The big 2014 Boston College football preview: Starting over in Year 2

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1. Now the work really begins

Sometimes you get a buffer year.

When Steve Addazio took over at Boston College about 18 months ago, he brought with him the promise of strong recruiting, toughness, and a hybridized style of football, in which athleticism and play-making ability trump established ideas of positions and styles. (Seriously, ask him about five players, and he'll call three of them a hybrid of some sort.) It worked for him a bit at Temple, when he inherited Al Golden's program in 2011 and went 9-4 before falling to 4-7 the next year.

Addazio is a hell of a salesman. He has indeed proven to be a strong recruiter through his career, which now includes stops at Syracuse, Notre Dame, Indiana, Florida, Temple, and BC. (Granted, recruiting has yet to actually pick up at BC. Using Rivals.com ratings, he inked three four-star recruits, two high three-stars (5.7 Rivals Rankings), and three mid-three-stars (5.6) in the 2014 class; BC's average in the last three years of the Frank Spaziani era: 2.7 four-stars, 4.3 5.7s, and 1.3 5.6s. We'll see if that picks up moving forward.) But from the simple fact that he's landed two head coaching jobs in four years tells us he can sell his vision of a football program with great panache, even though we have yet to see what he actually intends to do with a team over the long haul.

As he did at Temple, he was able to build something out of the talent he inherited. After a stark, speedy collapse under Spaziani -- after 12 consecutive winning seasons, BC went just 6-18 in 2011-12 -- he was able to ride a horse named Andre Williams and a solid pass rush back to 7-6.

But now the real work begins. Williams is gone, as are quarterback Chase Rettig, receiver Alex Amidon, both starting tackles, both starting defensive ends, and two starting linebackers. If you were to list BC's 12-15 best players last season, those eight would have probably all made the list.

Whatever Addazio's vision is for this program, we'll begin to see it. We also might see at least a temporary dropoff, as we did in his second year at Temple. But that's not guaranteed.

2013 Schedule & Results

Record: 7-6 | Adj. Record: 6-7 | Final F/+ Rk: 65
Date	Opponent	Opp. F/+ Rk	Score	W-L	Adj. Score	Adj. W-L	5-gm Adj. Avg.
31-Aug	Villanova	N/A	24-14	W	22.8 - 24.9	L
6-Sep	Wake Forest	81	24-10	W	29.9 - 20.6	W
14-Sep	at USC	11	7-35	L	14.5 - 41.9	L
28-Sep	Florida State	1	34-48	L	46.0 - 28.8	W
5-Oct	Army	100	48-27	W	48.8 - 27.1	W	3.7
12-Oct	at Clemson	16	14-24	L	19.1 - 22.7	L	3.4
26-Oct	at North Carolina	38	10-34	L	15.4 - 28.0	L	-1.0
2-Nov	Virginia Tech	27	34-27	W	36.0 - 31.7	W	5.4
9-Nov	at New Mexico State	122	48-34	W	31.0 - 34.9	L	1.2
16-Nov	N.C. State	92	38-21	W	34.7 - 28.4	W	-1.9
23-Nov	at Maryland	63	29-26	W	35.0 - 20.1	W	1.8
30-Nov	at Syracuse	75	31-34	L	37.5 - 38.9	L	4.0
31-Dec	vs. Arizona	25	19-42	L	27.9 - 39.0	L	1.0

Category	Offense	Rk	Defense	Rk	Spec. Tms.	Rk
F/+	+2.9%	49	-7.8%	92	+2.7%	14
Points Per Game	27.7	70	28.9	78
Adj. Points Per Game	30.7	51	29.8	84

2. Two steps forward, one step back

2-0, then 1-4, then 4-0, then 0-2. Expectations for BC in 2013 changed by the week, and by the end of the season there had been enough twists and turns that the Eages were impossible to rate. The team that battled Florida State much tighter than anybody else in the regular season was also the team that laid an egg in Chapel Hill. The team that beat Virginia Tech was the same that couldn't pull away from New Mexico State or Villanova.

Adjusting for opponent, we can basically say that BC was a slightly above average team that had two awful weeks in the middle of the year (and a pretty awful bowl performance).

