BC Strapping in for Virginia Tech’s Dynamic Run Game
Andy Backstrom
Staff Writer
Boston College has made a colossal jump in practically every major defensive statistical category this season, including run defense. The Eagles added three graduate transfers up front and returned two veteran defensive ends. So far, BC’s only given up 135.8 rushing yards per game, the sixth-fewest in the ACC.
Head coach Jeff Hafley told reporters Tuesday that stopping the run is the number one thing his defense talks about each week.
Put simply, he said that “if we can’t stop the run, we have no chance.”
It’s a mindset that’s especially relevant this week, as the Eagles will be going up against a multi-pronged Hokies rushing attack that ranks third in the country.
“I believe they score 43 points a game, run for 300 yards a game,” Hafley said. “Those are like video game stats. I don’t know if I’ve ever coached against a team that ran for 300 yards a game before.”
Virginia Tech’s offense has a collection of dangerous ball carries, but the Hokies’ dominance on the ground starts with a pair of familiar faces: Khalil Herbert and Raheem Blackshear.
Both are transfers who did a number on BC’s woeful 2019 defense. Herbert, who spent his undergrad years at Kansas, embarrassed the Eagles last September with 187 yards and a touchdown on just 11 carries. Now with a chance to shine in Blacksburg, Herbert has drawn the national spotlight. He’s only played three games, and he ranks fifth nationally with 449 rushing yards, while averaging a whopping 10.4 yards per carry.
Blackshear, a redshirt junior, spent his first three years at Rutgers. During BC’s road win over the Scarlet Knights last season, the shifty 5-foot-9 back gave the Eagles fits, as a receiver out of the backfield more than anything. Blackshear had nine catches for 130 yards, including a 74-yard catch-and-run touchdown where he slipped past linebacker Max Richardson, reeled in the pass, and made a bee-line for the end zone.
Safety Jahmin Muse knows that BC has to wrap up the Hokies’ running backs on Saturday night. He emphasized the importance of defenders bringing their hips in and running through each tackle.
“You’ve just got to let it fly,” Muse said. “If his hips are high, you’ve got to let it fly. You can’t stop your feet. You’ve gotta take that grass. … If you take the grass, you’re going to be okay.”
When it comes to play-action, the hard-hitting redshirt junior said that there can’t be any “eye violators”—in other words, a player who takes their eyes off their coverage assignment.
Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente announced Monday that Hendon Hooker, who won his first six starts last season and nearly led the Hokies to the ACC title game, will start this weekend. Three different Virginia Tech quarterbacks have seen the field this fall: Hooker, Oregon transfer Braxton Burmeister, and Quincy Patterson II.
Burmeister started the first two games of the season with mixed results, completing just 16 of his 36 pass attempts in a pair of Hokies wins. Hooker was thrown back into action at No. 8 UNC, where he accounted for three second-half touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) and turned a blowout into a respectable loss.
“They both can run the football,” Hafley said. “They both can throw it. It’s not like we’re going and playing a guy who sits back in the pocket like a statue, and then the other guy comes in and he runs all over the place. They’re both very athletic, they both play with juice.”
Hafley elaborated that he and his staff are preparing for Virginia Tech’s offensive scheme rather than a specific quarterback.
He also shouted out Hokies tight end James Mitchell, who leads Virginia Tech with 194 receiving yards and, according to Hafley, might be the best tight end the Eagles have faced this season. The rookie head coach touched on Virginia Tech’s special teams prowess, too.
But Hafley remains focused on self-improvement. Despite the 3-1 start, he understands that this is a pivotal moment in the Eagles’ 2020 campaign.
“Now’s the time to push, and now’s the time to take care of the little things, and now’s the time to get better,” Hafley said. “Because now’s where you’ll see teams go in two different ways: they won’t continue to get better, or they will.”
Here are some other tid-bits from Tuesday’s presser:
Zay Flowers worked out with Antonio Brown during quarantine
When asked about what wide receivers he models his game after, Zay Flowers mentioned four-time First-Team All-Pro Antonio Brown and Baltimore Ravens wideout Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. Flowers said that he’s studied Brown closely the past two years and even got the chance to work out with him before he returned to campus in June.
The sophomore playmaker explained that offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. contacted Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith—who Cignetti coached with the Giants in 2017—and Smith invited Flowers to work out with him and Brown at a Florida golf course.
Flowers talked about how Brown taught him to hold his line on deep balls, make every release look the same, and let downfield passes come over his opposite shoulder.
“Explosives change a game.”
Hafley discussed how explosive plays, on both sides of the ball, often dictate the outcome of a contest. Defensively, he said that if you can minimize chunk yardage, you’re going to eventually force a team into making mistakes.
On the flip side, offensively, Hafley pointed out that the big play can set the stage for a balanced scheme. For instance, taking the top off an opponents’ defense, which the Eagles did twice against Pitt, can help free up space in the box for the run game.
“Once we do that, then we’ve got a team right where we want em,” Hafley said.
Hafley set to coach his first game with fans
Year in and year out, Lane Stadium is ranked as one of the loudest stadiums in college football. That won’t be the case Saturday night due to COVID-19 restrictions, but there will be fans in attendance. The Hokies played their season opener against N.C. State with a crowd of about 1,000 people, largely consisting of friends and family of players and staff members.
Still, it’s a crowd.
And it’s the first game of Hafley’s head coaching career where he’ll coach in a stadium with fans. He wishes that circumstances would safely allow Alumni Stadium to host fans, too.
“It’s sad that the students can’t come and watch our games right now ’cause they all have been exciting,” he said. “And for them not being able to walk down to the stadium—I know it is what it is right now: 2020 is hard, and COVID’s hard, and we have to be safe.
