Boston College at Clemson: BC Defense vs. Clemson Offense
By Joe Micik
Analysis
Statistics only tell part of the story; the eye test tells the rest. What is says to Boston College’s observers and fans is that the Eagles may have their moments, but they are starting to give up more and more points. After opening the season having allowed only a few dozen over the first two games, the Eagles now have not allowed fewer than 27 in each of their last three games. Clemson is probably only going to make the situation worse.
Boston College’s pass defense has been sub-par, and in the interest of complete candidness, Tajh Boyd is probably going to have a big afternoon. He is mobile, so he does take his fair share of sacks, but luckily the Eagles are doing very well in delivering sacks. If they are to have any hope of slowing the Tigers down, they have to make Boyd kiss the turf on multiple occasions. Sure, they have top players like Sammy Watkins who will undoubtedly do damage, but the offense flows through Boyd and he will be a main target for their game-planning.
The last time this Boston College defense played in a road environment this season — which was probably not nearly as raucous as this one may prove to be — they were clearly outmatched but hung in there as long as they could before fatigue set in. That may happen again here, but if the Eagles want to do themselves a favor, they have to eliminate the needless mistakes as much as they can. This means, amongst other things, no stupid penalties. There will be many parts of this game that the defense may not be able to control, but those things they can. Also, if somehow a ball is thrown directly to one of them, they have to catch it.
Final Evaluation
This is the one side of the ball, more than the other, where Boston College looks out of their depth. Another top team in Florida State had no trouble moving the ball against the Eagles, particularly as the game wore on. It was much the same thing for the Trojans, who are not as productive but are talented. Though no two games are alike, Clemson could be very similar in terms of production to the Seminoles.
Boston College will need a number of significant breaks to keep the Tigers out of the 40s, but since those cannot be assumed, this part of the outlook is grim. Clemson favored.