Boston College Football Position Previews: Linebackers

A.J Black — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 22:28:21 -0000

As we approach gameday, BC Interruption has been cranking out positional previews to help you get ready for the upcoming Boston College season. Earlier we covered the running backs, Chase Rettig and the quarterbacks, tight ends and wide receivers, the much maligned offensive line, and the defensive line.

One of the biggest stories of the 2011 Boston College Eagles was the play of multi-award winning linebacker Luke Kuechly. Last year we watched in amazement as #40 roamed the field tackling anything and everything in his way. He was the lone start of last year's squad, and seemed to take over games all by himself. Kuechly wisely decided to leave BC after his junior year to test the NFL Draft, and was handsomely rewarded as the #9 pick selected by the Carolina Panthers. The question going into this year has to be, how will BC move on from arguably the best defender in the history of the school?

Let's just put it out there, there are no Luke Kuechly's on the roster this year. However there is a glutton of talent there, that as a unit should be able to be as productive as the 2011 unit. Moving forward starts with junior weak side linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis. Last year KPL was hampered with injuries, yet still finished the season second on the team in tackles, and complimented Kuechly nicely on the field. He is quick and instinctive, but is not a big hitter or pass rusher, and probably could benefit from a little extra meat on his bones. If he can stay healthy in 2012, Pierre-Louis could be as good as any linebacker in the ACC, which BC needs.

Around Pierre-Louis is a solid cast of characters in the linebacking corp. Starting at strong side linebacker is Steele Divitto, who along with having the best name on the Eagles, showed in 2011 that he deserved to be a starter. He led the Eagles with two sacks, was third on the team in tackles, and recorded an interception against UMass. Starting at middle linebacker is senior Nick Clancy. The senior played in nine games last season, but gained the starting position over Sean Duggan for his play during the summer. where he led all defenders with six tackles in the final scrimmage.

Boston College also has a solid rotation of backups that could immediately jump in and be effective if injury or poor play dictates it. One of the most surprising moves of the summer was Frank Spaziani choosing to use Sean Duggan as a backup. Duggan, who hails from Luke Kuechly's high school, had a very strong freshman campaign. He is the tallest of the BC linebackers, and brings good size, and can easily fill in either inside or outside in the 4-3 defense. This will make Duggan extremely valuable, giving the starters rest, and using him when injuries happen.

The Eagles also have a litany of unproven underclassmen that might be used this season. Tim Joy, played very well during the summer, quickly diagnosing running plays and blowing them up. Steven Daniels, fresh off a year at prep school was a subject of much praise from Frank Spaziani but was not put on the two deep for the opener against Miami. Nick Lifka could also see some playing time as well, and is listed on the two deep as the backup MLB.

Also on the roster but honestly I don't know much about them: Michael Gaffney (FR), A.J Caruso (FR), Connor Galligan (SO), Patrick Bowler (JR).

In past years the linebacker position has been the power of the Boston College defense. This year I expect nothing different. True, Luke Kuechly's loss is immeasurable, but I feel confident in saying that the 2012 cast can perform at the same level as last years. Go Eagles.

Boston College Football's Scholarship Roster Heading Into 2012 Opener

Brian Favat — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:00:59 -0000

With yesterday's discussion about the depth -- or lack thereof -- in the secondary following Al Louis-Jean's foot injury, I thought it'd be a good time to look at Boston College's 85-man scholarship roster. There have been fans that remain skeptical of Spaz's method of under recruiting, wanting the program to max out at 85 scholarships instead of banking a few as rewards for walk-ons and late recruiting.

This is unofficial, as Boston College doesn't release this information.

