Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Second viewing thoughts and grades: NC State

Watching this loss back was frustrating but not for the reasons you might think. There were bad calls. There were also moments when Dillon might have made a difference. But ultimately it was frustating to see so many missed opportunities. BC could have and probably should have won that game even without Dillon. NC State is good but didn't play their best. They handed us the game and we didn't take it.

Offense: C+

Brown's passing wasn't great but it probably wasn't as bad as it felt live. He needs to hit the deep balls but there were also some drops. My bigger concern is he doesn't always anticipate the pressure or get rid of the ball before a terrible play. I do like the runs though. I don't know if he is getting more aggressive or getting healthy or both, but being just a slight running threat opens things up.

Glines played well. He ran hard and looked good catching passes. The fumble wasn't his fault. Levy didn't touch it much.

Smith's drops were rough. Catching even one of those might change the game. Sweeney had a nice catch but still needs to work on helping in pass protection. White played well. Walker also had some nice catches when he was open and in traffic.

The Oline was a big part of the challenge in the first half. They were making mistakes, getting run over and not opening up holes. Once NC State stopped loading up on the line things got a bit better. Petrula and Monteiro had some issues pass blocking. Schmal and Baker looked good.

I don't mind being pass first. However, I can't believe that BC sticks with the same plays over and over when they are not executing. Once they brought back the zone read, the run game did improve. But that took until the second half. I also don't know why we didn't use more play action or get Brown out of the pocket more. If he were a great and accurate pocket passer, I would understand. But right now it feels like we don't play to his strengths.

Defense: B-

Allen was awesome. Without him the D would be a total mess. I am surprised Ray is not having a bigger year. Smith was better. Karafa was ok. Glad to Berry get some playing time.

The LBs are really a problem right now. Lots of missed tackles and not much help on the run. McDuffie was pretty active but not with game changing plays. Bletzer was probably the highlight for the whole unit. I am guessing Lamot and Strachan are still not 100%. Richardson's targeting was dumb. He should have known better.

Jones got thrown in the fire and played well. At least better than the guy he was replacing. Torres was fine. Harris missed some tackles but was ok. Palmer had some good moments but his help was too late on one of NC State's big TDs. Denis was forced to play out of position and was pretty good.

I don't think the D was aggressive enough. Finley clearly showed that he could pick us apart. How were we not ready with something to disrupt him early? The lack of pressure and pass rush was too little too late.

Special Teams: A

After being such an issue for most of the year, Special Teams delivered. NC State helped a bit with some mistakes, but our coverage team and punt block team were aggressive and did their part.

Walker had some nice returns.

The kicking and punting was fine.

Overall: C

I'm right in the middle. As reassuring as the near comeback was, the huge hole was beyond frustrating. Did BC makes some adjustments in the second half? Yes. And that isn't always the case with Addazio's guys. I also think he managed the clock and onsides as well as possible. I even understood the early attempt at the 2-point conversion. And on the meltdown scale, I didn't find the fit after the fumble terrible. Is cutting the lead and making it close an improvement over our last road debacle? I guess. But it is still not good enough.

8 comments:

mod34b said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shabby1011 said...

Article in WSJ today on Brees new record and pass happy NFL

“For decades, teams have averaged more passing yards on first down then any other down”

For 1st time since 91 teams are passing more on 1st down then running the ball. Teams average 7.5 yards passing on 1st down and only 6.8 on 2nd/3rd down.

Do you think the Dazzler reads the WSJ?

BCEagles2014 said...

I believe the stat was BC converted just 3 points off of 3 turnovers in the first half. That is absolutely putrid and the sign of bad coaching. A good coach would make their opponent pay for handing the ball back to them. Addazio even admitted the defense was gassed, so what does he do after his defense comes up big with a turnover during a long NC State drive? He runs 2 draws and a telegraphed pass for a quick 3 and out to get his “gassed” D back on the field. The defense has definitely regressed this year, but Addazio has not done them any favors and is most definitely contributing to their struggles.

Shabby1011 said...

Honestly I know the D is getting a lot of criticism this year and some warranted but I don’t think it is nearly as drastic as people are saying

They are definitely a bend don’t break D in a lot of instances. I think they are 12th in the country in red zone D. Further a sign of a good D is they have playmakers and create turnovers.

Their biggest issue is 3rd down conversion rate and a lot of that has to do with lack of depth on front lines so that the D IS exhausted and a weak corner position that gets exploited every game. Also for whatever reason a supposed strength of the team, our linebackers, have had a poor year to date. Agree with ATL that we need to be more aggressive with the blitz throughout the game

We have had 6 very bad quarters and it’s all attributable to poor playcalling and poor QB play. BC can still have a great year but unless we get more consistent aggressive play calling that we only see in spurts and better play from Brown we could be 6-6.

JBQ said...

@Shabby1011: 6-6 beats the LV odds of 5.5. He is still owed 5 mill for two more years. He is going nowhere except for the winter in Florida.----Loeffler was a very good O.C. at Va Tech. He threw on first down. I believe that he was there when Matt Ryan pulled off his miracle in 2008. There has to be a conference in the the Dazzler's office before the game to set the strategy. If you take off the handcuffs, Loeffler would deliver.

Knucklehead said...

How do those individual grades result in a lower final grade?

Mod math.

Unknown said...

Foolish to say that BC probably should have won the game. You could just as easily say BC should have lost by about 30 points. If NC State doesn't turn it over so much, doesn't have the blocked punt, the blocked FG, etc.

Teams and fans of teams like BC deal in the should haves. Real programs are concerned with the actual Wins and Losses. Maybe someday BC can get away from all of the should have, could have and would have crap and actually start winning.

Shabby1011 said...

5mil total is nothing, drop in the hat..they get $25M check from ACC

A few years ago they were paying buyouts to Spaz, Skinner, Donahue and DeFlip.

It’s all up to the AD. Gene fired/pushed out coaches on the regular. Buyouts and all that had nothing to do with it. Bates who was the softest AD in the world fired Spaz and Donahue. Daz is easily fireable especially if he is only owed 2 years. That narrative is nonsense

MJ will have to do something this year. He either fires him or extends him. No possible way he lets him walk into next year with only 1 year on his deal. It will absolutely kill recruiting, opposing coaches will crush BC. 7-5 puts MJ in a tough spot. 8-4 makes it easy to extend him, 6-6 or below and see you later