Syracuse 21 Boston College 6: Observations of the Offense

A look at the offense who struggled to move the ball against the Orange

Boston College dropped their fourth straight on Saturday, falling to Syracuse 21-6 in the Carrier Dome. Here are some of the takeaways from the play of the offense. 

* For those folks asking for a change at quarterback, you finally got your wish, sort of. Dennis Grosel got the start, and after two poor drives was yanked in favor of true freshman Emmett Morehead. After hitting an incredible 44 yard pass to Zay Flowers, Morehead struggled, mostly because he couldn't shake the pass rush. Instead of keeping his eyes down field, he would either scramble or most often just kind of turtle (not uncommon with new quarterbacks). 

* That being said, head coach Jeff Hafley and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti rotated the two quarterbacks throughout the game. Hafley said after the game that the plan was to get Morehead in the third drive no matter what, and the ending drive was for Grosel based on experience. While I understand his rational, I am still ot a big fan of this, just seemed kind of disjointed and didn't allow Morehead to get into any kind of rhythm throughout the game. Whenever Morehead came out, Grosel basically struggled with the same things he had for the past three games. Make a decision for Virginia Tech and stick with it. 

* The deep ball was there again all game. Grosel missed time and time again, but to be fair both QBs had hits deep. Grosel missed with his accuracy, and Morehead was having more of the true freshman issues, overthrowing his targets. 

* The offensive line is a complete mess right now. The left tackle position has to be addressed soon. Tyler Vrabel, who wasn't playing particularly well, exited the game with an upper body injury. Jack Conley, to be frank, had a very poor game, and had to be replaced by Zion Johnson late in the fourth quarter (with Ozzy Trapilo kicking over to guard). These struggles are baffling, given all the praise this unit got heading into the season. Grosel and Morehead were harassed all game long, and if a QB doesn't get time to make a read or set their feet, it doesn't matter if it's Phil Jurkovec back there they are going to struggle. All the talk is on the quarterback position, but the struggles of the line is a bigger issue for BC right now. They have to figure out these scheme and communication issues, or their offense will continue to falter. 

* Even with the struggles, BC did a great job of getting Zay Flowers the ball. That being said, even with the star eclipsing the 100 yard receiving mark they still didn't score a single touchdown. 

* BC badly missed having tight end Trae Barry out there on Saturday. Having that short out would have been beneficial for either quarterback. 

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