The 2013 AdvoCare V100 Bowl will be the first time Arizona has played Boston College in football, so an introduction is in order.
The Daily Wildcat caught up with the sports editor of The Gavel at BC, Theodore H. Kolva III, to get the inside scoop on the Eagles.
DW: We all know about Andre Williams, but what about BC’s passing game? How has it fared?
Kolva III: BC’s passing game is imbalanced. Chase Rettig connects with Alex Amidon for the most part — and tight end C.J. Parsons will get a few looks on rollouts and some mid-yardage situations — but for the most part, BC will run the ball a lot more than pass. Rushing attempts often outnumber passing attempts 3:1 each game.
What have the Eagles said about Ka’Deem Carey?
Nothing’s been said explicitly about Carey — but he’s obviously a huge factor. While defensive coordinator Don Brown has done a good job at containing star rushers, Carey is a different breed.
I don’t know what to expect, especially because BC’s 52nd-ranked rush defense is mostly against a field of ACC backs. One absolute is: If Carey has a performance similar to that of the Oregon game, and Williams flops, BC will not win the game.
After a poor start, what was the reason for BC’s strong turnaround?
BC’s early season schedule was scattered with Top 25 teams. Clemson and Florida State, both teams that the Eagles were beating at some point in the second half, eventually tired out BC’s offense and defense, coming out on top. But it was those games that really strengthened BC’s defensive unit and empowered Andre Williams to be the record-breaking rusher he is.
And that’s really how I think that exciting win streak came to fruition. If you look at game tape from the Villanova game compared to the Virginia Tech game, you see a drastic change in aggression and field awareness. That end-of-season loss to Syracuse was an outlier in terms of defensive performance, and I expect BC’s defense to come out strong against Arizona.
Who else besides Williams should fans keep an eye on and why?
Nate Freese, BC’s place-kicker, missed one extra point this year. That missed PAT was his only miscue of the entire season, and he’s been perfect in every other statistical scoring category.
He made all 18 of his field goal attempts, and even sent a 50-yard field goal through the uprights to give BC a last-second win at Maryland. Besides Freese, I think the senior linebacker tandem of Steele Divitto and Kevin Pierre-Louis will have a lot to prove against one of the best rushers in the nation in Ka’Deem Carey.
Prediction?
BC will stay with UA until the end; Wildcats win a high-scoring, deadlocked game, though, 35-28.
