LOUISVILLE NEEDS A BLOWOUT WIN
Boston College is playing bad football right now. There’s really no sugarcoating it at this point. The offense made a change at quarterback to Grayson James, who came in last
year to finish the season last year. James looked good in his first start of the year, but the offense still looked very average against a UConn team that hasn’t lit the world on fire on defense.
While the offense is not great, the defense has been pretty putrid all year. BC is ranked in the 100s in pretty much every defensive yardage category, with their pass defense being especially bad. This defense doesn’t do anything particularly well, and I don’t think they have any adjustments available to them to improve.
This leads me to my point that Louisville needs to do more than just win this game. The Cards’ offense has not played up to expectations this season, but they were able to show flashes against Miami of what it could be. The Cards need to continue to be dominant on defense, and I think that this BC team will have a hard time moving the ball. With the defense doing what it needs to do, it’s time for the offense to create the big plays we expected, and for them to keep their foot on the gas when they get a lead.
BOSTON COLLEGE WILL EMPTY THE BAG ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL
Bill O’Brien isn’t in a position where he has to be desperate, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t be desperate for a major win on Saturday. His first move was to bench his young quarterback, who should be the future of the offense, this past weekend, and I expect more changes to come. Jordan McDonald ended the game with 121 rushing yards, with a handful of runs that displayed the type of physical nature this team has struggled to show.
BOB also made changes on the offensive line before the UConn game and made a comment after the game that he was happy with the way the line played. On offense, the game plan was too conservative, in my opinion, and I think that will change this weekend. I expect all of the trick plays and misdirection plays in their scheme to be deployed against the Cards. 1-7 is a record no coach wants to see in October, and I think they will look to be more aggressive against the Cards.
On defense, the Eagles haven’t gotten much of anything out of playing their veteran players this year. I think we’ll see a youth movement for the Eagles with guys like Zacari Thomas, TJ Green, Ashton Cunningham, and others getting more snaps than they have recently. I also expect the Eagles to do what others have done and bring a lot of pressure on Miller Moss. It has worked for others, and what they’ve done this year hasn’t worked at all. It seems to make sense to change things up.
JEFF BROHM MUST AVOID A LETDOWN GAME
Stanford last year and Pitt the year before. Jeff Brohm has pulled off two major upsets during his time here at Louisville, only to be beaten the following week by the worst teams on the schedule. Those games were on the road, so one has to hope that played a role in the losses. But that shouldn’t matter this year, in my opinion.
Louisville was in a spot where the season could have slipped away with a loss to Miami last week. Instead, Brhom and his staff put together a great plan to put one of the best teams in the country on its heels from the first snap, and then they executed the adjustments as the game went on. These players should be fully bought in now, and Brohm should be able to build off of that.
THE LOUISVILLE PASS RUSH WILL GET HOME THIS WEEKEND
Louisville has the best pass rush in the country per PFF’s ratings, but they are only 46th in the country in sacks per game. The pressure the defensive front has generated is part of the reason that the defense is 5th in the country in interceptions per game, but they need to create more negative plays to force opposing offenses to get off schedule.
I think that will happen this weekend with Boston College having more of a traditional drop-back passing offense, where they look for routes to develop down the field. BC also has woeful offensive line issues due to injuries and the constant shuffling of players. Clev Lubin and company should be able to add to their sack totals on Saturday night.
