Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: Boston College

NC STATE (0-1, 0-0) at BOSTON COLLEGE (1-0, 1-0)

DATE: Saturday, September 8, 2007

TIME: Kickoff: 2:32 p.m. (EDT) at Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill, MA (44,500)

RADIO: Wolfpack Sports Network: 1:30 p.m. (EDT)

TELEVISION: espn2

OPPONENT Last Saturday began with a lot of questions, but ended with a lot of positive answers for Boston College thanks to an inspired defense and Matt Ryan.

The Eagles quarterback threw for five touchdowns and 408 yards, both career highs, as BC rallied from a 14-0 deficit to earn a 38-28 home victory over defending ACC champion Wake Forest. Ryan’s performance earned him ACC Offensive Back of the Week honors.

Most of the pregame questions surrounded the BC defense. Missing from the lineup were some key performers, including injured linebackers Brian Toal (redshirting) and Robert Francois. The day before the game, the Eagles best lineman B.J. Raji was declared academically ineligible. But other players filled the void by forcing four interceptions and holding the normally potent Deacons’ rushing attack to only 2 yards.

Among those who stepped up were linebacker Mark Herzlich who was starting for only the third time in his career and DeJuan Tribble. The senior cornerback was named National Defensive Player of the Week by the Walter Camp Foundation  and ACC Defensive Back of the Week after picking off three passes (two in the end zone) and adding seven solo tackles.

BC faced a case of nerves and adversity early, but managed to overcome two early Wake Forest touchdowns set up by turnovers. With the Deacons up 14-0, the BC offense finally came to life. Ryan engineered a 75-yard drive that ended with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Challenger to put BC on the scoreboard late in the first quarter.

A mistake in the kicking game also helped the Eagles. Sam Swank sliced a 22-yard Wake Forest punt, giving the Eagles the ball at the WF 38. On the next play, Ryan tied the game with 12:09 left in the half when he rolled left and threw back across the field to a wide open Rich Gunnell.

Wake Forest took its final lead with 2:04 to go before the break when tailback A.J. Brooks fumbled at the BC 40. The ball was scooped up by free safety Chip Vaughn, who returned it for a touchdown. About a minute later, Ryan rallied the Eagles again, tying the game at 21-21 with a 21-yard pass that deflected off Justin Jarvis and into the hands of teammate Clarence Megwa.

BC pulled away in the second half, showing a new aggressive style that included a no-huddle scheme when it took a 14-point lead.  The Eagles defense also responded. After quarterback Riley Skinner drove the Deacons to the BC 3, Tribble picked off his second pass in the end zone and returned it 29 yards.

Ryan capitalized with a 71-yard scoring drive that ended when Brandon Robinson hauled in a 10-yard bullet pass that gave BC a 28-21 lead with 7:01 left in the third quarter.

About 2 minutes later Tribble intercepted Skinner for the third time. Ryan then gave the Eagles breathing room, throwing his fifth touchdown pass with 2:39 to play in the third quarter. The 5-yard strike to Gunnell increased BC’s lead to 35-21.

Skinner, who completed 28-of-37 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown for Wake Forest, was injured (separated shoulder) after scrambling from the pocket late in the third quarter and was replaced by Brett Hodges. The redshirt sophomore led Wake Forest on a 77-yard touchdown drive on his first series, hitting Kevin Harris for an 8-yard pass to make it 35-28.

The Demon Deacons' last sustained drive ended when they turned the ball over on downs with 5:55 left in the game. Herzlich and defensive end Nick Larkin stopped Rich Belton’s run into the line on fourth-and-1. Steve Aponavicius, who came out of the stands to make the team last year, kicked a 27-yard field goal with 1:46 left to ice it.

Hodges finished 17-for-23 with one touchdown and an interception in the final minute that sealed the victory for BCthe first for Jeff Jagodzinski as a head coach.

Jagodzinski was offensive coordinator of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers when BC hired him last December after Tom O’Brien left for NC State. Although Jagodzinski came from the pros, he spent 14 years as a college coach, including two successful seasons (1997-98) as offensive coordinator at Boston College under O’Brien.

At BC, his offenses averaged more than 400 yards per game in each of his two seasons. In addition, during both years the Eagles allowed the fewest sacks in the Big East, going from last to first in 1997. Jagodzinski also coached at East Carolina with his current offensive coordinator Steve Logan.

The squad Jagodzinski inherited from O’Brien is solid to say the least and it all starts with Ryan who is the ACC’s premier quarterback. The senior (6-5, 218) led the league in total offense and passing yards last season and is poised for another big year.

