TE’s catch some attention
Boston College carries a big stable of tight ends and they were put to effective use in yesterday morning’s initial training camp scrimmage under ideal weather conditions at Alumni Stadium.
BC opens the season on Aug. 31 with an ACC crossover game against Virginia Tech at Alumni Stadium.
BC uses a two tight end (“12-scheme”) formation with a lone tailback and two wide receivers. The tight ends were frequently targeted by first unit quarterback Anthony Brown and the four guys on second unit battling to secure the backup spot.
Redshirt sophomore Hunter Long had two grabs that included a 24-yard catch and run for a touchdown late in the scrimmage. Danny Dalton of Marshfield, a graduate transfer from Penn State, and Drew McQuarrie had three catches apiece.
Senior Korab Idrizi’s lone catch was the longest gain of the scrimmage. Brown connected with Idrizi on a 36yard skinny post route up the middle of the field. Idrizi gained the final eight yards draped with defensive backs.
Brendan Smith, a redshirt freshman from Needham, had two catches that included a screen where he lowered the boom on middle linebacker John Lamot.
Converted wide receiver
Chris Garrison did not have a catch but was on the field with first unit for several possessions and was set wide in the 2-minute offense.
“That’s what we do, we are going to throw the ball to those tight ends a lot and mix it around,” said BC head coach Steve Addazio. “We’ve got talented guys in the throw game and this is the best we’ve been throwing the football by a long shot.”
BC graduated the best tight end in the ACC but are making up for the loss with quantity. Tommy Sweeney was a first team All-ACC tight end who got drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round.
Two points Max
Redshirt junior outside linebacker Max Richardson executed two great plays in one.
Brown took a snap inside the BC 5-yard line, made a short drop and looked for a quick release over the middle. Richardson blitzed through a seam on the right edge and touch sacked Brown for a safety.
“No doubt, a safety is a game changing play,” said Richardson, who played in 12 games last season with 76 tackles, nine tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks.
“It was a nice play to make today off the weakside blitz.”
Richardson’s safety was the best to several defensive gems. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Dennis Grosel was intercepted by linebacker Paul Theobald Jr. in the first half and defensive back Elijah Jones in the second.
Redshirt linebacker Joseph Sparacio had the smash tackle of the exercise. Sparacio exploded through the gap between center and left guard and buried redshirt freshman tailback Peter Stehr for a 3-yard loss.
The big drive
Redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Valecce appeared poised, confident and exceptionally athletic while executing the offense’s finest sequence of the scrimmage.
Valecce got the ball first and 10 on the BC 35 and proceed to drive the second unit downfield with chuck plays. Valecce connected on consecutive passes to McQuarrie to get the ball past midfield.
After being flushed from the pocket by right end Rich Yeargin, a graduate transfer from Clemson, Valecce hit tailback Andrew Strader on the right sideline. On first down at the 23, Valecce went around right end on a keeper to the 3-yardline. Strader completed the trip with a plunge up the middle.
“I think he did a good job with that,” said Addazio. “He had some poise and it was his best drive of the day and for all of them it’s consistency, that’s the key for the quarterback.”