Eagles hope for another tuneup
Boston College quarterback Patrick Towles is determined to put the Eagles’ passing attack on equal footing with the ground game.
Towles and the Eagles pass catchers lag way behind their ACC counterparts. BC has the 12th-rated passing offense in the conference, averaging 151.2 yards per game, which is far less than half of ACC leader Syracuse (371.8).
Towles will get his opportunity to crack the top 10 in passing offense when the Eagles (2-2) host the Buffalo Bulls (1-2) in a nonleague affair this afternoon at Alumni Stadium.
“We are coming along nicely and I think we are hitting our strides good,” said Towles.
BC coach Steve Addazio has seen steady progress in the offensive line’s ability to protect the quarterback and believes the Eagles’ stable of young receivers are ready for a breakout game.
“One of the encouraging things I’m seeing is in the protection and we’ve done a pretty darn good job of protecting and not allowing sacks,” said Addazio.
“Our receivers are getting a little more confidence making some real plays and that is a work in progress. Those two areas — (offensive) line and receivers — probably have a fair amount of upside.”
The Eagles followed a devastating 49-0 loss against Virginia Tech on Sept. 17 with a confidence-boosting 42-10 victory over Wagner last Saturday at home.
BC rolled over Wagner for 300 rushing yards on 56 attempts while Towles completed 9-of-16 passes for 190 yards that included a season-best 58-yard touchdown strike to Jeff Smith.
Tailbacks Davon Jones and Jon Hilliman combined for 173 yards while Towles added 46 more that included a pair of touchdowns. Towles expects an equally efficient ground attack against the Bulls and looks to reap the benefits that can provide to the passing game.
“It (has) been huge and a ton of our (passing) yards have come off of play action,” said Towles. “The more prolific that ground game is the better that play action is going to be.”
The Buffalo game is uniquely situated between the two extremes on the BC schedule. Wagner is an FCS opponent and that was just what BC needed after the debacle at Virginia Tech.
But the Eagles have a short week coming up to prepare to host defending ACC champion and fifth-ranked Clemson in a nationally televised game on Friday night. Clemson will be coming off a tonight’s major showdown with third-ranked Louisville.
The Eagles have lost 10 straight ACC games and a major upset over the Tigers would be a good way to end the hex. But the Eagles’ best hope of gaining bowl eligibility (six wins) is to run the table in their four nonconference games. So the focus in on Buffalo first. “We play the schedule we are given and we are not thinking about Clemson at all,” said Towles. “They have a real good ball club and we’ll worry about them on Sunday.
“Right now we are worried Buffalo because they have a real good outfit coming in and we cannot afford to look past anybody.”