• Adj. Points Per Game (first 5 games): BC 32.4, Opponent 28.7 (plus-3.7)
• Adj. Points Per Game (next 2 games): Opponent 25.4, BC 17.3 (minus-8.1)
• Adj. Points Per Game (last 6 games): BC 33.7, Opponent 32.2 (plus-1.5)

Despite the up-and-down nature of the results (and despite a pretty impressive swing between the FSU/Army performances and the Clemson/UNC performances), BC typically hovered around a level of play that would have either barely beaten or barely lost to an average team from week to week. It makes sense, then, that the Eagles finished 65th, almost dead-on average, over the course of the year.

Offense

FIVE FACTORS -- OFFENSE
	Raw Category		Rk	Opp. Adj. Category		Rk
EXPLOSIVENESS	IsoPPP	1.34	7	IsoPPP+	114.2	11
EFFICIENCY	Succ. Rt.	38.0%	105	Succ. Rt. +	99.4	65
FIELD POSITION	Def. Avg. FP	28.3	36	Def. FP+	100.4	55
FINISHING DRIVES	Pts. Per Trip in 40	4.8	19	Redzone S&P+	97.9	71
TURNOVERS	EXPECTED	12.1		ACTUAL	17	+4.9

Category	Yards/ Game Rk	S&P+ Rk	Success Rt. Rk	PPP+ Rk
OVERALL	93	38	66	60
RUSHING	20	31	68	21
PASSING	114	41	51	107
Standard Downs		15	40	7
Passing Downs		82	96	44

Q1 Rk	23	1st Down Rk	15
Q2 Rk	72	2nd Down Rk	45
Q3 Rk	70	3rd Down Rk	70
Q4 Rk	8

3. What does Ryan Day really want to do?

Ryan Day has been Addazio's offensive coordinator for two years now, first at Temple in 2012, then at BC last fall. At both stops, his offense ran the ball frequently and ran the ball well -- 21st in Rushing S&P+ for Temple in 2012 (despite a total lack of passing success), 31st for BC in 2013. For all of Addazio's talk of hybrids -- tight ends who are fullbacks who are H-backs, receivers who can run and/or line up in the slot and out wide, running backs who can catch, quarterbacks who are potential dual threats -- the ball is much more likely to leave the backfield in a running back's gut than through the air.

In other words, last season probably wasn't so much a "Hey, we've got Andre Williams, so let's run like crazy" situation; it was more "We want to run like crazy, and hey, we've got Andre Williams."

With two freshman backups at running back and a quarterback who wasn't going to contribute more than two or three non-sack carries per game, Williams indeed carried a ridiculous load. The 230-pounder* from Schnecksville, Penn., was built for it and found a seat in New York as a Heisman finalist for his troubles. He carried 35 times for 204 yards against Wake Forest, 28 for 149 against Florida State, and 30 for 263 against Army. After a tough game against Clemson (24 for 70), he put together one of the most impressive five-game stretches college football has seen in the last 20 years: 26 for 172 against UNC, 33 for 166 against Virginia Tech, 30 for 295 against NMSU, 42 (!) for 339 (!) against N.C. State, and 32 for 263 against Maryland. Wear and tear took him down in the regular season finale, just as the Heisman hype was picking up, and he carried just nine times for 29 yards. But in an era that barely produces running backs who average 20 carries per game, Williams averaged 27. And he finished 23 yards short of 2,200 for the season.

Now that Williams is a New York Giant, we'll see what changes. I assume the distribution of carries between sophomores Myles Willis and Tyler Rouse, not to mention a couple of exciting freshmen (Jon Hilliman and Marcus Outlaw) will be a little more normal -- first-stringer gets 15-20, second-stringer gets 8-12, etc. And I assume the mobility of Florida transfer (and likely starting quarterback) Tyler Murphy will play a role in the play-calling as well. But make no mistake: BC is going to run the ball a lot. And the Eagles will probably do it well, Williams or no Williams.

* Not sure how he weighed in at only 230, considering each thigh weighed 185 pounds.

Quarterback

Note: players in bold below are 2014 returnees. Players in italics are questionable with injury/suspension.

