Boston College Eagles searching for answers amid injury plagued start

Injuries continue to pile up for the Boston College Eagles football team, turning what was already going to be a long season into even more of a challenge.

Looking up from the bottom of the ACC is a tough task these days. Foes like Clemson, Virginia Tech, Louisville, and Florida State stand firm in the gauntlet, ready to swat away a pesky fly like the Boston College Eagles.

And for the Eagles, if they were to make any sort of challenge in conference play, they were going to need depth, big plays and just a little bit of luck.

After a promising non-conference road win to open 2017, very little has gone right for this young Boston College team. It’s another slow start for the Eagles and head coach Steve Addazio, who once again finds himself on the hot seat.

Any credit established in the Clemson game may have been dashed with the news of another injury. The Eagles were dealt a blow with the season-ending knee injury of linebacker Connor Strachan.

The injury to Strachan makes it now seven (potential) starters the Eagles have lost to injury. Strachan, who had nine tackles in 2017, is the third linebacker to join the list of players in street clothes.

Even before Strachan’s injury, the lack of depth was evident in the second half of Boston College’s last two games.

Hanging tough before wearing out

Three minutes into the fourth quarter of last week’s game, the Boston College Eagles and Clemson were tied at 7. The Tigers reeled off 24 straight points, using a strong running attack to seal a 31-7 victory.

It was also the opponent’s running game that did Boston College in the week before in a 49-20 loss to Notre Dame.

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Ten minutes into the third quarter, the Eagles found themselves down by one. A failed fourth-down attempt by Boston College opened the floodgates to a rout. A rout in which Notre Dame reeled off 515 rushing yards, averaging over ten yards per carry.

The run defense was supposed to be a strength of this season’s Boston College team. And to an extent, they have. The goal of any good defense, though, is to limit the big play. The Eagles have not found a way to do that yet. If they had–and also had any semblance of a consistent offense–we could very well be talking about a 3-1 team.

The stars are still present. Harold Landry–facing double teams–has disrupted the flow of opponent’s offense best he can. Landry has 20 tackles, 3 tackles-for-loss, and only one sack. The sack totals aren’t rivaling last season, but in watching him these last two week’s he’s forcing quarterbacks to make decisions earlier.

A benefit of Landry’s double teams is defensive end Zach Allen. Allen has racked up 34 tackles and accumulated 2 sacks in 2017.

The secondary has also been solid, with Lukas Denis and Kamrin Moore spearheading that group. Denis has three interceptions and Moore has four pass breakups.

Next: New England Patriots: Danny Amendola is team's unsung hero

If any good news can be gleaned from the injuries, it’s the fact more players are getting game experience. Channeling that experience into something positive will help this program as it builds for the future.

Now, if only they can figure out the present.

Next up for Boston College: A home game against Central Michigan at 1 pm (EST) on 9/30.

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