The Avengers

As the Boston College football team enters its match-up against North Carolina State this Saturday, players are trying to focus on the task at hand, not the fact that they are facing a former coach. The real story of the game should be how BC can exploit the weak pass defense of the Wolfpack, not that the Eagles are facing former coach Tom O'Brien for the second time since he left the school.

"The novelty has worn off. It was weird last year seeing him before the game and then playing them. I feel like that's all worn off," said tight end Ryan Purvis. "This is a big game for us, a must win if we want to get back to the ACC championship game, because we already have one loss in the conference and this is a divisional conference game."

The focus of the game has nothing to do with O'Brien, but rather his defense. This Wolfpack defense is giving up 30.0 points per game, 174.0 rushing yards a game, and, possibly most importantly, 226.6 passing yards per contest. Those numbers put NC State in the bottom two in each category in the ACC.

After a week in which the Eagles ran the ball 40 times compared to only nine passing plays, a more balanced attack is to be expected in this upcoming game.

In fact, after watching tape of the NC State-South Florida game last week in which USF threw for 275 yards, the offense is excited to unveil a more balanced gameplan. BC players are fully aware that they are not going to win many league games if they cannot spell the run with the pass.

"The emphasis is on the passing game this week in practice, because last week we ran the same two or three run plays up and down the field," Purvis said. "We have to be more balanced if we want to be successful in ACC play."

The team has been working on empty backfield sets and schemes that include more slot receivers in an effort to exploit what the coaching staff sees as the biggest weakness of the NC State: defense. Several players even indicated that the coaching staff intends for them to throw the ball more than they hand it off to the running backs. The only game in which the team threw the ball more than it ran it came against UCF, but the team has been preparing to air it out all week.

Most of the focus on the passing game has been on creating mismatches between the BC receivers and Wolfpack players who may not be able to keep up with them. The coaching staff and players alike know that if they can create mismatches throughout the game, the passing game has a better chance of being successful.

"We want to see if we can find the best match-ups on the field," wide receiver Rich Gunnell said. "Like us receivers on their linebackers or their safeties, guys that aren't really cover guys, and just try to create some mismatches and hopefully just take advantage of it."

One scenario that the Eagles are looking forward to is one in which they are able to get one of their receivers in the slot lined up on true freshman linebacker Dwayne Maddox. Starter Nate Irving is out with a lower leg injury, and BC receivers are excited at the opportunity to test the inexperienced Maddox. "We're definitely going to go after him and see what he can do and see how they react to it," Gunnell said.

Even true freshman running back Montel Harris is on board with the idea of passing the ball plenty against the Wolfpack defense, because he expects to figure into the passing attack. "We're kind of a 50-50 team, so the running backs are included in the passing game, so it doesn't really matter if we pass a lot," Harris said.

Chris Crane and Dominique Davis will be asked to throw the ball more than they may be accustomed to as they continue to split time at quarterback. If these two can connect with the receivers as often as the coaching staff thinks they can, they will leave O'Brien regretting his move to Raleigh, N.C.