Player	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT	Comp Rate	Sacks	Sack Rate	Yards/ Att.
Chase Rettig				162	263	1995	17	8	61.6%	22	7.7%	6.5
Josh Bordner	6'4, 220	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	2	4	17	0	0	50.0%	0	0.0%	4.3
James Walsh	6'1, 191	RSFr.	3 stars (5.6)
Tyler Murphy (Florida)	6'2, 214	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	112	185	1216	6	5	60.5%	22	10.6%	6.8
Darius Wade	6'2, 199	Fr.	3 stars (5.6)

Running Back

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	Rushes	Yards	TD	Yards/ Carry	Hlt Yds/ Carry	Opp. Rate
Andre Williams	RB				355	2177	18	6.1	8.0	37.5%
Myles Willis	RB	5'9, 192	So.	3 stars (5.6)	60	346	2	5.8	5.1	46.7%
Chase Rettig	QB				38	221	1	5.8	8.5	39.5%
Tyler Rouse	RB	5'9, 192	So.	2 stars (5.2)	26	125	2	4.8	6.6	26.9%
Alex Amidon	WR				8	47	1	5.9	3.1	62.5%
David Dudeck	RB	5'11, 189	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	5	8	0	1.6		0.0%
Jon Hilliman	RB	6'0, 215	Fr.	4 stars (5.8)
Marcus Outlow	RB	6'0, 210	Fr.	3 stars (5.7)

4. Myles might be a keeper

A 5'11, 230-pound tailback is going to get pigeon-holed as a power back, a guy who plows into the back of his offensive linemen, falls forward, and gained three to six yards each play with minimal explosiveness. Williams was the exact opposite; he was certainly powerful, but his production was more of the all-or-nothing variety: two yards, two yards, two yards, two yards, 23 yards. The man was far more explosive than efficient. Of the 45 players to rush at least 200 times in 2013, only three averaged better than 6.8 Highlight Yards per opportunity: Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon (7.1) and James White (7.4) and BC's Williams (8.0).

Strangely enough, Myles Willis, at 5'9, 192 pounds, was far more efficient and less explosive than Williams, albeit in a small sample. The former three-star recruit from Georgia showed quite a bit of potential for a true freshman -- efficiency usually comes last for young backs -- while also serving as one of the more efficient kick returners in the country. Again, we'll have to see what happens in terms of ball distribution (that might basically be dictated by how many true freshmen prove themselves worthy of early action) and whether that affects his presence on special teams, but Willis is most likely a keeper.

And he'll be running behind a potentially decent line. Both tackles are gone, including all-conference Florida transfer Matt Patchan, but four returning seniors have combined for 77 career starts, and another Florida transfer, Ian Silberman, joins the mix. The line did a strong job of keeping defenders out of the backfield, and Willis is a solid downhill runner for his size.

Receiving Corps

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	Targets	Catches	Yards	Catch Rate	Target Rate	%SD	Yds/ Target	NEY	Real Yds/ Target	RYPR
Alex Amidon	WR				108	77	1032	71.3%	44.1%	48.0%	9.6	145	9.8	163.8
Bobby Swigert (2012)	WR	6'1, 192	Sr.	3 stars (5.7)	37	22	249	59.5%	8.7%	64.9%	6.7	N/A	6.6	33.9
Dan Crimmins	WR	6'5, 223	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	20	11	61	55.0%	8.2%	47.4%	3.1	-84	3.4	9.7
David Dudeck	RB	5'11, 189	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	20	11	84	55.0%	8.2%	30.0%	4.2	-61	4.5	13.3
Jake Sinkovec	TE				17	14	118	82.4%	6.9%	81.3%	6.9	-33	7.8	18.7
Mike Naples	TE				14	10	207	71.4%	5.7%	53.8%	14.8	92	15.9	32.9
C.J. Parsons	TE				13	9	116	69.2%	5.3%	66.7%	8.9	11	7.9	18.4
Spiffy Evans	WR				13	7	97	53.8%	5.3%	53.8%	7.5	4	7.6	15.4
Bobby Wolford	FB	6'2, 240	So.	3 stars (5.5)	11	9	105	81.8%	4.5%	55.6%	9.5	8	9.8	16.7
Brian Miller	TE				10	6	72	60.0%	4.1%	12.5%	7.2	-3	5.6	11.4
Harrison Jackson	WR	6'2, 204	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	10	5	46	50.0%	4.1%	25.0%	4.6	-23	8.5	7.3
Joel Rich	TE	6'3, 255	RSFr.	3 stars (5.5)	1	1	14	100.0%	0.4%	0.0%	14.0	4	6.2	2.2
Josh Bordner	WR	6'4, 226	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)
Louis Addazio	TE	6'3, 248	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)
Michael Giacone	TE	6'5, 262	Jr.	3 stars (5.6)
Drew Barksdale	WR	5'11, 193	So.	3 stars (5.5)
Charlie Callinan	WR	6'4, 219	RSFr.	3 stars (5.5)
Thaddius Smith	WR	5'10, 170	Fr.	3 stars (5.7)
Gabriel McClary	WR	6'3, 190	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)
Sherman Alston	WR	5'6, 165	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)

