Boston College 24 Maine 3: Cheers And Jeers

This will be a new series that is replacing the "Good, Bad And Ugly", which was created during the Spaziani era and needed two levels of bad to break down a game.

CHEERS!

Harold Landry: Last week on BCI radio, guest Jon Meterparel mentioned that he thought that Landry was becoming a "1st round NFL talent". Landry's sack of Maine quarterback Dan Collins was vicious (but legal). The sophomore finished with three tackles and a sack. Lining up opposite Kevin Kavalec, he is going to be a lot of fun to watch this year.

Matt Milano: Not much was said about the SLB before the start of this season as the focus of the praise was on the defensive line. Milano went out there and made a name for himself. Two sacks, and four tackles, and he looked like the speedy linebacker that would thrive in Don Brown's system

Bobby Swigert: When Steve Addazio talked this summer, and the depth chart was released, I honestly believed we had seen the last of Swigert as a wide receiver. But boy was I wrong. On his touchdown grab from Darius Wade he looked like the same kid that we saw in 2012. It must have been a very special moment for Bobby, the team and his family to open the season off with the first touchdown of the season.

Penalties/Turnovers: I was going to title this "mistake free football" but that would be a little disingenuous because they made plenty of mistakes. However BC didn't turn over the ball once during the game, which is huge for a young QB like Darius Wade, and there were only five penalties for 35 yards. Addazio was really concerned about penalties during the summer, but clearly the Eagles did well in preventing them on Saturday.

Tyler Rouse: Jon Hilliman struggled yesterday, only rushing for 47 yards on 16 carries, so it was crucial that someone picked up the slack. Rouse had a big game, rushing the ball only eight times, but for 80 yards. He was elusive, he was physical, and in a game that was closer than it needed to be, he put the Eagles on his back and sealed the game.

The Rush D: Wow were they fun to watch. The squad as a whole limited Maine to 7 yards. Yes, 7. They pushed around Maine's front line, and penetrated to make big plays. Addazio wants his team to improve from last year, and BC had the 2nd ranked rushing defense. Could they be #1 this year? Certainly looked like it yesterday.

Thadd Smith: Really looking forward to what this kid is going to be able to do on offense for the Eagles. He has got great speed, and will be a great compliment with Sherm Alston once the offense is clicking. BC is going to need to figure out more ways to get him the ball too.

Students: It was great to see the kids there, packing their sections. In past years, this hasn't been the case against an FCS school. Will this continue next week though against Howard?

JEERS!

The Offensive Line: This offseason there were two camps of people, those who wrote off BC because they had a young offensive line, and those who thought Addazio would be able to fix it because he's an o-line coach at heart. Yesterday was disheartening for those in the latter camp. To say the offensive line struggled would be an understatement. Jon Hilliman was hit three yards back on numerous runs, Blitzes were missed that allowed free run at Darius Wade. Just a mess. Listen I get it, it was only the first game, and I'm sure Addazio now has game film to start fixing errors, but he has got to do it quick. It's going to be hard to install any sort of offense, especially at the ACC level if opposing defenders are blowing up blocking schemes almost instantly.

Sherm Alston: It was just not Sherm's day yesterday as he made at least two plays that had me scratching my head. On one third quarter punt, he waved off the punt then at the last second tried to play hero ball and grab it and go. Thankfully he whiffed, and the ball went untouched, but he almost gave Maine a new life. Also he seemed to really struggle with catches. One pass hit him square in the hands and he dropped it. Tough game for Sherm.

The Play Calling: It looked to me like nothing was working for the Eagles yesterday, and probably for a few reasons. Wade is a young playcaller, and at times looked confused out there, which of course is natural in his first game. What floored me, was that BC should have simplified the offense for him and they didn't. Give Wade reasonable reads on the flats that would build up his confidence. There were too many wasted drives where Wade was either not utilized at all, or he was asked to throw balls deep down field (Alston in the end zone, Thadd Smith in double coverage).

Another Missed Field Goal: It was within 40 yards, Alex Howell should have hit it. Hey at least BC didn't miss an extra points. #Progress