BC vs. NC State Game Post Game Analysis: Cheers And Jeers

It is very exciting that the Eagles won their first conference game in almost two years yesterday. You could tell how special it was to the players to get the win by the way they reacted after the game.

The ending was great. Leading up to it, there were a lot of peaks and valleys in that game, and we should analyze what went right and what didn’t. Here we go:

Cheers

First Half Patrick Towles: One of the biggest questions of the season has been pondering what it was about this graduate student that was so attractive to Steve Addazio. We saw that in the first half yesterday. He was crisp, made great reads, and seemed to hit third down after third down. Even though there were some mistakes (those two intentional grounding passes were brutal), he looked like an ACC quarterback and that was exciting.

Harold Landry: I don’ t think the statistics accurately portray how game changing he can be. At one point in this game N.C. State offensive linemen just resorted to tackling him because they couldn’t stop his rush. He ended the game with one sack, but forced the Wolfpack to scheme around him. Really, if there is one reason to watch BC for the remainder of the season it’s Landry, the kid is going to be in the NFL soon.

The Play Call On That Final Touchdown: Listen, I have given crap to Steve Addazio all season for his vanilla play calling, but credit when credit is due, and he deserves praise for this one. Just a ballsy call but perfect for the timing, the defense collapsed on Davon Jones like they do on many BC runs, and he had just enough time to flip it to Tommy Sweeney for the winning TD. Hopefully some confidence in his play calling will lead to more adjustments like this moving forward. Honestly I thought the balanced play calling was pretty good all day, probably the best game the Loeffler/Steve Addazio combo has called for the Eagles.

Tommy Sweeney: Hey remember when I said he would be a key to the game? Break out game for the sophomore? Certainly looked like it. He is the perfect target for those short and intermediate routes, and looked like a matchup problem for NC State defenders. Ended up with 5 catches, a touchdown and caught the two point conversion.

Paul Pasqualoni: Game ball certainly needs to go to the defensive coordinator who was filling in for Jim Reid (medical issues). Was it a perfect day by the defense? Certainly not, but the Eagles made plays when they needed to and caused turnovers to end drives. Aggressive when appropriate, the secondary certainly looked better, great game by the defense.

The Players: This seems like a perfect spot to say that I am happy the team got to experience a conference win and get that dreaded monkey off their back. While I may be critical of the coaching staff and the way they have conducted this season, I want nothing but the best for these players, and want to see them succeed. I hope they understand that the majority of BC fans want the same.

Jeers

Drops: Again we got to see the drops up close and in person as drives stalled out with brutal drops. Charlie Callinan had one in the first half that effectively killed a drive, and there are others I can’t think of right now.

Second Half Patrick Towles: It is crazy how quickly the game can get away from him. He went from efficient game manager who moved the Eagles down the field, to completely unravelled in the second half. He got so ineffective at one point that I thought it would be wise to sit him as he looked skittish and appeared to be locked in on the rush coming after him. Glad to see the Eagles win even with the second half he had.

The NC State Fumble Recovery: What the hell was that? BC clearly had possession of the ball and somehow NC State got the ball?

Three Addazio Calls: Of course there had to be some questionable coaching decisions, even in a win, and there were two yesterday that N.C. State luckily failed to cash in. One was the field goal attempt at the end of the second quarter. It didn’t work, which I am fine with, but for some reason Addazio called a timeout before they even set up, instead of letting the clock tick down. This didn’t make any sense at all, because by calling time out they effectively gave NC State an extra 30 seconds, no matter the outcome of the play. Luckily the Wolfpack didn’t capitalize.

Secondly, second half NC State was held on a third down and was forced to punt. But BC didn’t have the right personnel on the field and had to burn a timeout just to get the punt return unit on the field. Sorry, but that is completely inexcusable. NC State wasn’t faking a punt, or going for where they were on the field. In a tight game those timeouts need to be viewed like gold, and wasting them on something as simple as this could have cost them dearly. Luckily the Wolfpack didn’t capitalize.

Finally, and this is more of a preference than a jab at the coach, but the Eagles punted the ball from the NC State 36. I generally hate this call, especially in college where punters aren’t as good at pinning opposing teams within the 20; many times this ends up with a net of 15 yards or so. With a two year conference losing streak hanging over the head, I would hope the Eagles would be aggressive in situations like this, but they weren’t. Luckily the Wolfpack didn’t capitalize. (Sensing a trend?)

On to Louisville - if BC can continue the positives and work on the negatives, maybe they can put a scare in to the Cardinals.