Boston College 24 Wake Forest 10: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Yesterday's game is in the books, and Boston College has their second straight win, which matches their entire win total of 2012. The Eagles certainly weren't perfect, but they pretty much had this game under control from the moment Josh Harris fumbled Tanner Price's fumble on the opening drive to the last soul crushing run from power back Andre Williams. Also in this game we are beginning to see the character and makeup of this team, which honestly should get Eagles fans excited. The two goal line stands, especially the one after Nate Freese's blocked punt showed that this team never gives up, and that opposing offenses are going to have to earn every point they put up against Boston College.

Let's break down last night's game:

The Good

The Entire Defense: If I could reach out and hug Don Brown, I would, because whatever that man did to our defense is magic. Boston College's D the last three halves of football has been electric, they are swarming the ball, hitting the quarterback, and forcing turnovers. It's difficult after watching last night's game to pinpoint which defensive players deserve to be on this list, so I threw them all on there. Because I could name a lot of them. Bryce Jones made yet another interception, Kasim Edebali had another big game with yet another sack, Kevin Pierre Louis continued to fly over the field to make plays. Mehdi Abdesmad, Sean Sylvia, and Manny Asprilla, all had superb games.

The Eagles defense let up one touchdown, and of course it was Michael Campanaro, but that play was covered as well as you would want. They just got beat by a beautiful throw and a fantastic catch by one of the nation's best wide receivers. Going into this game we all had nightmares about what Campanaro did against BC last season, but do you know what he finished with last night if you take out that touch down catch? Four catches for 56 yards. I'll take that any day. Pat on the back to Don Brown and the secondary for neutralizing Campanaro.

Brian mentioned on Twitter last night that Wake rushed the ball for 55 yards, on 39 carries, which is good for 1.4 yards per carry. Many of these rushes were on misdirection and option plays that would have gashed Frank Spaziani's defense like we saw last season. That clearly was not the case last night, as BC looked like they knew who was getting the ball and where they were heading every play.

Seriously, I can't praise this defensive group enough. They looked so strong that they should be able to keep this team in many games if the offense struggles. Games like Maryland, N.C. State, Virginia Tech and Syracuse all of a sudden become the type of toss up games we thought Wake was going to be.

Andre Williams I believe it was last week that there were people on this board clamoring that Andre Williams needed to be faster, but last night's performance should have answered those critics.  But saying that Andre Williams isn't fast completely misses the strength of his game, which is power, blasting through holes and over defenders, and this was clearly on display last night. Long after Ryan Day decided that maybe the passing game wasn't going to be a factor, Williams took over and continued to move the chains for a whopping 204 yards on 39 carries, and a touchdown. The offensive line did a solid job keeping the holes open, even after it was clear that they would be running. If BC's defense can continue to play like they did, Williams' power running and controlling the tempo of the game will be a huge factor for the Eagles. He just needs to stay healthy.

Alex Amidon Honestly at this point I might as well just leave him in this section. His first touchdown on the WR screen, after Rettig optioned out of a run was a thing of beauty.  He finished the game with only 5 catches, but Rettig only completed 7 passes so keep that in perspective.

The Entire Defense: Just needed to repeat this again, I love all of you.

Discipline: Boston College finished the game with zero penalties. ZERO. That is just great discipline football, and the lack of stupid penalties prevented Wake Forest from getting free downs.

Soul Crushing 4th Quarter Drive: Up by 14, Boston College just needed to control the ball, and keep Wake's offense off the field and that is exactly what they did. The offensive line of Boston College was superb and even with Wake knowing what was coming they still couldn't stop Andre Williams. Remember, flashy high scoring games are fun, but the goal is to win, and that drive is exactly what BC football was, and should be. Physical, tough and grinding.

FIREWORKS AND LIVE EAGLE: I love the exploding flame balls when the players run out of the tunnel, and the fireworks were cool. Plus the eagle was available to be visited during halftime, which I did, and that pretty much rocked my world. SO AWESOME.

The Moderately Bad (Or The Eh Group)

Other Wide Receivers, Not Named Alex Amidon: I would have put this in the ugly section of this post if it wasn't for Spiffy Evans' touch down catch. The wide outs finished this game with two catches for 30 yards. This entire group had trouble getting open, which forced Chase Rettig to either throw it away or tuck it and run. Someone in this group is going to need to step up because good opposing offenses are going to figure out ways to take away Amidon. They looked completely invisible out there, and that is concerning.

Special Teams: Nate Freese's blocked punt could have been a game changer for Boston College, but the defense bailed them out (again THANK YOU DEFENSE). Spiffy Evans was alright, and didn't allow punts to fly by him like he did last week. Didn't see any explosive returns yet, but at least he didn't turn anything over.  Freese connected on his lone attempt, a 31 yard field goal.

Chase Rettig: He made two great passes for touchdowns to Alex Amidon and Spiffy Evans, but otherwise the passing game just wasn't there. He badly underthrew the flea flicker pass, which might be a tough pass to hit, but it still was a bad throw. He's in a tough situation back there because I believe BC does need to throw the ball, but if the wide outs aren't getting open, there is nothing Rettig can do. He can't run the ball, he's too slow, and I'm glad he's not just forcing in passes where a pass shouldn't be made.  He looked very banged up by the second half of the game, limping noticeably, and that is not how you want your quarterback to look.

Two Minute Offense: After years of watching Spaz have Rettig take a knee we got what we wanted last night right? Well we got to see that being aggressive can be a double edged sword. Rettig attempted two passes, and then lost six yards, which forced a punt that was blocked. Should BC be more conservative? I would say no, but I think we need to understand that sometimes this aggressiveness can backfire.

UGLY

Wake Forest's Gameplan: Wake Forest's Jim Grobe decided in the offseason that the Demon Deacon's were going to go to the option offense, which according to ESPN fit Tanner Price's skill set. Let me put this lightly, it was a disaster last night. Two option plays ended with fumbles, the end arounds and misdirection plays did little to nothing, and Wake Forest almost helped BC neutralize Michael Campanaro by choosing to run the ball instead. If Wake can't get anything going against Boston College, FSU/Clemson and other defenses are going to destroy this offense.

ESPN's Effect On Gametime: This game seemed to go on forever, and much of it had to do with the incessant media time outs. Now I get it, they have to make commercial revenue, and believe me I want BC on ESPN, but the second half was ridiculous. Boston College had the game in the bag, Wake Forest was basically surrendering, and yet ESPN dragged out the end of the game and forced the game to go on forever.