Image courtesy of ESPN
Kickoff: Big day for the Eagles on Saturday. It’s all ACC play from this point on and given how the conference looks right now, it may be wide open, but only if you take care of business. There are enough good teams where BC can’t really afford to drop more than 1, MAYBE two conference games if they want to make the ACC title game on December 7th. It’s a long way from now, but you can’t get there without taking care of these kinds of games.
1st Down: O’Brien was blunt when I asked him about the slow start vs. Western Kentucky. After basically ripping the fan base for no-showing early on, he did point to the fact that this program practices in the morning every single day, so they have no excuse to come out flat for a noon kickoff. With Castellanos back under center, there may be more of a calmness among the team and that should help. That’s not to say guys were tight with James in, but that type of drastic change for the first time in a game situation takes some adjusting. It just took BC until the fourth quarter to fully adjust. Can’t start slow on the road against a 3-1 team and expect to stay in the fight all day. Need an FSU/MIssouri-like drive if they get the ball first and then go from there
2nd Down: Castellanos is back and looked really good in practice when the media was there on Tuesday. Arguably, it was actually one of his best practices since training camp. Throws were accurate, the ball was out quick and it felt like receivers barely dropped a ball from him all day. He goes as they go. Even though I still believe Grayson James is more than serviceable if TC goes down again, his dynamic playmaking ability when things go south at any given moment simply can’t be replaced.
3rd Down: Yes, this the weekly third down portion of the program. It’s arguably the biggest thing for this team right now. The more opportunities the offense has to find its rhythm, the better. On the flip side, as good as the front four has been, linebackers in coverage are still an issue and the secondary – while very good – can probably still get to another level. UVA is brutal on converting third downs offensively, as they’re just 18-58 on the season (31.03%). If you can give TC multiple possessions and keep this Virginia defense on the field, you should be able to eventually pull away. If you allow them sustained drives and they’re able to pick apart the middle of the field like Western Kentucky and Michigan State have recently, well, we could be in for another nail biter down the stretch
4th Down: BC is the more talented team across the board, but the Hoos do have some guys that can make you pay if you don’t wrap up in space or if you allow them to believe they can hang around, especially at home. This UVA offense has put up 30.3 points per game and 455.5 yards of offense per game. If you let them, they’ll make life very difficult. QB Anthony Colandrea has thrown for over 1,000 yards and is a good facilitator. RB’s Xavier Brown and Kobe Pace have 293 and 210 yards on the ground respectively. Not gaudy numbers by any means, but if they get in space they can do damage. Malachi Fields is their leading receiver with 349 yards on 24 grabs with two TD’s. BC has more playmakers, but the ones UVA does have can be a problem if BC doesn’t limit yards after the catch or initial contact.
Extra point: Keep an eye on UVA safety Jonas Sanker. Sanker was a BC commit before flipping to UVA which was closer to home. He’s got 32 tackles and was a preseason All-ACC selection. Might be playing with a bit of a chip on his shoulder to show he made the right decision. On the flip side, Bill O’Brien won’t care since he didn’t recruit him, but you wonder if there’s any chirping going on between Sanker and guys on the team that knew him as a commit. In general, ‘Cavs Corner’ writer Justin Ferber told us this week that the safety group is the strength of the Virginia defense while BC has struggled to get the ball deep down field so far on a regular basis. Do they test him and the others? Or keep it conservative and try to pound the rock all day?
Final drive: If BC is the team we think they are, this game isn’t close in the second half. Is UVA a quality opponent? Of course, they’re 3-1 and have home field advantage. But, if BC does have aspirations of winning 10 games or being in the ACC title game, this is a ‘take care of business’ type of spot. BC also has a bye next week, so this is an ’empty the tank’ spot as well before having quite a bit of time to get ready for a trip to Virginia Tech. Can’t slip up here.
Prediction: BC 34, UVA 16. They’re the more talented team and weren’t happy with their performance last weekend. I think they start faster in this one and UVA just doesn’t have the horses to keep up.