Countdown Q&A - Week 7, Boston College

Welcome one and all to Week 7 of the Countdown Q&A, where we have prepared for months to answer a series of questions that are very similar in manner, brought in a consultant to help us answer those questions in an efficient way, and then we STILL GIVE UP 900 RUSHING YARDS!! Sorry. They finally broke my brain.

This week we welcome AJ Black from ‘BC Interruption’, the Boston College Community here on SB Nation. The Golden Eagles are coming off a close loss to NC State and are sitting at 4-2 on the season (with their only other loss at the hands of the Fighting Jeff Brohm’s). The Cards travel to Chestnut Hill this week looking for their first ACC Road win….ACC win…..Power 5 win of the season. BC is a solid team and the Cards defense will be presented with another challenge. Patrick Towles ain’t walking through those doors folks…

Boston College Golden Eagles (4-2) (1-1)

CS: After giving up over five football fields worth of rushing yards last week the obvious cure for an ailing UofL ground defense is to go play AJ Dillion, the young man who had his coming out party last year against Louisville (272yd/4TD) and would love to replicate that performance in 2018 on his home turf. The good news for Louisville is at the time of this question Dillon, who was held out last week with an ankle injury, is still a game time decision and may be limited in his action this coming Saturday. If Dillon does go what do you expect to see in his return, and if he doesn’t go who is getting those carries?

BCI: Dillon’s health is still up in the air, and Steve Addazio has been mum on his return. If I were a betting man, I would guess that he doesn’t play this week. It looked to me like an ankle injury, probably upper ankle (again I’m not a doctor), which would take some time to heal. BC has an off week next week, before Miami comes to town. Usually this is the type of injury that takes 3-4 weeks to heal from, so that would line perfectly for his return Friday night against Miami. Again, this is just a guess. If he doesn’t go I’d watch for sophomore converted running back Ben Glines to get the call. He was very effective last week against NC State rushing for 90 yards on 16 carries. Travis Levy is more of a third down back, but he’ll get a carry or two as well.

CS: BC Coach Steve Addazio has had some success in his past on the offensive side of the football, and while a talent like AJ Dillon certainly helps things I’ve seen some solid play from Sophomore QB Anthony Brown as well. Minus the Purdue game Brown has played well enough to put his team in a position to win each week, which you can absolutely take for granted at times...like, you don’t realize what someone means to you until they’re gone...how much they can affect the game, ya know??? [sobs uncontrollably]. Sorry. Tell us…’What Can Brown Do For You’?

Brown has been horribly inconsistent since the Wake Forest game. He looked really bad against Purdue when he threw for 4 interceptions, and wasn’t very effective against Temple. Last week against NC State he was a tale of two halves, where he looked bad the first half, and looked all world the second.

Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

He is much more dangerous on the intermediate and long stuff, which usually is opened up by the play action, and he really struggles on the short stuff. Also, he has a tendency to throw passes on 3rd down to guys who are short of the sticks by 2-3 yards, which is more on the coaching staff, but still an irritant.

CS: On the other side of the football Boston College is giving up over 400 yards a game, and actually allowed 34 (Wake) and 35 (Temple) points respectively in two of their wins. But, after a slow start last week they looked like a dang good team in the second half holding Ryan Finley and the Wolfpack to 7 points. If Louisville decides this week that they actually enjoy playing offense and scoring points, what are some areas they can target to try and get some momentum going?

The interior of the BC defense is definitely suspect. Any sort of inside running game should net some big yards. My biggest concern is the defense in general so I could go up and down the roster about where the weaknesses are. The other big hole is the secondary. Last week Addazio and Jim Reid started Lukas Denis at corner, putting him out of position from his safety spot where he had been All-ACC. I hated that move, and Denis was torched by Kelvin Harmon. The rest of the secondary is pretty inconsistent. They do get turnovers, actually pretty frequently, but they also give up the big plays.

I was just thinking we could use some more turnovers...that’s great news.

The heat on Bobby Petrino right now is somewhere between a backyard campfire and the eternal flames of hell. While “old me” would never open myself up to this potential punishment I am now generally curious as to an outsiders perspective on the Petrino situation. In the midst of a rough season (albeit his first), claims of not being able to assemble a quality staff, a massive buyout, etc. would you retain him or look to move on after this year?

Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

It depends on who you could move on to. Look, I think Bobby Petrino is one of the best offensive minds in the country, when he has the right weapons. Clearly, Louisville doesn’t have that this year, and I’m sure the next Lamar Jackson isn’t just going to walk through that door. But when your team looks as unprepared as they did last week against Georgia Tech, and it just looks like the team has quit, you have to wonder about the future of your team. If there is a young quality coach that Louisville thinks can help them take the next step, I say you pull the trigger. Petrino seems to have a short shelf life wherever he lands.

CS: Our friends in Vegas say Boston College is a 14 favorite at home this week. If I give you Brian VanGorders paycheck this year ($950k) to put on the game, where does the money fall? Also…between us…if you win you think you can maybe share the wealth? We got some impending debt with our football program...and basketball....and maybe our old AD....things are really going great, AJ.

I’d bet on BC this week. Home game, BC hasn’t lost at Alumni Stadium this year, I believe BC’s strengths up front will be a problem for Louisville. I think the Cards will definitely score points on this defense, I just think BC will score more. Please don’t let this end up on Old Takes Exposed on Saturday....

Appreciate your time, Mr. Black. Let me fire off some quick hitters…

Boston College is only 27 of 32 in extra points this year…does your kicker possess an actual human foot? Oh don’t get me started on this. Colton Lichtenberg our usual kicker has returned from an injury, so this shouldn’t be a problem moving forward, but BC’s deficiencies in kicking an extra point has been maddening under Daz (see 2014 Pinstripe Bowl).

Are you a Celtics fan? If so, how awesome is Terry Rozier? If not, how awesome is Terry Rozier? Oh yes. I love me some Scary Terry. Can’t wait for the season to start.

This week is Boston College’s Homecoming, what one former player, from any era, would you love to see come back? I love seeing Mark Herzlich at any event, he’s such a great guy and made his mark on not only this program but the world when he battled back from Ewing’s Sarcoma. I met him at a book signing once, and it made my year.

There are going to be some die hards making the trip to Chestnut Hill this weekend. Help a fellow ‘ACC-ian’ out with a local spot for some food and a drink? Opposing fan bases usually storm Cityside Bar and Grill which is about a ten minute walk from the stadium. Decent food and beer selection. If you are looking to drive a little, I recommend Hopsters in Watertown. About a 10 minute drive from the stadium, they make flatbreads, and their own very tasty beer. Usually no wait, and they always have a game on. Well worth it if you can get there.

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Huge thanks again to AJ for his time. Go check out his work over at ‘BC Interruption’ and give him a follow on twitter for all things Boston College. With next week being a bye week I may have something special for you all in the works...or I may just be crying uncontrollably in the fetal position. We’ll see how things play out.