It’s usually considered rude to say, “I told you so,” but, ya know, I told you so. As far as predictions go, a 41-13 prediction for a 44-17 game is pretty darn good. But there’s no need to thank me, for I am not psychic. Boston College’s flaws on offense were just that glaring.
The blowout win for NC State signaled an important move forward for the program. In the Tom O’Brien Era, NC State has had an awful knack for winning one or two big games against a major opponent each season, but also losing one or two games against clearly inferior teams. The destruction of Boston College seemed to signal an end to this trend, with State definitely taking apart a lower tiered ACC team, rather than playing down to the competition. With a trip to Greenville coming this week, it was important milestone for a program that had yet to ever beat Boston College under O’Brien.
The team employed a pass happy attack, with Russell dropping back 51 times and completing 38 of those passes for 328 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Russell added another 45 yards on the ground. With Boston College desperate to take away the deep ball, the Wolfpack picked the BC defense apart underneath.
There wasn’t much for State on the ground, as Mustafa Green/Dean Haynes combined for 10 carries and 25 yards. However, the high percentage throw replaced these runs and allowed State to maintain a time of possession advantage. Owen Spencer caught 8 passes for 70 yards and a score, with Jarvis Williams adding 5 receptions for 65 yards and a score of his own.
It was the special teams unit that turned the game in the first quarter, with a blocked punt putting the team up 10-0. Although BC was able to turn a Wilson interception into a field goal at the beginning of the second quarter, that 10-3 score was the closest they would get to the Pack after the blocked punt. The Pack added two quick touchdown drives to make it 24-3, and never looked back.
So what did we learn from this game? Well, first of all, Boston College is looking like a team that is going to be sleeping on the YOU STINK couch in the basement of the Atlantic division. While they did a fine job keeping the State offense stalling early in the game, they simply are not good enough as a unit to carry an offensive unit that represents such dead weight. Their passing game was atrocious, and unless their defense is generating a ton of turnovers, they just are not going to be a team that can score points.
While State did not notch as many sacks as would be expected going in, they did manage to pressure both Shinskie and Marscovetra, who both saw time. The Boston College passing game was barely there, with the Eagle quarterbacks combining for 11-32 passing for only 173 yards, 2 touchdowns and three interceptions, the first interceptions of the season for the Wolfpack defense. To sum it up, BC’s relevancy going forward into the year is pretty close to nil.
What we did not learn is whether or anyone in Raleigh should really all jump back hard onto that “Charlotte or bust” wagon. Yes, a division win is always a good thing, but Boston College turning into such a nonentity has left everyone who follows State unable to draw much conclusions going further. It probably was not a great sign that the run game was so ineffective, and Russell’s interception totals keep going up next week. With Florida State’s demolition of Miami, they are cementing themselves as the class of the division. But at least we now know that we don’t know what we would like to know, rather than knowing that we know what we would rather not know.
Yeah, that confused me too. Until next time Pack fans.
