Boston College capped its spring football season with the annual Jay McGillis Memorial Game Saturday, offering fans a glimpse of the team's potential next fall. Although the offense struggled, managing a lone field goal on the day, the defense appeared stout in earning a 47-21 victory by virtue of the game's unique scoring system.
While touchdowns, extra points, and field goals were worth their traditional point values, first downs (one point), explosive plays (two points), sacks (one point), fourth down stops (two), and turnovers (three points) were all worth additional points.
"We have a new system - I'm not trying to make any excuses, but we're just trying to get better," quarterback Justin Tuggle said of the offense's ineffectiveness. "We got off to a slow start and couldn't really pick it up from that point on. We've just got to keep rolling; we can't have any more steps backward, only steps forward for the summer."
At center stage in the game was the battle for the starting quarterback spot between Dominique Davis, Tuggle, and Codi Boek. Davis, the rising sophomore who is the only quarterback with game-time experience at the position for the Eagles, took the reps with the first-team offense, completing 20 of 40 passes for 145 yards and an interception. Tuggle and Boek split reps with the second team, compiling stat lines of two of seven passing for eight yards and two of 10 for 14 yards, respectively.
"We had a lot of guys dropping balls, missed throws, blocking - all over the place," Davis said. "The whole offense, we need to get better over the summer."
"Things were going a little slow today, but we've only had [the new offensive system] for three weeks, so too much can't be expected too early," Tuggle said. "We're trying to get out here and get better each and every day. I think the summer will be big for us, for all the quarterbacks. We'll be able to pick it up very smoothly then and have a nice transition to the season."
Under new offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill, the Eagles will transition from Steve Logan's spread offense to a pro-style offense, which features multiple runners in the backfield and the quarterback under center. The hope is that the new offense will better suit the quarterbacks on the roster.
"We have a long way to go," Tranquill said. "We had some people missing, but we didn't execute very well today."
Although his numbers aren't spectacular, Davis emerged from the game as the early favorite to start for BC in the season-opener against Northeastern Sept. 5. Davis, who started the final three games of the season for the Eagles, appeared much more relaxed in the pocket than he was last season, when he would occasionally succumb to the pressure of the opposing pass rush. This newfound confidence in the young BC quarterback was also apparent when he was under center, calling out audibles to his teammates as he read the defense.
"I wanted to improve most my pocket presence this spring, and I think I improved a little bit, but I'm still going to work on it during the summer," Davis said. "In the summer, my main focus will be my accuracy. There were a lot of throws I missed today that I should have made, so this summer I'm going to focus mostly on my accuracy."
The running backs behind Davis, Tuggle, and Boek didn't have much success figuring out Bill McGovern's defense, either. Jeff Smith led the Eagles with 16 carries for 40 yards, highlighted by a 13-yard run. Rising sophomores Montel Harris and Josh Haden rushed for 27 yards and nine yards, respectively. Haden did not play in the second half of the scrimmage. The Eagle running backs were rushing behind a depleted offensive line, which was without starting center Matt Tennant.
The defense capitalized on the mistakes of the raw BC offense, forcing an interception and limiting the offense to a 37-yard Steve Aponavicius field goal. The secondary in particular looked markedly improved from a season ago. Rising sophomore cornerbacks Donnie Fletcher and Isaac Johnson were jumping routes throughout the day and both came away with pass breakups. Linebackers Mark Herzlich, Nick Clancy, and Alexander DiSanzo were also impressive, each recording at least seven tackles. Herzlich also broke up three passes.
With spring practice complete, the players are now turning their attention toward the summer. The entire team will be in Chestnut Hill for the duration of the summer in preparation for a run at a third consecutive ACC Atlantic title and potential trip to the Orange Bowl.
"Everyone will be here, getting bigger, stronger, learning the new offense," Davis said. "By the time the season starts, we'll be ready."
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