Bye Week Breakdown: Boston College Defense

Secondary

Boston College’s pass defense has, in recent years, not done all that well. It, and its exaggerated cushion, was a lot more sustainable in previous years, however. This year, not so.

Eagle defensive backs have been playing well, well off the receivers in the first half of 2011, to nobody’s surprise, and also to nobody’s surprise, the results have been bad. The Eagles’ pass defense has routinely been shredded; opposing quarterbacks have completed 67.3% of their passes against Boston College so far this season, which is last in the ACC.

To their credit, they have intercepted the ball five times on the season, which is not worst in the conference, but two of those picks were against CAA school UMass, who are possibly the only team BC will beat in 2011. For the mathematically-challenged, that leaves only three interceptions in the other five games against a higher level of competition. One of those was gained by Jim Noel, one of the better veterans the Eagles have on defense.

It is hard to argue that some of this cannot be attributed to the turnover in the secondary. Dominick LeGrande transferred before the start of the season and Okechukwu Okoroha was dismissed from the team for a violation of team rules. Boston College is starting guys in the secondary who at times cannot get the job done, but in fairness, they have not been bad all the time nor has every single player performed poorly.

In sum, the issues with the Eagle secondary are not just in personnel, but with scheme. When the other team’s receivers get 10 yards of open space, most quarterbacks are going to make that completion (hence the 2/3 completions against BC) and gain yards after the catch, yet BC does not and will never adjust. Expect more of the same in the second half.