NC State 24 Boston College 8: Grading The Eagles

Time to take a look at how the Eagles did yesterday position by position.

Quarterback: John Fadule was asked to do an awful lot yesterday, throwing the ball for more yards than any Boston College quarterback since Chase Rettig. Most of the yardage came in garbage time, when NC State was sitting back in a softer zone, he really struggled when they applied pressure, which given the play of BC's line, was most of the game. The biggest technical issue I had with him was that he forced a bunch of passes into double and sometimes triple coverage. Grade: C

Running Backs: Supposedly the bread and butter of Boston College's offense, Addazio had the Eagles rush the ball 34 times, for a whopping 28 yards yards. However that is a little deceiving on where the running backs did or didn't do. Sherm Alston, Elijah Robinson and John Fadule accounted for -25 yards. Tyler Rouse averaged about 6 yards a carry, while Marcus Outlow and Myles Willis were pretty much non-existent. Grade C

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: Definitely the best game we have seen out of this crew. David Dudeck led the team with 7 catches, while Elijah Robinson and Thadd Smith all had good games. Tommy Sweeney looks like he is going to be a legit receiving tight end when/if the offense clicks. Louie Addazio continues to struggle in the pass block. Grade B

Offensive Line: They are improving, but still the big reason BC's offense is floundering. Struggling to open holes on the run game, and Fadule was sacked 5 times. Grade: D

Defensive Line: Jacoby Brissett had all day the whole game, with very little pressure. This was one of the first games where I thought the defensive line looked completely overmatched. Even with Matt Dayes out, BC let up almost 140 yards on the ground, including a runs by Jaylen Samuels and Reggie Gallaspy. Tough game for this crew. Grade D

Linebackers: Thought Steven Daniels and Matt Milano were fine, but just like everyone else on the defense they just couldn't make a big play all game. Grade C

Secondary: Justin Simmons had a nice interception but they got torched on the Maurice Trowell long touchdown reception. Lots of underneath stuff for Brissett, who was effective but not really electric. Grade C

Special Teams: Michael Walker again looked like one missed tackle away from breaking a long kick return. Again I'll ask, why does Addazio insist on putting Sherm Alston on punt returns, he looks like he is going to drop every one kicked to him. Alex Howell was fine on his punts. BC didn't have any place kicks. Grade B

Coaching: If you were to tell me that BC was going to go out and throw the ball 37 times on Saturday, I would have said you were crazy. Thought having Fadule throw the ball like that was an interesting choice, but like everything BC has tried on offense this year it didn't work. Grade D

Overall: It is very hard to look at Saturday's game and find a whole lot to stay positive about. The offense found a whole new way to struggle (the turnover), the defense wasn't all that great, and the whole game felt flat. Thank goodness BC has two weeks to heal, and get ready for a big time matchup at Fenway Park against Notre Dame. Steve Addazio and crew are going to need all of that time to prepare. Grade D