Busy week for the Syracuse Orange, obviously. But that doesn't take away from the fact that the team's biggest football rival, the Boston College Eagles, are in town this Saturday. #ORANGEEAGLE POINTS, GET OVER HERE!
Below, A.J. Black (who you can follow on Twitter) from SB Nation's excellent BC Interruption stops by to tell us a little bit more about Boston College. We answered some questions over there too, which you can check out once they're up.
What's Steve Addazio done so well to get the Boston College defense playing at this high of a level? Especially when there really aren't standout players (nationally) on this year's unit.
It isn't really Steve Addazio, it's his defensive coordinator Don Brown that has gotten the defense to where they are right now. They are aggressive, and skilled up and down the line, and for the first time in years they have a dynamite secondary that can make plays. Look for linebackers Steven Daniels and Matt Milano, who are all over the field making plays. Last week Milano was in on two turnovers alone, and Daniels is a bruising hitter. In the secondary watch for safety Justin Simmons, who was named ACC DB of the week after recording two INTs against Notre Dame.
BC's quarterback position clearly fell off a cliff in 2015. Was it just injuries? Or was a lack of depth to blame as well?
Injuries certainly had something to do with it, but that has to be on the coaching staff for having no legitimate back up plan. Darius Wade was groomed to be the starter, but he went down against FSU, and the other three QB's that have come in since have done little to nothing. But there are bigger factors that caused their struggles...
Speaking of falling off a cliff, the Eagles offense has largely stalled out since a big win over Howard. Are the offensive struggles mostly about the above question? Or is there another layer or two to it?
There's a bunch of factors that have led to BC's offensive demise, but honestly I don't think injuries is the biggest problem. The problem starts and ends with the offensive line, which has been horrid this season. They can't run block, they can't pass block, in fact they make so many massive mistakes BC can't do anything on offense. They are improving, but they still look lost at points.
Assessment of Addazio's job right now? This was supposed to be a bit of a step-back year, but it doesn't appear BC fans were expecting this much of a regression.
There are some concerns that certainly have me worried about BC in the future. His lack of creativity on play calling and time management being the biggest concerns. But for the most part BC fans haven't lost hope in his plan. Hopefully if he can get the offensive line back in order BC will turn it around in 2016.
As you know, Scott Shafer was canned at Syracuse. You guys happy? Sad? Non-committal?
Not to say that we didn't see this coming, but we saw this coming. Lifetime defensive coordinator just handed a job after a relatively successful coach? Yeah we knew this story all too well. See Spaziani, Frank.
If there's one unsung Eagles player that Orange fans should look out for, who might that be?
One player on defense that I would watch for is Harold Landry, a sophomore defensive end. He's a 4* DE who came to BC over major SEC school offers, and he hasn't disappointed. He makes big plays, and with the big DT's in the middle, Landry is a good compliment.
Any SU players that you're especially concerned with for Saturday?
Riley Dixon.
Prediction time: Who wins this one, and how?
Going to go crazy here, and say that BC's offensive line somehow figures out how to block, and BC puts up 28-30 points and wins easily. No offense to Syracuse, it's been a brutal season for both of our schools, I just think BC will figure out how to score. 30-13 BC
***
Thanks again for taking the time out for these, A.J.! Be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out BC Interruption for whatever you want to know about Boston College.