Film Room: Analyzing What Went Wrong for BC's O-Line at Virginia Tech
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Boston College's offensive line has been bad through the first two weeks of the season.
The Eagles' inexperience showed up in the opener against Rutgers. That said, it was explicit last weekend at Virginia Tech, where BC allowed five sacks and five additional quarterback hits. What's more, the Eagles—who netted -1 yard over their first six drives —rushed for a total of four yards on 26 carries.
BC's offensive line, which began the year with zero returning starters, entered Week 3 ranked 82nd in Pro Football Focus pass blocking grade (60.8) and 121st in PFF run blocking grade (47.5). BC is tied for last in the ACC and 123rd in the FBS with nine sacks allowed. And the Eagles' 16.5 rushing yards per game is dead last in the country.
To make matters worse, as of Saturday morning, right tackle Kevin Cline is out for the year with an ACL tear—the same injury right guard Christian Mahogany suffered in late spring. Plus, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel, left tackle Ozzy Trapilo is now "week-to-week" (was previously "day-to-day") with a knee injury of his own.
If you want the TL;DR on BC's offensive line issues, here it is: After the 2021 season, the Eagles lost four starting offensive linemen to graduation/the NFL. Then their lone returning starter tore his ACL in May. Then, of BC's five new starters this fall, two have sustained knee injuries, one of which is another torn ACL.
Story: Cline Out for the Year With ACL Tear
Story: Hafley on Adding Portal O-Linemen: 'It's Not Always That Easy'
Ok, now back to the Virginia Tech game. Boy, was it ugly. I turned back the tape to review what exactly went wrong for BC's offensive line.
First, a PFF snap/grade breakdown...
62 snaps - LT Jack Conley (54.8 PBLK Grade, 51.5 RBLK Grade; 4 pressures allowed)62 snaps - C Drew Kendall (78.7 PBLK Grade, 46.1 RBLK Grade; 0 pressures allowed)
53 snaps - RG Dwayne Allick (39.6 PBLK Grade, 63.9 RBLK Grade; 2 pressures allowed)
41 snaps - LG Finn Dirstine (69.1 PBLK Grade, 65.4 RBLK Grade; 0 pressures allowed)
37 snaps - RT Kevin Cline (76.4 PBLK Grade, 43.5 RBLK Grade; 2 pressures allowed)
30 snaps - LG Jackson Ness (19.3 PBLK Grade, 58.0 RBLK Grade; 4 pressures allowed)
25 snaps - RT Nick Thomas (20.0 PBLK Grade, 66.2 RBLK Grade; 4 pressures allowed)
Outlook: Nick Thomas replaced an injured Cline in the third quarter. But redshirt junior Jackson Ness—who converted from the D-Line this offseason—rotated with Finn Dirstine at left guard. Ness ended up playing 30 snaps against the Hokies, per PFF, only 11 fewer snaps than Dirstine, who was the Week 1 starter at the position.
Interior penetration meant BC's RBs had no room to run...
Right from the jump, Virginia Tech was getting interior penetration. Here Kendall climbs to the second level to block Hokies linebacker Dax Hollifield, but Hollifield quickly shakes the redshirt freshman and goes low to take out running back Pat Garwo III near the line of scrimmage. While Kendall was actually fine in pass protection last week, he struggled mightily in the run game, at times looking a tad lost.
For instance, look at this zone-run play from the fourth quarter. First of all, this is some sloppy pulling. Allick does fine, but Dirstine struggles to get around Thomas, trapping running back Alec Sinkfield. Virginia Tech gets a bunch of hats to the ball, and a big reason why is because the Eagles whiff on a few blocks. Kendall stumbles after missing Hokies D-Lineman Norell Pollard. And Conley doesn't track Hollifield correctly in the second level.
Yes, BC is trying to minimize the number of hits Jurkovec takes. But, until the Eagles can get something going with their traditional run game, they'll have to utilize Jurkovec's dual-threat ability to help open up the offense. He needs blocking, though. A lot was going on this option play from the first quarter. It honestly looked like Virginia Tech jumped. Nevertheless, Dirstine gets backed up and nearly trips tight end George Takacs on his pull. Also, wide receiver Jaden Williams has to do a better job helping out in this situation.
Virginia Tech defensive end TyJuan Garbutt—the ACC's Defensive Lineman of the Week—had himself a field day against BC. Here in the second quarter, Garbutt beats Cline with an inside move and stuffs Garwo near the goal line. Often, the Eagles were a step slow, either outside or inside, both blocking for the run and the pass.
This is more just an example of how good Garwo's vision is, as the 5-foot-8, 208-pound back wiggles his way for a productive first down gain in the second quarter. The blocking here is better, although everything is so congested. You can see Ness driving his defender toward Garwo's running lane.
The Eagles had chances on screens yet couldn't follow through...
This was a 3rd-and-12 at the beginning of the second quarter. It was the play right after quarterback Phil Jurkovec overthrew Williams, who blew the top off the Hokies' secondary. There was a first down to be had here. Dirstine and Kendall are in appropriate positions, however, Kendall can't lay down the block on Virginia Tech defensive back Jalen Stroman. Up ahead, though, Takacs couldn't hold his block, either.
BC was getting beat repeatedly in pass protection, often with speed...
Here, BC got beat inside and outside. Garbutt used a speed rush to get by Conley. Jurkovec tried to step up in the pocket, however, he was met by Virginia Tech's Pollard who worked his way around Kendall.
This time, Cline was the culprit. He couldn't slide to the edge before Hokies D-Lineman Cole Nelson veered around the 6-foot-6 right tackle and sacked Jurkovec.
Adding a bit of variety to his highlight-reel performance, Garbutt hits Conley with a bull rush here. Garbutt flexes his strength, backing Conley into Jurkovec, who was lucky enough to get the ball away here and avoid a safety. Luckily for BC, Danny Longman booted a 76-yard punt on the next play, flipping the field in the process.
Thomas was thrown into the fire. And it wasn't all bad for the former preferred walk-on. After all, he was in for the Eagles' lone touchdown drive. It helped that BC was going up-tempo on that series. Still, the redshirt freshman allowed four pressures in 25 snaps, according to PFF. Here, he was pancaked by Hokies D-Lineman CJ McCray. The Eagles are going to need to give Thomas some help, especially against Maine Saturday night when he's playing left tackle.
