2014 Boston College Football Defense: Stats and Grades
By Joe Micik
Nov 29, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; The Boston College Eagles take the field before a game against the Syracuse Orange Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
2014 Boston College Football Defense: Coaches
The coaches have to get higher than average marks because of how the defense improved from last season, particularly in terms of run defense, despite losing a number of starters in their front seven. <p>Defensive line coach Ben Albert and Don Brown himself, also the linebacker position coach, have to get credit for the performance of the team up front. The run defense was elite, without question.</p> <p>As for Kevin Lempa, the defensive backs coach, there was only marginal improvement in the players under his tutoring, but again, they were to some degree at the mercy of their scheme. If the blitz fails, they get shredded. Sometimes even if the Eagles did not blitz, the defense got shredded.</p><div class=. All defense. Boston College Eagles. COACHES . B+
The defensive coaches, including Brown, have to lose some points as a result of an occasional lack of adjustment. There were games where Boston College absolutely refused to adjust, like in the Colorado State game or Louisville game, and those contests where they just looked bad, like Pittsburgh, Louisville (again), Penn State, and at least one half of the Wake Forest and Virginia Tech games.
If this were based solely off of how the team performed in the Pinstripe Bowl, this grade would be a lot lower, but even though the season ended poorly on the defensive end, the coaching staff has to get some due for getting much more out of what is essentially the same group of players than they did last season. If we can criticize them for a bad gameplan against Colorado State, then we have to praise them for a tremendous effort against Florida State. In fairness, it was more good than bad.
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B+
The coaches have to get higher than average marks because of how the defense improved from last season, particularly in terms of run defense, despite losing a number of starters in their front seven.
Defensive line coach Ben Albert and Don Brown himself, also the linebacker position coach, have to get credit for the performance of the team up front. The run defense was elite, without question.
As for Kevin Lempa, the defensive backs coach, there was only marginal improvement in the players under his tutoring, but again, they were to some degree at the mercy of their scheme. If the blitz fails, they get shredded. Sometimes even if the Eagles did not blitz, the defense got shredded.
The defensive coaches, including Brown, have to lose some points as a result of an occasional lack of adjustment. There were games where Boston College absolutely refused to adjust, like in the Colorado State game or Louisville game, and those contests where they just looked bad, like Pittsburgh, Louisville (again), Penn State, and at least one half of the Wake Forest and Virginia Tech games.
If this were based solely off of how the team performed in the Pinstripe Bowl, this grade would be a lot lower, but even though the season ended poorly on the defensive end, the coaching staff has to get some due for getting much more out of what is essentially the same group of players than they did last season. If we can criticize them for a bad gameplan against Colorado State, then we have to praise them for a tremendous effort against Florida State. In fairness, it was more good than bad.