Clemson 27 Boston College 7: Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

On Saturday evening the Boston College Eagles were beaten easily by the Clemson Tigers 27-7. While at points the game was closer than the final score, they really never were in this game, especially after the injury to Anthony Brown. However, let’s look at the positives and negatives from the game.

THUMBS UP

Michael Walker: The senior kick returner certainly has had a few bad mistakes this year, but on Saturday he showed again why he is arguably the most consistent punt returner in the country. His vision on his punt return was incredible, and he did a great job cutting to pick up his blocks.

Zach Allen: If there is anything that BC can gain from this game, it was that Allen shined on a national stage against an elite opponent. Just constantly making plays, Allen finished with an insane batted ball that went back to Trevor Lawrence, who was then tackled by Allen again. He was just all over the place. Great game.

Isaiah McDuffie The linebacker continues to grow, and at this point in the season is the best linebacker on the team. Leading the team in tackles, he has shown good speed and power on his tackles.

Defensive Scheme: Before this game, if you were to say that BC’s defense was going to hold Clemson to only 27 points, I would consider that a win. Sure Trevor Lawrence made some plays, and you knew that they would hit an explosive play or two, but this defense, who was forced to play 35 minutes of the game, held their own. They kept BC in the game, and it wasn’t until Trevor Lawrence snuck in on an option read that BC was out of it. Heroic effort by this group, and Jim Reid and Anthony Campanile deserve a tip of the cap.

Fans/Students: BC was rocking all weekend long. Thank you all who showed up and made this weekend special, even if it wasn’t the results we were hoping for.

THUMBS DOWN

Continuing To Play AJ Dillon: Anyone who watched this game could tell that AJ Dillon was clearly not himself, probably playing at 50% of his usual effectiveness. However Steve Addazio avoided using Travis Levy, David Bailey and Ben Glines. All in all, we could have ran Bo Jackson back there and it wouldn’t have made a difference, but once Clemson was up 3 scores, it was time to save Dillon for another battle and try someone else.

EJ Perry IV: Not fair to judge a player when he is thrown at the best defense in the country, but it was clear after Saturday’s game why Anthony Brown is the starter.

Offensive Line: Look, Clemson’s defensive line is the best in college football without a doubt. Those four DL they trot out are out of this world, and impossible to scheme against. That being said, BC’s offensive line looked completely overmatched here, which isn’t their fault. It’s a huge task to ask them to block four future 1st round picks. It was just clear from the start that they couldn’t stop Clemson.

And for the folks that say BC should have “taken some shots downfield”, that would require that line to hold their blocks even longer, which given that they struggled blocking even quicker plays was a recipe for disaster.

Christian Wilkins: You can argue about his intentions when he hit Anthony Brown, but it was VERY clear that he threw extra weight on him on the ground. QB’s are supposedly coddled in football, but that play didn’t even get a flag. Would a healthy Anthony Brown have changed the outlook of that game? That is hard to say, but it was ridiculous that BC didn’t get a flag.