Charts & Graphs: Boston College Offense Progress?

Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

With the appearance of Doug Martin as Boston College’s new offensive coordinator, Eagles fans were excited that things may finally change. Sure, he was the fourth person to hold the position since the 2010 season, but people liked Martin and the “up-tempo” offense we heard about from players and media folk all summer. The 2012 season is three games old, but we have more data to play with now than we did after September 1.

The question to answer is simply this: Has BC football’s offense gotten better?

You may wish to click to enlarge this chart of Boston College points scored and yards per game since 2010. We’ve even got the games separated by offensive coordinator. The columns are the number of points the Eagles have scored and the line graph is the yardage (multiply by 10).

Nobody knows yet what BC will fill in for the remaining nine games this season, but right now, the trendline in 2012 is not the Eagles’ friend. Keeping in mind some of the opponents BC has yet to face, there may be some more valleys to add to the graph. Last year, Boston College had its best game first in terms of yardage, then crashed against UCF in Week 2, and then remained inconsistent for the rest of the season; point totals were not as inconsistent. This year, BC has had its best game first again and are falling back towards more average numbers.

If you ask me, that Miami game on September 1 might hold up as the most yards BC puts together in one game this season. Army could come close if the Eagles are on, as that has the possibility to turn into a slugfest with those two defenses, but otherwise, there aren’t many gimmes at all.

Did everyone read too much into Week 1? It’s possible. Was the Northwestern game (which was more or less the kind of offensive game BC had played for several years prior) a sign of things to come? That’s too early to say. What we do know is that in a small sample size, BC’s offense has been less productive as the short year has continued. They will have their peaks and valleys like most any other team, but it’s clear that 500-600 yard days like against Miami will not be the norm.