Many FBS football teams experience extreme games that extend to opposite ends of the spectrum during the course of a 12-game season.
There is the game where a team plays way beyond its capabilities against a superior opponent. Then there is the game where they get blitzed from the onset and end up on the business end of an embarrassing blowout. The Boston College Eagles reached both extremities over the course of consecutive games against the top two teams in the ACC.
The Eagles came within three points of knocking off No. 3 Florida State in a 31-29 home loss on Sept. 16. BC was a 24.5-point underdog and FSU’s margin of victory was a missed PAT kick and errant PAT pass. On Saturday the Seminoles went into Death Valley and knocked off defending ACC champion Clemson to maintain its share of first place in the realigned conference.
The Eagles’ season bottomed out last Saturday when the Louisville Cardinals scored touchdowns on their opening seven possessions enroute a to 56-28 victory at L&N Stadium. Louisville (4-0, 2-0) is tied with FSU (4-0, 2-0) atop the ACC food chain.
The Eagles (0-2, 1-3) must get north of the equator between Florida State and Louisville when they host the Virginia Cavaliers (0-1, 0-4) in an ACC match on Saturday (2) at Alumni Stadium.
“We didn’t look like ourselves, we looked a little sluggish and a little slow at certain positions but certainly not all,” said BC coach Jeff Hafley during his weekly press briefing on Monday at the Yawkey Center.
“I think some guys played well and we had good talks among ourselves and watched the tape critically. We looked at ourselves first but our job is to make sure our guys are fresh and feel good.
“We have to look at practice and reps and we all have to work together and be ready to go. I think we have a really good plan going forward. Our guys are excited to get back to work and get the taste of that last game out of their mouths.”
BC dual threat quarterback Thomas Castellanos, a sophomore transfer from Central Florida, was able to make the final score look more respectable that it really was. Louisville’s lightning start took BC out of his running game and put the offensive burden on Castellanos.
Castellanos led BC in rushing with 49 net yards on 10 carries that included a 39-yard touchdown run that made it 28-7 at 3:05 of the second quarter.
Castellanos completed 17-of-33 passes to nine different receivers for 265 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Castellanos was sacked three times and that deducted 17 yards from his rushing total.
Castellanos has played in four games and started three. His 909 passing yards through four games is the third highest total by a BC quarterback in his first four games behind Shawn Halloran (1985) and Phil Jurkovec (2020).
“The offense is getting better and I think the quarterback is getting better and our offensive line has drastically improved,” said Hafley. “There is improvement there and I think Thomas is starting to be more consistent. The wideouts are probably more comfortable with him now because he’s played more games.”
The Name is Bond
BC redshirt sophomore wide receiver Lewis Bond was the perfect candidate to jump the transfer portal after spending two seasons as an addendum in the Eagles’ passing game.
“It’s one of those stories where all these kids want to get into the transfer portal if they are not playing by their second year and that is the reason I appreciate Lewis so much,” said Hafley. “Lewis and I had conversations after his first and second year about the transfer portal but he didn’t go and he kept on working.”
Bond is the Eagles leading receiver with 16 receptions for 246 yards and four touchdowns with a 15.4 average and a knack for making yards after catch and showing up in the red zone. Bond had four catches for 71 yards with 64 yards after the catch and two touchdowns against Louisville.
Disconnect on defense
Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer has one of the greatest statistically efficient outputs in program history by a signal-caller not named Lamar Jackson. Plummer completed 18-of-21 passes for 388 yards and five touchdowns with a long of 75, which was actually a screen pass to tailback Jawhar Jordan. Plummer was voted the ACC quarterback of the week on Monday.
The Eagles problems against the Cardinals passing attack were twofold. The Eagles had two sacks but only one quarterback hurry and that allowed Plummer time to go deep.
On the backend, the Eagles secondary had one pass breakup and were routinely turnstiled by the Cardinals’ speedy receivers Jamari Thrash, Ahmari Huggins-Bruce, and Kevin Coleman.
“On Saturday it was a combination of it all,” said Hafley. “You look at the passing yards and some were thrown over our nickel’s head a one-yard pass turned into a 75-yard play.”
