Change is in the air for the Boston College Eagles football program. Before diving too deep in 2020, however, the Eagles have the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl to prep for.
By the time the Boston College Eagles take the field on January 2, 2020 to face the 21st-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats, 34 bowl games and two College Football Playoff games will have been played. Not to mention the Eagles will have an interim head coach in Rich Gunnell and be without star running back AJ Dillon, who declared for the NFL draft.
The show must go on, however, as the Eagles look to reach the seven-win mark for the sixth time in the past seven seasons.
While another winning record will be enjoyable, not being able to get past the seven-win barrier is a reason Steve Addazio is gone (and subsequently hired by the Colorado State Rams).
Former Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley is in, hoping to build the Eagles into a contender in the ACC.
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Hafley won’t be coaching in the bowl game. Instead it will be Gunnell who will lead Boston College as they take those for steps without Dillon.
Dillon rewrote the Boston College running back record books. In three seasons, he finished with 4,382 yards and 38 touchdowns on the ground, both school records. His 1,685 yards this season were good for fourth-best in the nation.
Even without Dillon, the Eagles still have the talent to grab the win, but they’ll need a perfect game to defeat Bearcats. Cincy sat at the top of the Group of Five mountain before back-to-back losses to the Memphis Tigers to close out season.
On offense, the teams put up similar numbers, at least in average points (30.9 for Boston College, 29 for the Bearcats) and passing yards (183.4 to 187.4). The Eagles averaged about 70 more yards per game than Cincinnati did, but that is to be expected with Boston College’s run-heavy focus.
Defensively, the Eagles give up about 480 yards per game while the Bearcats allow 376.
Date, bowl records, where to watch
Location: Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama
When: January 2, 2020 at 3 pm (ET)
Television: ESPN
Cincinnati (10-3) enters this game with a bowl record of 8-9. 14 of their 17 bowl games have been played since the year 2000. The Bearcats defeated Virginia Tech in the 2018 Military Bowl, 35-31.
Boston College (6-6) is 14-12 in 27 bowl games (last year’s First Responder Bowl was cancelled in the first quarter due to weather). The Eagles have lost six of their last seven bowl games, with their last victory coming in the 2016 Quick Lane Bowl over Maryland.
Here are 3 players key to a Boston College victory.
David Bailey
Part of the two-headed monster that became the Boston College ground game in 2019, sophomore David Bailey will lead the attack in Birmingham.
Bailey was not so much a backup to Dillon as he was option 1A. The focus will now be all on Bailey and he’s out to prove he can handle being atop the depth chart.
Running behind one of the better offensive lines in the ACC, Bailey has rushed for 816. He averages 5.8 yards per carry and scored 7 rushing touchdowns.
A true breakout game occurred for Bailey when he ran for 181 yards against N.C. State. Later, he dropped a cool 172 at Syracuse.
As opponents game-planned even more for the run, Bailey found a little less room to run. In the last three games of the regular season, he carried 33 times for 118 yards.
Bailey and the offensive line will need to be in top form against a decent Cincinnati run defense. The team allowed only over 200 yards on the ground just once in 2019, allowing 270 in a Week 2 loss to Ohio State.
The Bearcats, however, might be a bit more susceptible in the passing game.
Dennis Grosel
When three-year starter Anthony Brown went down with an injury in the Louisville game, the reins of the offense were handed to redshirt sophomore Dennis Grosel.
Grosel had his struggles, especially with accuracy, but did enough to go 3-3 as the Eagles starter.
And now, this bowl game could even be a showcase for Grosel to prove himself as the starter heading into next season.
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Brown recently entered the college transfer portal, meaning Grosel could very well be the starting quarterback in 2020.
In his six starts, Grosel has mostly been asked to be a game manager, even more so than Brown was. Though, like Brown, Grosel can unleash the ball when called upon. His accuracy was less-than-ideal (48.6 percent) but Grosel kept the interceptions down (only three).
Grosel threw for nine touchdown passes and 896 yards. One of his best performances was against Florida State, completing 20 of 29 and throwing for 227 yards and two scores. The other might performance turned in by Grosel was against Syracuse. He was 8-10 for 195 yards and three scores in that game.
He also ran the ball as he became more comfortable leading the offense. Grosel had 203 rushing yards, with 126 of those coming in the last three games.
Cincinnati gives up 233 yards per game through the air, meaning the Eagles do have some opportunity here. If Grosel can use his stable of tight ends to control tempo and Kobay White to stretch the field, the Eagles will be in a good situation.
Now, about that defense…
Max Richardson
Entering the 2019 season, the defense was going to have to rely on a handful of veterans to help lead the way. Redshirt junior Max Richardson was one of these players.
Richardson did not disappoint. It was just too bad this young unit never really gelled, allowing 31.7 points and just over 480 yards per game.
Richardson leads the team with 108 tackles in 2019. He has 3.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss.
There were moments in the first-half of the season in which Richardson had trouble in pass coverage. He was asked to do a lot more as this young secondary learned. As the season went on, Richardson improved in this area.
Noticeably, his tackles went down as teams started accounting for him more and more. Richardson had five games with 10 tackles or more, though not since the game against N.C. State, where he had 10.
The return of Isaiah McDuffie has taken some of the pressure off of Richardson. Expect both to be active against Cincinnati, especially with the balanced attack the Bearcats produce. Anchoring the middle of the defense, Richardson has already had an outstanding defense. A final 10+ tackle performance by Richardson, with maybe a sack and turnover to boot, will be a nice ending for this at-times frustrating season.
As will a victory, lucky number 7 and the foundation of what is hopefully a bright future.