2011 BC Football Retrospective, Part II: Defense
By Joe Micik
Defensive line
There wasn’t much doing here this year, particularly with the loss of Kaleb Ramsey (who I expect we’ll see in 2012, but his medical redshirt status is as yet unknown).
The DL with the most tackles this season was Max Holloway, who managed 47, eight of which were for a loss. Holloway also led the team with 2.5 sacks; no question he was the line’s top performer in 2011.
Speaking of, Boston College’s pass rush was still virtually non-existent in 2011. The Eagles managed only 11 on the season, which put them at 114th in the nation (0.92 sacks per game).
Also making an impact on the line this season was freshman Dominic Appiah, who netted 36 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, and two sacks. Only he and Spenser Rositano — another freshman — can say they blocked kicks for the Eagles this year.
The run defense, which was Boston College’s signature skill in 2010, had major problems in 2011. Right off the bat, the Eagles had two bad games in that department in a row, allowing 227 on the ground to Northwestern and 235 to UCF. Clemson and Virginia Tech also had very nice days rushing against BC, which permanently inflated the Eagles’ rushing allowed average, though they had games where they were much better at it.
Boston College lost some talent here, but had young guys like Appiah step in and do well. There’s no doubt, however, that there were more deficiencies here in 2011 than in the previous season. BC was unfortunately somewhat thin here, and it hurt the defense’s bottom line.