate in Saturday’s scrimmage, Hewitt, a freshman kicker out of Eaton, Ohio, was simply lights-out.

Hewitt made a 50-yarder and a 47-yard, game-winner, and both had the distance to go 10 or so yards further, which is a promising sign for the future of that room.

This was also the case with punters Bryce LaFollette, who transferred to BC from Towson this offseason, and Andy Quinn, who each attempted multiple punts in the practice, all of which carried through the air with substantial distance and hang time.

“I thought the kicking game, for the most part, looked pretty good,” O’Brien said. I was happy to see our freshman Jonathan Hewitt make that field goal. That’s a big kick. He’s a really good kicker, so I was happy with how it went today.”

5. Bill O’Brien doesn't have the the downfield passing game and its protection where he wants it to be

This is the biggest concern of the preseason so far.

Whether it’s a matter of O’Brien not calling the right types of plays for McKenzie to execute downfield passes more consistently, or McKenzie being unable to do so because of the pocket collapsing or receivers failing to get open, this will need to change for the Eagles to be a successful team.

There were likely more plays made in this realm on Saturday than in any other practice of fall camp so far, but it hasn’t cemented like the run game has.

Maybe a sudden change will occur once the right O-line combination is configured, and dropped passes by the receivers doesn’t help, but time is quickly running out for this to find some sort of rhythm.

“I think we got to, overall, we got to catch the ball better,” O’Brien said. “If we can make some of those catches that are key catches, [like] the crossing route to VJ [Wilkins], a couple on third down, you know, deals to a couple other guys, we can make big plays in the passing game. But we got to do a better job of that, and I think that’s what Joe [Dailey] and [Javarius Green] are talking about… just being a little more consistent.”

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