Broome Has Jolted BC's Run Game With Change of Pace
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)
Publisher
Boston College rushed for 145 yard yards against Louisville. The Eagles had combined for 128 yards on the ground in their first three games versus Power Five opponents this season.
That stat is quite telling for two reasons: (1) BC's run game was practically non-existent the first four weeks of action and (2) the Eagles—still 129th in rushing yards per game—were finally resuscitated in that department.
BC actually piled up 214 rushing yards in last weekend's win, but the team's net was so much lower due to sacks, kneel downs and quarterback Phil Jurkovec's backward pass fumble.
Nevertheless, that didn't change the fact that the Eagles had life on the ground, which, in turn, benefited Jurkovec in the passing game.
BC wouldn't have enjoyed quite the same success running the ball versus Louisville without true freshman Alex Broome. He carried the rock nine times for 78 yards and a touchdown.
His scoring play went for 40 yards and featured a pair of broken arm tackles. The 5-foot-8, 185-pound Broome now has seven missed tackles forced in just 24 rushing snaps this season, according to Pro Football Focus.
Additionally, Broome has three runs of 15-plus yards—one fewer than RB1 Pat Garwo III—and Broome's breakaway percentage (63.9%) is sixth in the ACC, per PFF.
Breakaway percentage, by the way, is a PFF metric that measures yards gained on runs of 15-plus yards divided by a player's total rushing yards.
While Garwo is a downhill runner, and a pretty good one at that—after all, he became the 19th Eagle all-time to rush for 1,000 yards in a season last year—Broome gives BC a kick in the run game.
"He just has another gear, as far as really being able to take it to the house if you get him in the open field," Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said of Broome this week in his Tuesday press conference.
Broome has seen his snap count increase in each of the four games he has played this year, according to PFF: seven snaps against Rutgers, 16 against Maine, 17 at Florida State and a season-high 23 versus Louisville.
Broome, a Nashville native, became the first Tennessee high school player to sign with BC since Rivals.com started tracking recruiting data in 2002. He rushed for 1,395 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior at Lipscomb Academy, where he added 68 catches and 12 receiving scores last fall.
"He’s got big hips, big legs," Eagles head coach Jeff Hafley said of Broome this week. "He’s hard to tackle because he lowers his pads, and you’re running into his shoulders. Really good balance, really good strength."
Hafley continued: "He’s faster than he looks. He can get going. I mean, those were a couple of explosive runs where he hit."
Two weeks before his breakout performance against Louisville, Broome first turned heads in the second quarter of BC's Week 3 victory over Maine. Amid the Eagles' third consecutive touchdown drive in the first half, Broome converted three totes into 16 rushing yards.
Garwo, who rushed for two touchdowns in that game, talked about how rotating other running backs in like Broome—who he called "very smart, physical, elusive"—keeps everyone's legs fresh.
"It's good because we have a lot of competition," Garwo said at the time. "It's good that we all can get in and play and show our talent. Whoever's in, we know they're going to give their best. Whenever I'm in, I just owe it to them and the offense."
The next week at FSU, Broome found the end zone for the first time in his young Eagles career. He flashed his hands, serving as a check down near the goal line for Jurkovec.
Garwo still commands the most snaps in the backfield. For instance, against Louisville, the redshirt junior registered 31 snaps, eight more than Broome.
But it's clear that offensive coordinator John McNulty, running backs coach Savon Huggins and Hafley like what they're seeing from the true freshman, who is starting to form a nice 1-2 punch with Garwo.
Plus, Broome offers BC help in pass protection. Of BC's players with at least 30 pass blocking snaps this season, per PFF, Broome is fourth with a grade of 70.2. The only Eagles running back ahead of him is Alec Sinkfield.
Broome's uptick in snaps is a byproduct of what he's done with the ones he's gotten.
"Broome deserves to play," Hafley said last Sunday. "Every time he gets on the field, he seems to make something happen."
