Spring Game Grades: Offense

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Photos by Alex Trautwig

By DJ Adams

After watching the annual Boston College Jay McGillis Memorial Spring Game yesterday, here is our take on how the offense looked. Rising sophomore quarterback Chase Rettig ran the first offense for the majority of the day, while Colin Larmond, Jr., Andre Williams, Alex Amidon, and Mark Spinney sat out the glorified scrimmage.

Quarterbacks: C+

Rettig had a strong day, going 20-for-29 with 182 yards. Those numbers aren’t bad, especially for a game that usually favors the defense. The sophomore looked particularly comfortable using the play action to get outside of the pocket and hit his receivers while rolling out.

That being said, he looked antsy while directly behind the center. He missed a wide-open Ifeanyi Momah on a post by throwing five yards too short. The secondary could have tacked on a couple interceptions if the defenders had looked the ball into their hands. Much of Rettig’s yardage came from check-downs.

Backup Dave Shinskie went 9-of-15, but held on to the ball for too long on several of his drives, including one offensive set in which he was sacked three times. Mike Marscovetra rounded out the crew’s wish-washy performance, only completing four passes in 14 attempts. BC’s quarterbacks still have much to work on over the summer.

Running Backs: B

Montel Harris took the opening carry of the game before spending the remainder of the day on the bench, since there’s no need for BC’s clear-cut starting back to risk reinjuring his knee.. Williams was out with a back injury, which allowed Tahj Kimble and Mike Javorski to earn the bulk of the carries. Kimble broke through a hole in the line for a 21-yard run in the first half. However, the rising sophomore only finished with 37 yards on 13 carries. Kimble did catch the ball out of the backfield, though, grabbing three receptions on the day when his quarterback ran out of options downfield.

Javorski’s numbers were much better than Kimble’s, as the soon-to-be senior ran 20 times for 82 yards. With his carries coming from a healthy blend of counters as well as dives between the tackles, the Eagles’ strong running game looks poised once again to succeed in 2011, especially with their top two runners from last year returning.

Receivers/Tight Ends: C+

Leading the charge for the receiving game was tight end Lars Anderson, who caught seven balls for 78 yards, and Bobby Swigert, who grabbed six for 68. While there were other noteworthy individual performances for the receiving corps, the wideouts’ shortcomings were what stood out.

Even going against BC’s soft defensive zone, the receivers hardly gained any separation downfield. Whether that was the quarterback’s inability to recognize the zone, or the receivers’ fault was difficult to tell, but against other tighter defenses in 2011 it will be interesting to see if this trend continues.

A few dropped passes by Momah and Clyde Lee, two key deep threats for the Eagles, caused this ranking to fall from a B- into the C-range.

Offensive Line: A-

Despite being criticized in the past two spring scrimmages, the offensive line was the brightest spot for BC on Saturday. The big guys opened wide holes against the first-team defense, and if it weren’t for the Eagles’ superb linebackers, the stats could have been even greater for BC’s backs.

The pass protection was likewise stellar for Rettig. The sophomore was able to check down on several occasions, evidence of enough protection for him to move through his entire receiving progression.

This could have been an A, but the second-team had one drive with Dave Shinskie that composed of three sacks allowed and a holding penalty that called back a 30-yard touchdown pass.

Overall: B-

The offense showed a few encouraging signs on Saturday, most notably the line’s improvement and a commitment to play-action rollouts, which will be instrumental in balancing out a ground game that features one of the ACC’s best runners in Harris.

The same troubles that have kept BC from becoming a 10-win team in past seasons were present still, however. Rettig panicked when under pressure, and no other quarterback looked poised to offer him any competition. The receivers lacked any big-play ability, and often looked either lost while doing routes. Whether that was a result of miscommunication or just botched plays, the sloppiness needs to be fixed.

The running game once again will be the crutch on which BC leans, but eventually the team needs to incorporate a dangerous passing game back into the offense if it hopes to be one of the premier squads in the ACC.

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