Another Week, Another Dual-Threat QB for BC’s Defense
Andy Backstrom
Staff Writer
Boston College had no answer for Malik Cunningham last week.
The Louisville quarterback accounted for 427 of the Cardinals’ 493 total yards, or 86.6% of their offensive output. When scrambling, he often sprinted by the Eagles’ quarterback spy, and, on the speed option, Cunningham did his best Lamar Jackson impression, elusively picking up chunks of yards at a time, occasionally tying off runs with a smooth spin move.
Cunningham strung together gains of 18, 19, and 20 rushing yards on Louisville’s first touchdown drive of the game and finished with 133 yards on the ground. Not only that, but he also hit on 19-of-31 passes for 294 yards with two scores and one pick.
He wasn’t the first dual-threat quarterback to exploit a weakness in an otherwise vastly improved Eagles defense. The past six games, signal callers have rushed for an average of 73.7 yards against BC, dating back to Hendon Hooker’s 164-yard, three-touchdown performance in Virginia Tech’s 40-14 win over the Eagles on Oct. 17.
“We need to get ’em down in the open field,” Hafley said Tuesday. “We’re still missing tackles. Schematically, we’ve gotten better. We’re getting more hats to the ball when it involves the quarterback run game. … It’s definitely how people are trying to attack us now. Clearly.”
Hafley added: “We will do a better job at stopping the quarterback run game.”
BC will have one last chance to get it right before the end of the regular season when Tem Lukabu’s defense squares off against Brennan Armstrong at Virginia this weekend.
In addition to throwing for 1,571 yards and 15 touchdowns—the sixth-most of any ACC quarterback this year—in seven games, the left-handed redshirt sophomore has logged 94 carries, 12 more than any other player on UVA’s roster. He’s the Cavaliers’ (4-4, 3-4 Atlantic Coast) leading rusher with 399 yards and is tied for the team lead with four rushing touchdowns.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Armstrong has notched 45 or more yards on the ground in all but one game this year—which he left early with a concussion—and, on four separate occasions, he’s reached or eclipsed the 60-yard rushing mark. Most notably, he carried the ball 22 times for 89 yards at then-No. 1 Clemson and 19 times for 91 yards at then-No. 11 Miami.
Although Armstrong may not have the speed of his predecessor (two-year starter Bryce Perkins), he’s certainly capable of turning on the accelerator. In fact, the underclassman has busted out a run of at least 20 yards in four of his seven games this season.
He can also carry the rock with power and bounce off defenders like a bruising tailback, which has proved particularly effective near the goal line.
“As a DB, we just gotta make sure when the ball gets out, we gotta come up and make the play and keep our eyes on the quarterback and just do our job really,” BC sophomore cornerback Josh DeBerry said Tuesday.
Similar to Louisville, UVA’s offense has a bunch of different looks. As Hafley explained to the media on Wednesday, Cavaliers offensive coordinator Robert Anae uses a handful of personnel groupings. Sometimes, UVA lines up with two tight ends and no backs. Others, the ’Hoos have three wide receivers split outside. And sometimes they even bring in two quarterbacks at once.
Armstrong can boot off play-action, plow up the middle on a quarterback-designed run, or pull the ball on the zone-read. He’s shown the ability to do it all in his first year as UVA’s starter.
Just like last week against Cunningham, it will be a tall task for the Eagles to bring Armstrong down behind the line of scrimmage. The Cavaliers, whose O-Line has the 19th-highest Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade in the FBS, have given up only 1.75 sacks per game this year, the second-fewest in the ACC.
“They’re a good O-Line up front,” Valdez said. “We’re gonna have our plan to get after the quarterback, but he’s running a lot, so we’ve gotta really cage him in. We’re gonna have our calls where we’re gonna come after him, and we’re gonna have calls where we’re going to be caging him in. … I think we’ll be able to get after him and get him on the ground.”
Of course, containing Armstrong won’t be BC’s sole challenge. Since returning from injury, the Cavaliers’ quarterback, who Hafley said “seems to have a really good command of the huddle,” has thrown 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions. In that span, UVA has gone 3-1 with an upset win over then-No. 15 North Carolina.
Cutting down on turnovers has paid dividends. Armstrong was picked off six times in his first three games, two of which the Cavaliers lost.
“I marvel sometimes, just that arm strength and some of the throws that he makes in some of the windows that he throws them into,” UVA head coach Bronco Mendenhall said, per Richmond Times-Dispatch. “And his confidence and how fast he makes decisions.”
Armstrong ranks sixth in the ACC in total offense with 281.4 yards per game, three spots ahead of BC’s Phil Jurkovec.
If Armstrong gets loose on Saturday, he could spoil the Eagles’ regular season finale.
