Each week after a Boston College football game we are going to break down some of the individual and position performances. This is not meant to attack a certain player or “hate” it’s just analyzing the game. We also want to highlight the great moments of the game, and this week there were plenty of moments. So without further adieu here is, let’s give some ups and some downs.
Thumbs Up
Anthony Brown: Without a doubt the MVP of the game, Brown silenced the critics by not only coming out and playing a confident first half, but looking really good in the process. The knee injury didn’t seem to be a factor at all as he threaded in some nice passes to Kobay White, AJ Dillon and others. True Umass’s defense was a mess, but some of his passes were into small windows, and he made those passes easily. A healthy and effective Brown only furthers the ceiling for this team, which seems pretty high after Week 1.
Zach Allen, Ray Smith, Tanner Karafa and Wyatt Ray: It’s hard to single out one of these guys after this game. They all had huge plays, Smith had a great fat guy interception, while Allen and Ray were just decimating to both the run game and eating pass protection for lunch. At first it seemed like UMass’s quickness could get around their power, but by the third or forth drive Andrew Ford was getting chased on nearly every play.
The Tight Ends: This special shout out goes to the entire position group who had an A+ game on Saturday. While Tommy Sweeney was a non factor, he didn’t need to do much. Hunter Long (who from the upper deck I thought was Sweeney the way he moved) looked like a legit threat, Korab Idrizi and Jake Burt had nice touchdown catches and Ray Marten had a TD grab as well. Before the season Dan Rubin of Eagles Unlimited talked about the depth of this group, and they certainly were impressive yesterday.
The Offensive Line: Not sure what happened to Jon Baker, but the rest of the line played incredible. No sacks allowed by the first unit. That is exactly what you want to see against a smaller team like UMass.
Kobay White: By the end of 2017 he was becoming quite the target, though there were times he disappeared, especially after Brown went down. The two seemed to reconnect again yesterday, a great sign for the passing game and this offense.
Kobay White's first catch of the game is a beauty, going up and getting it for a 25-yard gain. His second? A much easier, wide-open 34-yard touchdown. pic.twitter.com/8euRh9zhtN
— Bradley Smart (@bradleysmart15) September 1, 2018
Grant Carlson: What a save and heads up play on that botched snap. Big play that prevented a possible turn in momentum.
Lukas Denis: He has been named one of the best safeties in the country by almost every publication and his interception to cap what was a fantastic first half by the Boston College Eagles highlighted why he is such a special player. He made a nice move to make the catch, and then just followed the blockers to the end zone. GIF of the Year candidate in Week 1? Could be.
PICK. SIX.
— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) September 1, 2018
Lukas Denis (@_LukasDenis7) takes it to the house in a 55-21 @BCFootball win over #UMass.#NoFlyZone #WeAreBC #MustSeeACC pic.twitter.com/cMR4A2JWhb
Davon Jones: While many wanted to see AJ Dillon get those short yardage touchdowns, it was Jones that got the call for Boston College, scoring two against the UMass Minutemen. I mentioned it on Twitter, but A) these aren’t the games that win Heismans, and b) winning should be the ultimate goal, on a hot humid September day there is no reason to risk Dillon getting injured on a goal line pileup when you have a freight train like Jones. People would be ripping mad at the staff if we lost Dillon against UMass, Daz absolutely made the right call there.
AJ Dillon: He may have only had 124 yards, and was used for the first half exclusively, but Dillon just being out there changed the game in a multitude of ways. First off, UMass had all sorts of trouble tackling him, I don’t believe anyone on that defense could stop him one on one. Second, Whipple decided to sell out more on the run, which just left all the other options wide open. This allowed Brown to hit Jeff Smith on jet sweeps, passes to White with favorable coverage on the corners, and the most exciting of all, Dillon himself who was left literally uncovered on at least three play action passes. If Dillon has become a pass catching running back, pray for those defenses. Dillon is a game changer, even if the stats didn’t show just being on the field caused all sorts of problems for the Minuteman defense.
Steve Addazio: Credit when credit is due he had this team ready. I know a lot of fans were predicting “BC will come out rusty”, or “BC will let UMass back in”, but we saw absolutely none of that in yesterday’s game. He put together a balanced offense with Scot Loeffler that effectively neutralized the Minutemen’s keying on Dillon, the team was prepared and ready to win. The defense was aggressive and after an early hiccup pinned their ears back and just ate Mark Whipple’s offense alive. Bravo Daz, great gameplan and excellent execution, these are the types of games BC fans like to see.
The New Alumni Stadium Announcer: Thought he was great, not sure if he is a permanent guy, but enjoyed him.
Beer Lines Werent Bad! YAY!
Thumbs Down
(this is really nit picking, but here are a few things)
Special Teams: There was the botched snap on the punt that Grant Carlson miraculously saved, there was a good kickoff return by the Minutemen and kickoff returns were pretty humdrum. Again, nothing that killed the Eagles, but something coaching will want to work on improving
AJ Dillon’s Drop: HE WAS WIDE OPEN AND COULD HAVE WALKED INTO THE END ZONE
The Blown Coverage: Brandon Sebastian fell on a GO route which led to a huge gain. It led to UMass’s only touchdown that really counts. The redshirt freshmen looked fine after that play.
Jon Baker’s Injury: No idea what happened here as Daz can’t talk about it, but hopefully it was just a minor thing and the coaching staff wanted to be cautious. Next week’s depth chart should hopefully let us know. But if Baker is even at 85%, sit him against Holy Cross, let the kids get some playing time.
Penalties: BC had 7 flags for 38 yards. Addazio has always had a disciplined team in terms of these types of errors. Hopefully this will be something they work on in practice this week.