Wake Forest: Boston College Players to Watch

Who are the impact players to keep an eye on in #TheRivalry?

Football is finally back, and the Deacs are heading up to Chestnut Hill this weekend for their first real test of the season in #TheRivalry. As always, I will give you a quick look at a couple players of the opposing team that could have a huge impact on the outcome of the game. With that said, lets just jump right into it.

Defense: Harold Landry | Senior DE | #7

This is the easy one. Harold Landry is an absolute monster rushing the quaterback and was a large part of the Eagles’ defense being the best in the nation last season. He led all players in FBS in the 2016 season with an incredible 16.5 sacks and 7 forced fumbles. For his efforts he picked up AP All American 2nd Team and All ACC 2nd Team honors (Seems like a snub to lead the nation in sacks and not be 1st team All ACC). Unfortunately, Landry had one of his best games of the year against our Deacs, wracking up 3 sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss in the Boston College’s 17-14 win over Wake Forest.

Landry decided to forego the NFL draft—a decision that likely disappointed every QB in the ACC— and return to BC for his senior season. He was named an AP Preseason All American and a Preseason All ACC First Team player. He also ranked #9 on Sports Illustrated’s list of the top 100 college players in the nation. Early mock drafts for the 2018 NFL Draft have him going somewhere in the top 10. Basically, Landry is one of the best players in college football and an NFL caliber pass rusher who can absolutely wreak havoc on an opposing offense. Wake Forest will need to try multiple different methods—double teams, chipping with a back or tight end, screens, draws, etc.— to try to nullify his impact on the game.

Offense: Anthony Brown | RS Freshman QB | #13

This was a little more difficult. The Boston College offense was about as bad as their defense was good last season. They ranked right below our Deacs in scoring at 120th with 17.2 ppg and were 125th in yards per game with 276. Since they were so bad last season, I decided to go with a guy who didn’t play last season.

Anthony Brown is the new QB for the Eagles, and in his first game ever against NIU he threw the ball 42 times, completing 26 passes for 191 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 Int. That’s not bad for a first start. Brown is mobile, but ran the ball just 7 times for 10 yards against NIU, which would suggest that he uses his mobility more to keep plays alive and find guys down field rather than scrambling for yards. The key to beating any young QB is pressure. The Deacs need to be in Brown’s face all day and rattle him early, which can lead to rushed, inaccurate throws and interceptions later in the game. BC will likely try to counter this by trying to move Brown out of the pocket on passing downs.