Andy Backstrom
Staff Writer
Boston College had no answer for Malik Cunningham last week.
The Louisville quarterback accounted for 427 of the Cardinals’ 493 total yards, or 86.6% of their offensive output. When scrambling, he often sprinted by the Eagles’ quarterback spy, and, on the speed option, Cunningham did his best Lamar Jackson impression, elusively picking up chunks of yards at a time, occasionally tying off runs with a smooth spin move.
Cunningham strung together gains of 18, 19, and 20 rushing yards on Louisville’s first touchdown drive of the game and finished with 133 yards on the ground. Not only that, but he also hit on 19-of-31 passes for 294 yards with two scores and one pick.
He wasn’t the first dual-threat quarterback to exploit a weakness in an otherwise vastly improved Eagles defense. The past six games, signal callers have rushed for an average of 73.7 yards against BC, dating back to Hendon Hooker’s 164-yard, three-touchdown performance in Virginia Tech’s 40-14 win over the Eagles on Oct. 17.
“We need to get ’em down in the open field,” Hafley said Tuesday. “We’re still missing tackles. Schematically, we’ve gotten better. We’re getting more hats to the ball when it involves the quarterback run game. … It’s definitely how people are trying to attack us now. Clearly.”
Hafley added: “We will do a better job at stopping the quarterback run game.”
BC will have one last chance to get it right before the end of the regular season when Tem Lukabu’s defense squares off against Brennan Armstrong at Virginia this weekend.
In addition to throwing for 1,571 yards and 15 touchdowns—the sixth-most of any ACC quarterback this year—in seven games, the left-handed redshirt sophomore has logged 94 carries, 12 more than any other player on UVA’s roster. He’s the Cavaliers’ (4-4, 3-4 Atlantic Coast) leading rusher with 399 yards and is tied for the team lead with four rushing touchdowns.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Armstrong has notched 45 or more yards on the ground in all but one game this year—which he left early with a concussion—and, on four separate occasions, he’s reached or eclipsed the 60-yard rushing mark. Most notably, he carried the ball 22 times for 89 yards at then-No. 1 Clemson and 19 times for 91 yards at then-No. 11 Miami.
Although Armstrong may not have the speed of his predecessor (two-year starter Bryce Perkins), he’s certainly capable of turning on the accelerator. In fact, the underclassman has busted out a run of at least 20 yards in four of his seven games this season.
He can also carry the rock with power and bounce off defenders like a bruising tailback, which has proved particularly effective near the goal line.
“As a DB, we just gotta make sure when the ball gets out, we gotta come up and make the play and keep our eyes on the quarterback and just do our job really,” BC sophomore cornerback Josh DeBerry said Tuesday.
Similar to Louisville, UVA’s offense has a bunch of different looks. As Hafley explained to the media on Wednesday, Cavaliers offensive coordinator Robert Anae uses a handful of personnel groupings. Sometimes, UVA lines up with two tight ends and no backs. Others, the ’Hoos have three wide receivers split outside. And sometimes they even bring in two quarterbacks at once.
Armstrong can boot off play-action, plow up the middle on a quarterback-designed run, or pull the ball on the zone-read. He’s shown the ability to do it all in his first year as UVA’s starter.
Just like last week against Cunningham, it will be a tall task for the Eagles to bring Armstrong down behind the line of scrimmage. The Cavaliers, whose O-Line has the 19th-highest Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade in the FBS, have given up only 1.75 sacks per game this year, the second-fewest in the ACC.
“They’re a good O-Line up front,” Valdez said. “We’re gonna have our plan to get after the quarterback, but he’s running a lot, so we’ve gotta really cage him in. We’re gonna have our calls where we’re gonna come after him, and we’re gonna have calls where we’re going to be caging him in. … I think we’ll be able to get after him and get him on the ground.”
Of course, containing Armstrong won’t be BC’s sole challenge. Since returning from injury, the Cavaliers’ quarterback, who Hafley said “seems to have a really good command of the huddle,” has thrown 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions. In that span, UVA has gone 3-1 with an upset win over then-No. 15 North Carolina.
Cutting down on turnovers has paid dividends. Armstrong was picked off six times in his first three games, two of which the Cavaliers lost.
“I marvel sometimes, just that arm strength and some of the throws that he makes in some of the windows that he throws them into,” UVA head coach Bronco Mendenhall said, per Richmond Times-Dispatch. “And his confidence and how fast he makes decisions.”
Armstrong ranks sixth in the ACC in total offense with 281.4 yards per game, three spots ahead of BC’s Phil Jurkovec.
If Armstrong gets loose on Saturday, he could spoil the Eagles’ regular season finale.
