Clemson at Boston College Preview: Q&A With BC Interruption

Boston College was historically bad on offense last season and made some significant changes over the offseason. They brought in OC Scot Loeffler and Kentucky transfer QB Patrick Towles (a former 24/7 4*). Through five games, BC is 3-2, but has lost their only two conference games scoring a combined total of 14 points in those games. How do you assess the transition on offense thus far?

The transition on offense has been pretty vanilla to be honest, and with Scot Loeffler coming in, it's not much of a surprise because Steve Addazio is still running the show and this offense seems very similar to last year. It's not hard to guess what they do, as we posted they run the ball 74% of the time on 1st down, which against P5 teams is going no where this year, they do it again on 2nd, and then get into passing situations. Virginia Tech KILLED this offense, and I don't have much faith it will change. The offensive line is still inconsistent at best, dangerously bad at worse, and Towles makes too many errors. Yeah, you can say I'm not a fan of how this offense is progressing. That being said they have made some plays, Hilliman broke off a huge run against GT, Towles does make some nice passes, and former QB Jeff Smith has turned into a pretty solid speedy WR.

When I was in school, Boston College was led by Matt Ryan and was a power in the ACC. It seems BC has had a ton of trouble replacing him. With Patrick Towles departing after this season, how does the pipeline look for QB talent in Chestnut Hill?

Right now it looks like it's a two QB battle between Darius Wade, a redshirt sophomore, and Anthony Brown. Wade has honestly looked pretty impressive to me, and sometimes I wonder if he would be a better fit for this style of offense. He gets rid of the ball quickly, can move it with his legs, and has decent accuracy. That being said, the rumors I hear is that Brown is going to be taking over this offense sooner rather than later. He's electric, and with a little seasoning could be a big weapon on offense. He' just really raw at this point.

As we saw at LSU, failing to recruit and develop QBs can spell the end for otherwise good head coaches. Do you think this could be the fate of Steve Addazio soon or has he built up enough good will in his first two seasons (7-wins each year) that this isn't a serious consideration yet.

Addazio seriously has lost all the good will he gained after the first two seasons. There are now at least a half dozen games in the past two years that his coaching decisions have caused BC to lose (see WF, GT, Duke, Syracuse...I could go on and on). I don't think the inability to develop a QB is necessarily his biggest flaw, I think Addazio's insistence on running a 1920's "POUND THE ROCK" offense with three tight ends and a full back is what's going to end him. Just look back at 2013/14, it's pretty clear that the offensive talent was Ryan Day who customized two solid offenses that were completely different but maximized the talent they had. Since he left, it's been just a series of bad play calling, inability to adjust, and bad bad bad game management. If those problems aren't fixed, and I am starting to believe they won't, that will be the sword Addazio falls on.

BC has already matched last season's win total (3), through just five games. Of course last season, they won three non-conference games as well. Is the goal of this season to make a bowl game? With Syracuse, NC State, Wake Forest, and UConn still upcoming, is this viable?

Yes and Yes.

BC needs to bowl, and they should be able to do it. Their defense is still elite, and while a team like Clemson/Louisville might overwhelm them still, they should be able to shut down the other remaining offenses (FSU included). If Addazio can figure out how to get the offense scoring, 20 points a game, they can get 6 wins. Shouldn't be too hard.

And what is expectation as to where this program should be in the next three or so years?

There are two answers here, and they all depend on how this year shakes up. If BC falls on their face again, and say they don't improve, and win one or gulp zero ACC games again, Addazio will be canned. Two years of this nonsense will be enough, especially after it pretty much mimics what we saw out of Frank Spaziani. If that is the case, BC needs to figure out something for a coach. Whether it's making Don Brown a head coach, or grabbing a BC legacy like Pete Carmichael, or really opening the coffers and trying to make a splash. What they can't do is just settle again on some MAC coach, or a lifelong coordinator (Don Brown excluded, and even I have questions about his age). This is going to set the program back a year or two again, but if that must happen then it must happen.

If Addazio can right the ship, and bowl, I think BC will look to continue to improve, try to get to 8-9 maybe even 10 wins in the near future. He has always said his goal is to win the ACC, which seems light years away right now, but again if his plan works, who knows.

BC is a team that Clemson fans tend to worry about more than one would expect. This may in part be a carry-over from the Matt Ryan days (the 2007 heartbreak in particular), but they've had some closer than expected battles even recently. Do you think BC has the guns to give Clemson a scare, particularly on a short week after an emotional win?

No, I don't. I saw what happened against Virginia Tech when BC was embarrassed in the first half and just quit. I have real worries about the capabilities of our coach, and expect the same old vanilla offense that Clemson and every person in the stands will be waiting for. Our defense may make a few plays like in 2015 to keep it close, but I expect our offense to three and out until my eyes explode. The defense will slowly fade and Watson will do whatever he wants. I am expecting a big Clemson win. 35-7.

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