 "Photo:")
 "Photo:")
How does a team recover from a 48-14 beatdown at the hands of a fierce division rival? If that team is lead by senior Mike McLaughlin, the best remedy is to call a players-only meeting in order to shift the focus onto the next game.
Given the performance of the Eagles in Saturday's loss, a game so one-sided it was described by Alex Albright as "the worst any of us have ever been beaten in any athletic event ever," it was clear that something needed to change for Boston College going into this Saturday's contest against North Carolina State. The offense was able to generate only two first downs and 28 yards through three quarters, while Tyrod Taylor and Ryan Williams shredded the defense for 441 total yards.
"Any time you go down to a place like that and play a team like that and unfortunately get beat like that, I think that you kind of need to regroup a little bit," McLaughlin said when asked why he called the meeting. "For myself, [the meeting] was more focused on this weekend, on NC State. I really didn't say anything about Virginia Tech. A good team moves on; that is what the message was."
The effects of the meeting were immediately apparent in the mood of the players. "A lot of people felt really inspired, people were jumping up and down, chanting, 'Let's get the Wolfpack,' and people really didn't seem as down," Albright said. "Everyone seemed to focus on Tuesday, and that's why I think we had such a good practice on Tuesday because everyone was able to get over it really quickly, come out and work hard and keep their eyes on NC State."
Fortunately for BC, the NC State team that will make the trip to Chestnut Hill this weekend is also coming off of a disappointing performance. The Wolfpack fell to Duke, 49-28, mostly on the strength of Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis' five-touchdown, 459-yard performance.
"Their run defense is really good, and a lot of times they look like there may be miscommunication on their back end, some guys leaving guys wide open," said wide receiver Rich Gunnell. "Also, the two quarterbacks they played the past two weeks, Lewis from Duke and [Riley] Skinner [from Wake Forest] are really good quarterbacks, and they really exposed [the NC State defense]."
Given these problems in the secondary of the Wolfpack, BC quarterback Dave Shinskie should have little trouble getting back to the form he was in against Florida State and Wake Forest, a two-game stretch in which he had 439 yards passing and five touchdowns with just one interception.
Montel Harris will also have to get back on track this weekend, as he followed up his 179-yard, two-touchdown MVP performance against Florida State with 11 carries for 43 yards in Blacksburg. Harris has at least 68 yards in each of the Eagle's wins this season, while putting up only 13 and 43 yards in the losses to Clemson and Virginia Tech, respectively.
On the offensive side of the ball, NC State quarterback Russell Wilson was described by both Albright and McLaughlin as a combination of Skinner and Taylor, the two quarterbacks who have had the most success against the BC defense this year.
"He is a very dynamic quarterback; he is the best of both worlds," McLaughlin said of Wilson. "He makes reads, and he'll look like Riley Skinner or Matt Ryan and be a drop-back guy. Then all of a sudden the pocket will break down, and he'll look like Tyrod Taylor at the snap of a finger. We'll have to be extra, extra careful with somebody like that."
Even with the Eagles' poor defensive effort against Virginia Tech, the BC defense still ranks in the top 20 nationally for scoring defense. Holding Wilson in check will provide the Eagles an excellent opportunity to fulfill the message of this week's meeting: keep moving forward toward an ACC championship.
Be the first to comment on this article!