5. Who catches passes?

In 2012, Temple ranked 21st in Rushing S&P+ despite almost no production in the passing game (108th in Passing S&P+). Running backs Montel Harris, a BC transfer (symmetry!), and Matt Brown carried a heavy load, but in the absence of quality passing, quarterbacks Chris Coyer and Juice Granger did prove adept on the ground. They combined for 133 non-sack carries and 786 yards. Not bad at all.

In a listless, injury-plagued, identity-free Florida offense, Tyler Murphy had patches of success. He rushed 39 times for 248 yards (an efficient 59 percent opportunity rate, 4.4 highlight yards per opportunity), and his passing numbers were pretty decent in his first three starts filling in for the injured Jeff Driskel: 72 percent completion rate, 13.6 yards per completion, five touchdowns to one interception. Granted, the production dropped quickly. In his last four starts, he had a 56 percent completion rate, 9.4 yards per completion, and one TD to four picks, then mercifully missed the final three games of the year with a shoulder injury. He was in no way a star recruit, but his early production hinted at solid potential, and the running game and identity he inherits at BC should be stronger than what he was working with at Florida.

The receiving corps, on the other hand, probably won't be stronger. Only two of last year's top seven targets return from a passing game that was actually rather efficient (and completely lacking in explosiveness), and while Bobby Swigert returns after missing 2013 with injury, that means the top three returning targets (Swigert, Dan Crimmons, David Dudeck) combined to average a paltry 5.1 yards per target in their last seasons of action. The tight end position is almost completely unproven, and outside of the top three, the receiving corps consists of freshmen, sophomore Drew Barksdale, and converted quarterback Josh Bordner. It's quite possible that BC's running game improves and its passing game regresses in 2014.

Offensive Line

Category	Adj. Line Yds	Std. Downs LY/carry	Pass. Downs LY/carry	Opp. Rate	Power Success Rate	Stuff Rate	Adj. Sack Rate	Std. Downs Sack Rt.	Pass. Downs Sack Rt.
Team	106.9	2.95	2.89	38.1%	55.6%	18.8%	88.6	3.3%	10.3%
Rank	40	66	100	80	113	59	81	30	105

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	Career Starts	Honors/Notes
Matt Patchan	LT				21	2nd All-ACC
Ian White	RT				36
Bobby Vardaro	LG	6'5, 306	Sr.	3 stars (5.7)	33
Andy Gallik	C	6'3, 299	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	28
Harris Williams	RG	6'3, 303	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	13
Seth Betancourt	LT	6'6, 300	Sr.	3 stars (5.7)	3
Dan Lembke	LG				0
Aaron Kramer	RG	6'7, 300	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	0
Paul Gaughan	LG	6'6, 300	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	0
Dave Bowen	LT	6'7, 288	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	0
Frank Taylor	C	6'3, 286	So.	3 stars (5.7)	0
Jim Cashman	RT	6'7, 298	So.	3 stars (5.7)	0
Ian Silberman (Florida)	OL	6'5, 293	Sr.	4 stars (5.9)	7
Jon Baker	OL	6'3, 300	Fr.	3 stars (5.6)
James Hendren	OL	6'7, 268	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)

