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Earlier this weekend Eric Hoffses said it best, there were far too many errors in a game that N.C. State had no business winning. There we so many failed opportunities, and lack of execution that doomed the Eagles. Yes, it stunk that Anthony Brown went down with what looks like a pretty severe injury, but there were plenty of chances that BC never capitalized on. Let’s break down the positives and negatives from this week’s loss to the Wolfpack.
THUMBS UP
A.J. Dillon: He should be the center piece of this offense, and any adjustments should branch out from there. He had a fantastic game running for over 150 yards, and breaking the BC freshman running back single season total. However, I have no idea why Steve Addazio didn’t a) use him on that 4th and 1 when he called the half back pass with Jon Hilliman and b) sat him for the final two drives. Look we want to see BC throwing the ball too, they have to in order to make Dillon effective, but he needs to be on the field for a majority of the snaps.
Going for it on that 4th Down: I like the aggressiveness, and I don’t want to see that stop, the play call was horrible though.
The Defense: BC’s defense made Ryan Finley look pretty pedestrian going a meager 13/32, and they deserve all the credit for that. They made plays, including a fumble recovery by Kevin Bletzer and an interception by Ty Schwab that saved their butts after turning it over deep in their own territory. Zach Allen had a great game, the cornerbacks (especially Hamp Cheevers) played well. Thought all around they had a good game.
THUMBS DOWN
The Blocking Schemes: If you read my posts last week, I said a key to the game was neutralizing Bradley Chubb. Steve Addazio and Justin Frye missed my memo. There were numerous times where he was left blocked by a single player, and near the end I saw Jon Hilliman left one on one with him. Darius Wade couldn’t get any rhythm because he had Chubb flying down his throat on nearly every play. It’s hard to believe BC couldn’t overload, double team or something to adjust to this.
Special Teams: A blocked punt, a botched field goal. With the offense sputtering, this was the last thing they needed.
Daz’s 4th Quarter Play Calling: Eric already talked about it at length, and I mentioned it above, but I am floored that Daz said they had to go the length of the field on that final drive, hence why Dillon was on the bench. That is patently untrue, unless he truly believed that he couldn’t get a FG attempt which is valid. 40 yards, with Dillon averaging over 6 yards a run, and with Chubb just pinning his ears back and flying in on Wade, they needed to run and he failed to do that.
The Student Section: I hate to call out fans, but what the heck was that BC students? The Eagles had just won 3 conference games in a row, it’s senior day and at best the student section was 3⁄4 full, and by the end of the game, it was down to about 40 kids. Yeah, I know it’s cold, by for pete’s sake show up.
The New “Let’s Get Loud” 3rd Down Announcement: What the hell was that and can we never do it again?