Addazio pumps up prep work
Boston College coach Steve Addazio let up in practice last week and the team let down in Saturday’s 30-13 loss at Purdue.
Addazio has returned to the demanding game week formula that produced three straight wins as he prepared the Eagles (3-1) to face Temple (2-2) in their final nonconference game tomorrow at Alumni Stadium.
“One of the things we have a tendency to do early in the year is we came off the weight game and kind of wanted to make sure our guys were fresh,” said Addazio.
“We kind of pulled off the gas a little bit on the physicality of the practice. We did the flip side and we went right back to hardcore fundamentals and inside drills and haven’t let up.
“I want to have the most competitive snaps we can possibly have and guys are practicing making fullspeed, real-time decisions in the heat of the battle because I felt that that was one of the issues we had Saturday.”
The Purdue pullback ap- peared to have its greatest effect on the Eagles’ two significant play-makers, quarterback Anthony Brown and tailback AJ Dillon, the ACC’s preseason Player of the Year.
Brown connected on 13-of-27 passes and was sacked four times by Purdue. Dillon was held to 59 yards on 19 carries.
Brown and Dillon were the ACC’s players of the week at their respective positions following BC’s 41-34 win at Wake Forest on Sept. 13.
“I thought that in some of our semi-skill and skill positions we left an awful lot on the field,” said Addazio. “I blame myself for that because that might be the byproduct of early in the year pulling back on the physicality of our practices.
“This is very uncharacteristic and it is not going to happen again.”
Temple is coming off impressive wins over Maryland and Tulsa. Addazio classifies the Owls as a physical and athletic team that employs multiple fronts and shifting personnel on both sides of the ball.
Quarterback Anthony Russo replaced injured starter Frank Nutile before the Maryland game and led the Owls to a convincing 3514 road victory. Russo runs the pro-style offense, but Temple coach Geoff Collins will insert Isaiah Wright in wildcat formations.
Addazio anticipates Temple will employ a heavy pass rush using stunts and blitzes from all angles. Tackle Michael Dogbe and right end Quincy Roche have combined for 6.5 of Temple’s 15 sacks.
“Temple on defense is very multiple and they play a lot of coverage and bring a lot of pressure and they got a lot of stuff,” said Addazio. “They come at you and throw it all at you and we have to make sure the kids understand it and play fast, play physical and pick up the various stunts and blitzes up front.”
The Eagles demonstrated the ability to rebound from a devastating loss with a remarkable win last season. BC lost a similar lopsided game at home to Virginia Tech and went on the road the following week and upset quarterback Lamar Jackson and Louisville.