Defense

FIVE FACTORS -- DEFENSE
	Raw Category		Rk	Opp. Adj. Category		Rk
EXPLOSIVENESS	IsoPPP	1.16	72	IsoPPP+	97.9	73
EFFICIENCY	Succ. Rt.	43.2%	76	Succ. Rt. +	97.9	63
FIELD POSITION	Off. Avg. FP	29.5	83	Off. FP+	98.5	77
FINISHING DRIVES	Pts. Per Trip in 40	4.7	102	Redzone S&P+	102.7	47
TURNOVERS	EXPECTED	20.3		ACTUAL	20.0	-0.3

Category	Yards/ Game Rk	S&P+ Rk	Success Rt. Rk	PPP+ Rk
OVERALL	93	70	63	80
RUSHING	57	63	62	48
PASSING	113	66	70	105
Standard Downs		64	66	66
Passing Downs		79	76	69

Q1 Rk	43	1st Down Rk	85
Q2 Rk	87	2nd Down Rk	78
Q3 Rk	92	3rd Down Rk	75
Q4 Rk	99

Defensive Line

Category	Adj. Line Yds	Std. Downs LY/carry	Pass. Downs LY/carry	Opp. Rate	Power Success Rate	Stuff Rate	Adj. Sack Rate	Std. Downs Sack Rt.	Pass. Downs Sack Rt.
Team	98.3	3.00	3.20	38.9%	64.6%	15.9%	126.3	5.7%	9.8%
Rank	69	71	54	60	48	102	22	38	15

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Kasim Edebali	DE				13	52.5	6.9%	14.0	8.5	0	5	4	2
Kaleb Ramsey	DE				10	22.0	2.9%	4.0	2.0	0	0	0	0
Brian Mihalik	DE	6'9, 288	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	13	20.5	2.7%	6.0	2.0	0	1	1	0
Connor Wujciak	DT	6'3, 296	Jr.	4 stars (5.8)	13	17.0	2.2%	2.0	0.0	0	2	1	0
Jaryd Rudolph	DT				12	15.0	2.0%	3.5	2.0	0	0	1	0
Mehdi Abdesmad	DT	6'7, 290	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	4	13.0	1.7%	3.5	2.0	0	0	0	0
Dominic Appiah	DT				12	7.0	0.9%	0.0	0.0	0	0	1	0
Nick Lifka	DE	6'2, 272	Jr.	3 stars (5.6)	4	4.0	0.5%	0.5	0.0	0	0	0	0
Kevin Kavalec	DE	6'3, 251	So.	2 stars (5.4)	4	2.5	0.3%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Truman Gutapfel	DT	6'3, 280	So.	2 stars (5.4)	8	2.5	0.3%	0.5	0.0	0	0	0	0
Malachi Moore	DE	6'7, 269	So.	2 stars (5.4)
Jack Cottrell	DE	6'4, 239	RSFr.	3 stars (5.6)
Harold Landry	DE	6'2, 255	Fr.	4 stars (5.8)
Kevin Cohee Jr.	DE	6'4, 240	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)
Joseph Vitiello	DE	6'4, 255	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)

6. A brand new pass rush

Despite a stellar pass rush, BC opponents had little qualms about throwing the ball on the Eagles last fall. The secondary was ultra-aggressive (the four starters combined for 17.5 tackles for loss and 17 passes defensed), which helped in terms of turnovers, but there were just far too many breakdowns. Opponents completed 142 passes of 10+ yards on BC (120th in the country), 47 of 20+ (97th), and 23 of 30+ (100th). The mid-season loss of safety Spenser Rositano to injury certainly didn't help -- with the Adj. Scores above, one certainly sees a defensive drop-off over the last half of the season.

In 2014, the secondary returns almost entirely intact (for better or worse), but the two best pass rushers, end Kasim Edebali and strongside linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis, are gone. The two combined for 14.5 sacks, 24.5 tackles for loss, seven passes defensed, and four forced fumbles. That's a lot of production to replace, though players like end Brian Mihalik and linebackers Steven Daniels and Josh Keyes have hinted at decent potential.

Defensive tackle Connor Wujciak's return is welcome, especially for a decent run defense, but the key piece is likely Mehdi Abdesmad, who was playing at a nearly all-conference level through four games before missing the final two months with a torn patellar tendon. Abdesmad can play both inside and outside on the line (hybrid!) and should become BC's leading pass rusher. And if three-star redshirt freshman Jack Cottrell and incoming four-star freshman Harold Landry can contribute early, that's even better.

