Quick Boston College Recap

Got company in from out of town, so got to throw up some thoughts quick or wait several more days. It's pretty clear that I overestimated BC in my preview, so my enthusiasm is a bit more tempered than one might otherwise expect coming off a 25-7 thrashing. BC's offense is still a work in progress (hey, I know another team that has that same problem, and they were playing on the same field last Saturday!), and they just didn't look like a contender on Saturday. But hey, you gotta thrash the non-contenders on your way to a championship. To the bullet points!

Defense

• 2 straight dominant starts against ACC opponents. Absolutely controlled the line, and the secondary looked good in coverage all day (how about that McDaniel, huh?)
• Did I just watch an entire Clemson football game featuring solid individual and team tackling on defense? A sight for sore eyes. (How about that McDaniel, huh?)
• As bad as BC's offense looked, its good to keep in mind they still feature a large and talented (if raw) offensive line. We weren't overwhelming some Division II line.
• Welcome to the land of "living up to your much-hyped potential", Mr. Sapp. Stick around a while, please.

Special Teams

• What can I say? I scoffed at our performance against MTSU, waiting to pass judgement until we faced some quality opponents. Well, the verdict is in: We are freakin' awesome.
• I'll try to expand on this with another post later in the week, but special teams has really been an offensive and defensive weapon for us this season by allowing us to control field position relative to the other team. Sure, Zimmerman is a bit of a weak link but it hasn't mattered much thanks to excellent coverage and excellent returns.
• Let's not forget Richard Jackson. All we need is a game-winning kick for the David Treadwell comparisons to start.

Offense

• Yeah, what do you say? Parker is telegraphing his passes and making some poor decisions, never a good combination. The O-line got very little push, enough for us to occasionally pick up a first down but not enough to establish any consistency. Struggled to execute downfield blocking, resulting in quite a few plays that were blown up before getting started.
• Bad bubble-screen flashbacks (even though I actually like the bubble screen when called on occasion, like once every couple of games in the right situation)
• One thing to keep in mind, though: this lackluster performance came at the hands of a good defense. I was wrong about the state of BC's offense but I will still argue that BC's defense could end up being one of the better we see all season. I thought they had excellent play in the secondary, and they were a disciplined, strong team that was able to consistently push through our blocks. The O-line is never going to dominate a team for four quarters, but that was a tough assignment.
• Unfortunately for us, though, it doesn't look as though things will get too much better until after next week, as TCU has an allegedly good defense.
• Good news on Hairston's injury, though.