BC Explosive Plays: What Are They, And Some Examples From 2018
Yesterday at Boston College's Media Steve Addazio was talking about team athleticism and speed when he said this:
"Well, like last year, I'll give you an example. We were the third most explosive team in the conference last year. We had the most explosives. That was a direct result of athleticism. You know, speed and athleticism on offense. On defense, last year we have three guys from our back end currently in NFL camps, and we had five or six over the last five years. So that speaks to athleticism."
I have heard that term a lot lately, explosive plays. But what exactly constitutes an explosive play. Short answer? There is no exact answer for this term. It seems that every website has their own definition of it. Pro Football Focus for instance has every play that goes more than 15 yards labeled as explosive (and probably the stat Daz was referring to), while I have seen other sites measure it with passes over 30 yards and runs over 20. And for a reference point, explosive plays do not have to end with a touchdown, though they often do.
Watching Boston College in 2018, you may get stuck remembering all those ground and pound moments where the Eagles would hand the ball to a running back for three yards, or Anthony Brown struggling at points, but looking back through the season they did have a remarkable amount of big explosive plays no matter what metric is used. Credit to the staff, when they actually do have the offense clicking, and it did at various points of the season, those smaller gains set up big explosive plays later in the game.
To highlight some of these examples, I have created another WePlayed Highlight Reel. There are 20 examples of explosive plays from 2018, and I found a bunch that include not just AJ Dillon, but Jeff Smith, Kobay White and Ben Glines. Click below to watch, and comment on the videos as well. For the purpose of this Playlist, I went with the most conservative definition of explosive plays, 30 yards on a pass and 20 yards on a run.
Editor and publisher of BC Bulletin. '06 graduate of Boston College, who has followed the program as long as he can remember. Has been covering the Eagles for the past nine years, giving expert analysis, recruiting news and breakdowns. Also the host of Locked on Boston College, a daily BC podcast that is part of the Locked On Podcast Network. When he is not writing or producing content on the Eagles, he can be found running, skiing, enjoying craft beers, or spending time with his family. You can follow AJ Black on Twitter @AJBlack_BC and our official site Twitter account is @BulletinBC