Linebackers

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Kevin Pierre-Louis	SLB				13	87.5	11.5%	10.5	6.0	1	1	0	0
Steele Divitto	MLB				13	83.0	10.9%	6.0	3.0	1	5	0	0
Steven Daniels	WLB	6'0, 257	Jr.	4 stars (5.8)	13	71.0	9.3%	6.5	3.0	1	2	1	0
Sean Duggan (2012)	MLB	6'4, 244	Sr.	3 stars (5.7)	11	28.0	3.5%	1.0	0.0	0	1	1	1
Josh Keyes	SLB	6'2, 220	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	11	22.5	3.0%	5.0	3.5	0	0	1	0
Mike Strizak	WLB	6'2, 230	So.	3 stars (5.7)	9	3.0	0.4%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Tim Joy	WLB	6'2, 224	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)
Connor Strachan	LB	6'2, 240	Fr.	4 stars (5.8)
Christian Lezzer	LB	6'1, 218	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)
Ty Schwab	LB	6'2, 208	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)

7. What does LB U have at LB?

Boston College became synonymous with high-volume, 100-tackle linebackers during the Spaziani years (both as head coach and defensive coordinator). The Eagles produced pro talent like Luke Kuechly, Mark Herzlich, Jo-Lonn Dunbar, and Ricky Brown and seemed to always have at least one all-conference contender in the unit.

In Kevin Pierre-Louis, Steele Divitto, and Steven Daniels, BC had another strong unit in 2013. The three combined for 32 percent of the team's tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, and 11 passes defensed. Two of the three are gone, but there's certainly potential in the replacements. Daniels is a bowling ball at 6'0, 257, Josh Keyes does appear to be a potentially strong outside guy, and Connor Strachan was one of the stars of the 2014 recruiting class. Depth here is questionable, but the upside seems decent.

Then again, the upside was quite high a year ago, and BC ranked 63rd in Rushing S&P+ and 66th in Passing S&P+. Without improvement in the secondary, the linebacking corps might not matter much.

Secondary

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Manuel Asprilla	CB	5'11, 178	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	13	61.5	8.1%	7	0	2	6	1	0
Sean Sylvia	FS	6'0, 200	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	13	56.0	7.4%	2	0	1	2	1	0
Dominique Williams	SS	6'0, 218	Sr.	2 stars (5.3)	13	54.5	7.2%	3.5	0	1	1	0	0
Bryce Jones	CB	6'1, 174	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	13	52.5	6.9%	5	0	2	2	0	0
Justin Simmons	FS	6'3, 192	Jr.	3 stars (5.6)	13	28.0	3.7%	1	0	0	3	0	1
Spenser Rositano	SS				5	25.5	3.4%	2	1	0	3	0	0
Al Louis-Jean, Jr.	CB				11	18.0	2.4%	0	0	0	1	1	0
C.J. Jones	CB	5'11, 183	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	12	15.0	2.0%	1.5	0.5	0	0	0	0
Matt Milano	SS	6'0, 215	So.	3 stars (5.7)	13	4.5	0.6%	0	0	0	0	0	0
John Johnson	CB	6'0, 191	So.	2 stars (5.4)	10	4.0	0.5%	1	0	0	0	0	0
James McCaffrey	DB				11	2.5	0.3%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Joel Karim Zoungrana	DB	6'0, 200	So.	2 stars (5.4)
Atem Ntantang	CB	5'11, 190	RSFr.	2 stars (5.3)
Isaac Yiadom	DB	6'1, 170	Fr.	3 stars (5.6)
Allen Dawson	DB	6'0, 192	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)
Cameron Seward	DB	6'1, 216	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)

8. Desperately seeking a glitch-free secondary

Again, from a pure play-making perspective, there was a lot to like about BC's secondary. Corner Manny Asprilla was particularly impressive; you're not going to find too many players at any position combining seven tackles for loss with eight passes defensed.