Pos / Class	Total	Seniors	Juniors	Sophomores	RS Freshmen	Freshmen
	81	13	15	24	12	17
QB	5	Mike Marscovetra	Chase Rettig	Josh Bordner	Christian Suntrup
		Dave Shinskie
RB / FB	5		Rolandan Finch (RB)	Tahj Kimble (RB)		George Craan (RB)
			Jake Sinkovec (FB)
			Andre Williams (RB)
WR / TE	16	Donte Elliott (WR)	Alex Amidon (WR)	Spiffy Evans (WR)	Brian Miller (TE)	Harrison Jackson (WR)
		Colin Larmond, Jr. (WR)	Johnathan Coleman (WR)	Marcus Grant (WR)		Nigel Matthews (WR)
		Chris Pantale (TE)	Bobby Swigert (WR)	Jarrett Darmstatter (TE)		Joel Karim Zoungrana (WR)
			Mike Naples (TE)			Dan Crimmins (TE)
						Michael Giacone (TE)
OL	18	Emmett Cleary	Bryan Davis	Seth Betancourt	Dave Bowen	Jim Cashman
		John Wetzel	Ian White	Andy Gallik	Paul Gaughan	Win Homer
				Aaron Kramer	Dan Lembke	Frank Taylor
				Bobby Vardaro	Eddie Meredith
				Harris Williams	Victor Nelson
					Liam Porter
O-Total	44	7	10	10	8	9
DL	11	Bryan Murray (DT)	Kasim Edebali (DE)	Mehdi Abdesmad (DE)	Kieran Borcich (DL)	Malachi Moore (DE)
		Dillon Quinn (DT)		Dominic Appiah (DL)	Connor Wujciak (DL)
		Kaleb Ramsey (DT)		Brian Mihalik (DL)
				~~Matt Murphy (DL)~~
				Max Ricci (DL)
LB	10	Nick Clancy	Steele Divitto	Sean Duggan	Nick Lifka	Steven Daniels
			Andre Lawrence			Tim Joy
			Kevin Pierre-Louis			Mike Strizak
						Bobby Wolford
DB	13	Jim Noel		Manny Asprilla	Ameer Richardson	David Dudeck
				~~Ted Davenport~~		Bryce Jones
				C.J. Jones		Justin Simmons
				Josh Keyes
				Al Louis-Jean Jr.
				James McCaffrey
				Spenser Rositano
				Sean Sylvia
				Dominique Williams
D-Total	34	5	4	13	4	8
ST	3	Gerald Levano (P)	Nate Freese (K)		Alex Howell (K/P)

Assumed Non-Scholarship Players:

-- Seniors (3) - Mike Javorski (RB), Joe LaCorte (WR), Sean Flaherty (LS)
-- Juniors (1) - Patrick Bowler (LB)
-- Sophomores (9) - Shane Cranmore (QB), Paul Maglio (RB), Jeffrey Jay (WR), Griff Rogan (WR), C.J. Parsons (TE), Connor Galligan (LB), Carmen Dello Iacono (DB), Ted Davenport (DB), Matt Murphy (DL)
-- RS Freshmen (2) - Zach Wolfe (RB), Joey Launceford (K)
-- Freshmen (6) - Steven Flynn (QB), Austin Lommen (QB), Anthony Caruso (LB), Michael Gaffney (LB), Leonard Skubal (LS), Jake Wilhelm (K)

81 scholarship players sounds about right to me. Maybe that's 1-2 higher than reality, considering Spaz admitted that we were below the limit back in December, before Montel Harris was booted from the team and Momah lost his appeal with the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility.
With both Marscovetra and Shinskie with only one year to go, it makes sense that the program is bringing in both Tim Boyle and Mackay Lowrie in the Class of 2013.
The offensive line is heavy on sophomores and freshmen. As a result, we may see smaller OL classes in 2013 and 2014. Of the 16 recruits in the current class, the Eagles have yet to land an offensive lineman.
With Murray, Quinn and Ramsey all seniors, you can see where there'll be a gap at the defensive tackle position in coming years. Harrison, Ohio DT Truman Gutapfel is currently the only player in the Class of 2013 recruited at DT.
Penn State players would not have counted against the NCAA max 85 scholarships, which makes the fact that BC didn't land any former Nittany Lion players that more disappointing considering the program is well under the 85-man cap.
Again, as a note this is an unofficial list. I figured we could crowd source this a bit so if you have any more information on this -- players that should be on the list or off it -- chime in in the comments section.

A final note: if 81 is the right number, here are some comparisons. That total is less than the 2011 Maryland roster, where the Terps were sanctioned down to 82 last season. North Carolina football's total scholarships will be reduced to 80 this season. USC's scholarships have been reduced to 75 this season.

SB Nation - Connor Galligan

Boston College Football Position Previews: Linebackers

Boston College Football's Scholarship Roster Heading Into 2012 Opener