Villanova at Boston College: BC Offense vs. Nova Defense
By Joe Micik
Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports
The last time Boston College and Villanova played a football game, nobody on the BC team was alive, not to mention a few other guys on the sidelines. That makes this a new experience for almost all of us. In fact, speaking of new experiences, we’re going to get to see a Boston College Eagles offense that has been changed once again. Without even having had a spring game to publicly observe this team, we can’t know what we’re going to see until we actually see it.
What we do know about these Eagles are their personnel. How might this new scheme stack up against the Villanova defense?
Villanova at Boston College: BC Offense vs. Nova Defense Statistical Comparison
Boston College and Villanova seem to have some things in common, and then you remember that one is in FBS and plays ranked teams and the other is in FCS and plays Georgia State. For example, Villanova allowed about 21 points per game last year and BC scored about 20, but it’s like comparing the ERA of a sub-par Major League pitcher to that of a good triple-A pitcher. The difference in level alone will skew the stats in favor of the FBS team.
The Eagles turned the ball over 24 times last year and Villanova only gained 18, while Boston College got Chase Rettig/others sacked 36 times last year, while the Villanova defense got to the quarterback 27 times.
One interesting disparity from last season is in third-down conversions: BC was second-worst in FBS with about 29 and a half percent conversion, while Villanova was also not great with over 40% of third down conversions allowed.
But here’s the thing: Boston College may have a lot of the same personnel, but they don’t have the same offensive gameplan. Furthermore, we can crow about our talent and depth not being up to par on an FBS/BCS level, but by virtue of the fact that that’s where BC is and Villanova isn’t, this does present a mismatch for the Wildcats.