Boston College 34, Maine 3: Defense Improves, Rettig Continues To Shine

The weather was a mix at Alumni Stadium today; as was the play of the Boston College Eagles. BC came out looking flat on offense, going three and out on their first drive and coughing up yet another fumble this time by Tahj Kimble. The running game looked flat, as Andre Williams continued to struggle to gain yards, and the passing game looked slow and disjointed. BC fans were left holding their breath as Maine got the lone points in the 1st quarter, hitting a 19 yard field goal in the final minutes.

But the Eagles looked much stronger in the second quarter, when BC capped a 62 yard drive with a 3 yard touchdown pass from Chase Rettig to Spiffy Evans. It wasn't the cleanest drive, as Johnathan Coleman overthrew Alex Amidon on a WR pass play. Maine gave BC prime field position immediately, going three and out, and fumbling the snap on the punt, setting up BC on the 10 yard line which was quickly capitalized by a beautiful 10 yard pass from Rettig to Coleman. The Eagles went into the half up 17-3, with Eagles fans gasping as the Eagles struggled to put away the Black Bears.

The second half started off on the wrong foot, as Maine drove the field as QB Marcus Wasilewski began running the option, which seems to be BC's krpytonite, and moved the ball to the 24, however the Bears missed the 39 field goal. After BC responded with a field goal, Maine went three and out, which led to the game changing play of the game. Spiffy Evans, who had struggled throughout the game on punt and kick returns, slashed his way into the end zone, running back a punt for a 79 yard return. BC sealed the game with a great interception by Manny Asprilla, which led to a quick touchdown strike from Rettig to Amidon. BC decided to throw on the breaks in the 4th quarter, simply running the ball and allowing Josh Bordner to run the ball to kill the clock. Eagles win 34-3.

How much can you take from this game? Not much. Once BC's offense got clicking they played well, however not as well as last week, and scored. The defense played very well, especially Brian Mihalik who was all over the field batting passes and sacking the quarterback. The running backs continue to concern me, as there were two more fumbles, and Andre Williams failed again to make space on the run. Rettig looked slow as well on some of his reads, staring down his primary targets, and on more than one occasion completely failing to find the wide open receiver. Maine was completely overwhelmed on offense, and BC's defense showed it, as Maine had only 3 first downs in the first half. BC's defense did what it needed to do, causing turnovers and preventing Maine from getting into the end zone.

Next week will be BC's next big challenge, and should really show us what the Eagles defense is made of. Northwestern's offense is no joke as they threw up major yardage against Syracuse in week one. Luckily for BC the Wildcats D isn't much to be worried about. In terms of outlook, next week's game against the Wildcats should set the tone for the rest of the season.