“I just wish that they had the opportunity.”
Andy Backstrom
Staff Writer
Boston College has made a colossal jump in practically every major defensive statistical category this season, including run defense. The Eagles added three graduate transfers up front and returned two veteran defensive ends. So far, BC’s only given up 135.8 rushing yards per game, the sixth-fewest in the ACC.
Head coach Jeff Hafley told reporters Tuesday that stopping the run is the number one thing his defense talks about each week.
Put simply, he said that “if we can’t stop the run, we have no chance.”
It’s a mindset that’s especially relevant this week, as the Eagles will be going up against a multi-pronged Hokies rushing attack that ranks third in the country.
“I believe they score 43 points a game, run for 300 yards a game,” Hafley said. “Those are like video game stats. I don’t know if I’ve ever coached against a team that ran for 300 yards a game before.”
Virginia Tech’s offense has a collection of dangerous ball carries, but the Hokies’ dominance on the ground starts with a pair of familiar faces: Khalil Herbert and Raheem Blackshear.
Both are transfers who did a number on BC’s woeful 2019 defense. Herbert, who spent his undergrad years at Kansas, embarrassed the Eagles last September with 187 yards and a touchdown on just 11 carries. Now with a chance to shine in Blacksburg, Herbert has drawn the national spotlight. He’s only played three games, and he ranks fifth nationally with 449 rushing yards, while averaging a whopping 10.4 yards per carry.
Blackshear, a redshirt junior, spent his first three years at Rutgers. During BC’s road win over the Scarlet Knights last season, the shifty 5-foot-9 back gave the Eagles fits, as a receiver out of the backfield more than anything. Blackshear had nine catches for 130 yards, including a 74-yard catch-and-run touchdown where he slipped past linebacker Max Richardson, reeled in the pass, and made a bee-line for the end zone.
Safety Jahmin Muse knows that BC has to wrap up the Hokies’ running backs on Saturday night. He emphasized the importance of defenders bringing their hips in and running through each tackle.
“You’ve just got to let it fly,” Muse said. “If his hips are high, you’ve got to let it fly. You can’t stop your feet. You’ve gotta take that grass. … If you take the grass, you’re going to be okay.”
When it comes to play-action, the hard-hitting redshirt junior said that there can’t be any “eye violators”—in other words, a player who takes their eyes off their coverage assignment.
Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente announced Monday that Hendon Hooker, who won his first six starts last season and nearly led the Hokies to the ACC title game, will start this weekend. Three different Virginia Tech quarterbacks have seen the field this fall: Hooker, Oregon transfer Braxton Burmeister, and Quincy Patterson II.
Burmeister started the first two games of the season with mixed results, completing just 16 of his 36 pass attempts in a pair of Hokies wins. Hooker was thrown back into action at No. 8 UNC, where he accounted for three second-half touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) and turned a blowout into a respectable loss.
“They both can run the football,” Hafley said. “They both can throw it. It’s not like we’re going and playing a guy who sits back in the pocket like a statue, and then the other guy comes in and he runs all over the place. They’re both very athletic, they both play with juice.”
Hafley elaborated that he and his staff are preparing for Virginia Tech’s offensive scheme rather than a specific quarterback.
He also shouted out Hokies tight end James Mitchell, who leads Virginia Tech with 194 receiving yards and, according to Hafley, might be the best tight end the Eagles have faced this season. The rookie head coach touched on Virginia Tech’s special teams prowess, too.
But Hafley remains focused on self-improvement. Despite the 3-1 start, he understands that this is a pivotal moment in the Eagles’ 2020 campaign.
“Now’s the time to push, and now’s the time to take care of the little things, and now’s the time to get better,” Hafley said. “Because now’s where you’ll see teams go in two different ways: they won’t continue to get better, or they will.”
Here are some other tid-bits from Tuesday’s presser:
Zay Flowers worked out with Antonio Brown during quarantine
When asked about what wide receivers he models his game after, Zay Flowers mentioned four-time First-Team All-Pro Antonio Brown and Baltimore Ravens wideout Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. Flowers said that he’s studied Brown closely the past two years and even got the chance to work out with him before he returned to campus in June.
The sophomore playmaker explained that offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. contacted Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith—who Cignetti coached with the Giants in 2017—and Smith invited Flowers to work out with him and Brown at a Florida golf course.
Flowers talked about how Brown taught him to hold his line on deep balls, make every release look the same, and let downfield passes come over his opposite shoulder.
“Explosives change a game.”
Hafley discussed how explosive plays, on both sides of the ball, often dictate the outcome of a contest. Defensively, he said that if you can minimize chunk yardage, you’re going to eventually force a team into making mistakes.
On the flip side, offensively, Hafley pointed out that the big play can set the stage for a balanced scheme. For instance, taking the top off an opponents’ defense, which the Eagles did twice against Pitt, can help free up space in the box for the run game.
“Once we do that, then we’ve got a team right where we want em,” Hafley said.
Hafley set to coach his first game with fans
Year in and year out, Lane Stadium is ranked as one of the loudest stadiums in college football. That won’t be the case Saturday night due to COVID-19 restrictions, but there will be fans in attendance. The Hokies played their season opener against N.C. State with a crowd of about 1,000 people, largely consisting of friends and family of players and staff members.
Still, it’s a crowd.
And it’s the first game of Hafley’s head coaching career where he’ll coach in a stadium with fans. He wishes that circumstances would safely allow Alumni Stadium to host fans, too.
“It’s sad that the students can’t come and watch our games right now ’cause they all have been exciting,” he said. “And for them not being able to walk down to the stadium—I know it is what it is right now: 2020 is hard, and COVID’s hard, and we have to be safe.
“I just wish that they had the opportunity.”