But the numbers just don't add up. If you have a top-25 pass rush and a back seven that racks up quite a few plays against both run and pass, you should rank quite a bit higher than 92nd in Def. F/+. Big pass plays were the biggest issue for this defense, and BC's prospects for fixing that in 2014 depend on whether you're a glass-half-full or half-empty kind of person.

Half-full: The top five tacklers in the secondary return, along with a sixth player, C.J. Jones, who saw plenty of action last fall. All of these players are juniors and seniors, which means BC has one of the more experienced defensive backfields in the league. And after having to adjust on the fly to Rositano's injury last year, the Eagles now have a full offseason to prepare.

Half-empty: Players don't tend to improve as drastically as juniors and seniors, so this unit might be basically what it already was unless some new blood can liven things up a bit.

Special Teams

Punter	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Punts	Avg	TB	FC	I20	FC/I20 Ratio
Nate Freese			75	41.7	9	23	22	60.0%

Kicker	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Kickoffs	Avg	TB	OOB	TB%
Nate Freese			73	64.2	51	2	69.9%

Place-Kicker	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	PAT	FG (0-39)	Pct	FG (40+)	Pct
Nate Freese			40-41	14-14	100.0%	6-6	100.0%

Returner	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Returns	Avg.	TD
Myles Willis	KR	5'9, 192	So.	30	23.6	1
David Dudeck	KR	5'11, 189	Jr.	9	15.6	0
Spiffy Evans	PR			13	11.8	0
David Dudeck	PR	5'11, 189	Jr.	3	8.3	0

Category	Rk
Special Teams F/+	14
Field Goal Efficiency	1
Punt Return Efficiency	94
Kick Return Efficiency	21
Punt Efficiency	55
Kickoff Efficiency	49
Opponents' Field Goal Efficiency	120

9. A one-man special teams unit

Okay, Nate Freese wasn't actually a one-man special teams unit, not with what Myles Willis brought to the return unit. But it was close. Freese was a decent punter, a solid kickoffs guy and a nearly perfect place-kicker. He actually missed more PATs (one) than field goals (zero), and more than two-thirds of his kickoffs were touchbacks. He was a stud. He keyed a top-15 rating for BC in special teams, and there's almost no way to avoid a dropoff with his replacement.

2014 Schedule & Projection Factors

2014 Schedule
Date	Opponent	Proj. Rk
30-Aug	at Massachusetts	126
5-Sep	Pittsburgh	39
13-Sep	USC	9
20-Sep	Maine	NR
27-Sep	Colorado State	79
11-Oct	at N.C. State	66
18-Oct	Clemson	5
25-Oct	at Wake Forest	83
1-Nov	at Virginia Tech	19
8-Nov	Louisville	16
22-Nov	at Florida State	1
29-Nov	Syracuse	67

Five-Year F/+ Rk	-1.0% (58)
Two-Year Recruiting Rk	66
TO Margin/Adj. TO Margin*	3 / 8.2
TO Luck/Game	-2.0
Approx. Ret. Starters (Off. / Def.)	11 (5, 6)

10. No margin for error

Temple struggled in Addazio's second year, and it's not difficult to see BC doing the same. That's just what happens when you lose your best players at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, offensive tackle, defensive end, and linebacker.

Still, it's not hard to see this offense remaining similar in quality. Addazio and Day produced a strong running game (without Andre Williams) at Temple and could do the same with Myles Willis and company. And it's not out of the realm of possibility that Tyler Murphy and the new passing game could be just as inefficient (and non-explosive) as last year's. If the secondary can pick up the slack for a pass rush that might suffer, then BC could produce a level of play similar to last year's. And while we wait to find out what kind of recruiter Addazio really is, maintenance of form won't be the end of the world.

But if BC indeed ranks in the 60s again in 2014, the path to a bowl game will be quite tricky. The Eagles play five teams projected in the top 20, and while we can debate the merits of Clemson in the top 10 or Louisville in the top 20, those teams are probably going to be better than BC. If the Eagles can go 2-4 against these five teams and Pittsburgh, that leaves a doable path to 6-6, albeit it one with minimal room for slips.

It appears BC is back to being a competent, decent program after a stark, three-year slide. And it appears that Addazio should have the horses in the backfield to keep running and running the ball for the foreseeable future. For all the other details, though -- recruiting, passing, defense -- we'll have to wait and see.