A couple of days ago, BCEagle in Atlanta played host to StatefansNation in a guest blogging exchange. Today, we reverse the roles and preview Saturday’s Boston College game with Eagle’s answers.
Q1: The Boston College quarterback situation has been very interesting to follow this season. What are your personal thoughts about the Porter vs Ryan situation and the way that Tom O’Brien has chosen to deal with the position?
Which ever QB took over was going to have big shoes to fill. Paul Peterson was not a national name, but he was a BC favorite and 12-2 as a stater. I hoped Porter would do well, but haven’t really been in his camp since the first 5 minutes of the Florida State game. I understood why the coaches went with him, but I honestly felt it should’ve been Ryan’s job after the Clemson game.
Ryan has the better arm and seems to make better decisions during the game. I don’t know if he’ll be an All-American before his time is up, but clearly we’ve seen the best Porter has to offer and it was not good. Ryan has the upside, so I am glad we are going with him. As for why O’Brien stuck with Porter…no one has a clear answer. The answer he gave was that they felt Quinton gave us the better chance. Not many bought that. I think there were numerous reasons why he stuck with him. Some of it was O’Brien’s reliance on seniority and paying your dues, some was that they feel they owe it to Porter and some was probably just good old fashion stubborness. Whatever the reason, I think it cost us two games.
Q2: From the NC State perspective, we believe that our defense can/will keep us in any game…and therefore our offense’s productivity and efficiency is the key to our winning. Additionally, the emergence of Andre Brown as a featured back has relieved significant pressure from our quarterback position (currently Marcus Stone) and allowed State to be more effective (especially in the 2nd half) on passing downs. How does this newly balanced offense match up with BC’s defense? What do the Eagles do well (not well) on defense that Wolfpackers should watch for on Saturday?
The most obvious thing we do well is keep people out of the endzone. We definetly bend but don’t break. We allow a lot of yardage, but bear down in the redzone. I am worried about how long we can keep it up. By design our defense can be picked apart with the short passing game. We’ve been pretty good against the run and the big play. As for what BC doesn’t do well: getting pressure on the passer with just the front line. Injuries inexperience and the opponents going max protect, have prevented our guys from getting to the quarterback. We’ve started to use a variety of blitz packages. They were effective earlier in the season, but less successful against the Hokies and Heels. I assume we’ll do the same against NC State. If we get to Stone, I think we win.
Q3: Welcome to the ACC. Although you haven’t made it through a full cycle/year as of yet, we’d love to hear any thoughts (general or specific) on what you think of the conference, the individual teams, and the football that you have been watching? How do these thoughts support or differ from your presumptions/expectations prior to joining the conference?
I think most BC fans love the move to the ACC. The only real surprise was the Virginia Brad Butler incident. I think BC fans were dissapointed in Al Groh’s reaction and for it happening in the first place. I don’t think it is an example of life in the new conference, but it did upset many.
Bonus Question: What is your favorite restaurant in the North End.
It is hard to go wrong in the North End. All the restaurants are good. Instead of one restaurant, I would recommend Bova Bakery. Great bread and great Italian cakes and cookies.
Click here for BC Eagles’ preview and prediction of Saturday’s game