Logan’s new offense uses a lot of shifts and motion is very quarterback friendly, giving Ryan more freedom to get into the right play calls based on pre-snap reads at the line of scrimmage. If one game is any indication, it’s also an offense designed to spread the ball around.

Against Wake Forest, Ryan hooked up with 10 different receivers -- including himself, on a ball that was batted at the line.  Of the wideouts, junior Brandon Robinson led the way with 9 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown. Senior Kevin Challenger, who missed pre-season camp with a damaged Esophagus, grabbed  five of Ryan’s throws for 59 yards and a score.

The featured runningbacks, seniors Andre Calendar and L.V Whitworth, are also good receivers. The pair combined for 71 catches last season and more than 1,400 yards rushing. Whitworth was injured in preseason camp and did not play in the Eagles opener.

BC’s offensive line had to find replacements for three, third-year starters, but if the first game was any indication that mission was accomplished. Senior left tackle, Gosder Cherilus (6-7, 319), a fourth-year starter who spent his first three seasons at right tackle, is the best of the bunch. Overall, the Eagles starters up-front average nearly 6-6, 292 pounds, down about 22 pounds from a year ago.

With Raji missing on the defensive line, Nick Larkin takes a leadership role. The redshirt senior end is a third-year starter and solid player. Senior tackle Ron Brace (6-3, 325) is another veteran who is poised for a big year after losing 10-pounds in the off-season.

The linebacker corps seems deep enough to withstand the injuries to Toal and Francois. Middle linebacker, Jolonn Dunbar, is a second-year starter who led the team in stops last season (92) and is on the watch list for the Nagurski Trophy, awarded to the best defensive player in college football. Outside, senior Tyronne Pruitt is a second-year starter while Herzlich (10 stops vs. WF) looks ready to have an outstanding sophomore year.

In the secondary, there is a load of experience. Both Jamie Silva (5-11, 210) who led BC with 11 tackles last Saturday and Tribble (5-9, 190) are redshirt seniors and third-year starters. They are among the best in the ACC. Second-year starter, Paul Anderson (6-1, 208, Jr.) moves from corner to safety while corner Taji Morris looks for a solid senior season after missing several games due to injury last year.

The kicking game looks pretty solid too. Johnny Ayers is a steady, fourth-year starter who averaged 43 yards on six punts against WF.  Aponavicius, a former walk-on, has now earned a scholarship. He’s 9-12 in career field goal attempts, but 0-3 beyond 40-yards. Sophomore, Jeff Smith, who at one point last season led the nation in kickoff return yardage, is not on the depth chart at that position. He’s listed as a back-up runningback with Callender and A.J Brooks returning kicks. Tribble is a dangerous punt returner.

 

NOTES:  Saturday’s game will mark only the fifth meeting between the Wolfpack and Eagles. State won 17-15 last year on a Daniel Evans touchdown pass to John Dunlap in the closing minute. BC dominated 30-10 at Chestnut Hill in 2005 by holding State’s Andre Brown and Toney Baker to a combined 30-yards rushing. That game started State road losing streak that has now reached six in-a-row...How tough is BC quarterback Matt Ryan? He played with a broken foot for most of the 2006 season...Ryan is 15-4 as a starter and could be a Heisman Trophy candidate...Ryan’s 408-yard, five-touchdown performance against WF was the second-best in college football’s opening weekend...State’s Harrison Beck, a Nebraska transfer, will make his first college start against BC...196 of Harrison Beck’s 207 passing yards vs. UCF came in the second half...State is 4-3 in ACC openers since 2000...The Wolfpack has scored only one touchdown on its opening first half drive in the last 13 games... Darrell Blackman recorded 209 all-purpose yards vs. UCF, including a 57-yard punt return that set up a TD...The Wolfpack has lost 8 straight games and is only one loss away from tying the school’s all-time record for consecutive losses set in 1959... State has been held to 24 points or less in 24 of its last 25 games and has a 10-15 record during that span...The Wolfpack’s last overtime game was a 27-21 win at home over Wake Forest in 2004...State is 6-4 in overtime games...BC has won 12 straight home games and has not lost at Alumni Stadium since September 17, 2005 (FSU)...The Eagles have 17 players who have earned their undergraduate degrees as of August 31the most of any football program in the nation....State’s defense allowed UCF no points and only 38 total yards in the second half last Saturday.

INJURIES--NC State: RB Toney Baker (knee)out for season; TE Anthony Hill (knee)-out for season; FB John Kane (concussion)-out for season; TE Rashad Phillips (rehab from auto accident)-out for season. BC: DT B.J. Raji (academics)-unknown; LB Brian Toal (shoulder)-out for year, redshirting; LB Robert Francois-probable; RB L.V. Whitworth-probable.

 

North Carolina State University Athletics

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