The Two Minute Drill: A Tough, Physical Defense Full of Budding Stars

Dan Rubin: It's Wednesday, which means it's time for us to break down the Eagles and see some of the key points we agree or disagree on. Kind of a short one this week given that we addressed the QB situation already, so there isn't a ton for us to discuss.

AJ, I think people are forgetting something. This defense is insanely good, and it just SHUT DOWN Dalvin Cook and the Florida State offense. Even in defeat, they played strong. What's your biggest takeaway of the unit thus far?.

AJ Black: This may be one of the best defense I have ever seen at Boston College. Sure BC has had some phenomenal players (BJ Raji, Mark Herzlch, Luke Kuechly), but as a unit this team has the potential to be one of the deepest and most dominant, especially given the schemes of Don Brown. There is so much talent up front, and BC's ability to roll out a seemingless endless supply of players up front keeps them from falling apart late in games. That depth was huge on Friday night. BC's offense was completely stalled out, forcing the D back on the field after short breaks, and yet BC was still able to hold FSU to under 200 yards. That is dominance and talent right there.

Dan Rubin: That's a good point. In terms of individual players, who stands out the most for you?

AJ Black: I've said it multiple times, but Harold Landry is the man right now. He led the Eagles in tackles and sacks on Friday, and continues to just make big plays when BC needs it the most. FSU is a really good team, and still Landry stood out, I have to imagine that he is only going to get better. On our radio show Jon Meterparel said he may grow to become a first round talent at BC, I thought at first Meter was being a little generous, but after watching Landry the first few weeks, I have to think the NFL is a strong possibility for the sophomore.

How about you Dan? Who has stood out for you?

Dan Rubin: I've been very impressed with the play of Kamrin Moore. Before the season, I didn't really expect his name to be a factor. I knew Isaac Yiadom would be on one corner, but I figured either Atem Atantang or Lukas Denis would play the majority of time. Moore's a big body, and he moves very well. He does a great job of masking coverage so a receiver appears open, and then he does a better job of closing.

Against FSU, he had a couple of really clutch plays. He broke up a couple of plays along the sideline where he had to close on an open receiver, and he did a really great job of providing lockdown coverage. I'm curious to see where and how opponents throw at him in the future, especially against a fast-moving team like NIU.

AJ, I'm really trying to take the approach of "onto NIU" this week. This is a very different offensive style than what they saw against FSU. What are some of the potential issues that they could run into against Drew Hare and the Huskies offense?

AJ Black: I got the opportunity to watch NIU on Saturday against Ohio State, and they are a team that should make BC fans nervous. Hare is a mobile quarterback, like his predecessor Jordan Lynch, but what struck me was that he has a fairly accurate arm. He is more mobile than Everett Golson, so again if I were Don Brown I would want to keep Hare in the pocket, but if they do that, it could be up to the secondary to stop NIU. The Huskies are a very multi-faceted offense, that can beat you in a bunch of different ways, and they almost beat Ohio State, something that should raise eyebrows around here.

No-Huddle Offense

Dan: AJ, BC drew 39,000-plus fans to the Florida State game and it was one of the highest rated Friday night football telecasts in three years for ESPN. What was your takeaway from the gameday atmosphere?

AJ: For a Friday night I thought it was pretty good, and it could have been electric if BC could had some success on offense. I didn't check out ESPN, because honestly I didn't care, but I heard people enjoyed it.

Dan, there was some talk about music BC needs to improve atmosphere. What would you like to see either the band play or for BC to play over the loud speaker?

Dan: I thought BC did a great job with the atmosphere on Friday night, but I think maybe some more attention can be paid to some of the video board stuff. Look, I'm an A/V nerd, and I love that stuff. The intro they had for FSU was fantastic. I would love to see more video graphics signaling the crowd to get loud. While it's a little hokey and gimmick-y, it's necessary at times to get the crowd going.

Last question. Tony Romo's broken collarbone deep-sixed a lot of fantasy teams. Taking some of the big names out of the equation, who's the QB you should be looking for if you need a replacement?

AJ: Don't bring this up, I have Romo. But in terms of young QB's I would look at guys like Derek Carr of the Raiders or Teddy Bridgewater of the Vikings.

Dan: I swear I didn't know that you had him. I say go with Derek Carr or even give a sniff to Johnny Manziel. The Raiders are one of my sleeper picks, and Cleveland can't be bad forever, right?