Military Bowl: ECU Defensive Players to Watch
When the Boston College Eagles face off against the East Carolina Pirates in the Military Bowl, they’ll have to keep an eye on a few key defensive playmakers. Their defense is not that impressive on the whole, as they rank in the bottom half nationally in most yardage and points categories. However, they’re very sound on third downs and in the red zone; they also rack up turnovers. Here are three Pirate defenders that the Eagles will have to contend with.
Jeremy Lewis, OLB #11, 6’3” 235, Jr.*
Jeremy Lewis is East Carolina’s best pure pass rusher on their entire defense. Lewis is a converted tight end and played the last two seasons on offense. He only made eight catches for 54 yards and one touchdown in 2019 and 2020. After the 2020 season, Lewis and the coaching staff decided to move him outside linebacker, given the relative lack of depth there. He began the season as a rotational player but still earned consistent snaps.
After four games, Lewis broke into the starting lineup and stayed there for the rest of the season. In his first season on the defensive side of the ball, he tied for the team lead in sacks with 4.0 and finished second in tackles for loss with 6.0. According to Pro Football Focus, he led the team in pressures with 21 (5 sacks, 5 QB hits, 11 hurries). Lewis evenly split his time lining up on the strong and weak side of the defense but he mostly aligned on the line of scrimmage outside the tackle. Surprisingly, he actually took more coverage snaps (173) than pass-rush snaps (165), as he frequently drops into the slot/overhang areas in zone coverage.
While Lewis is the Pirates’ most significant pass-rushing threat, I am frankly not too concerned about him. Even though BC’s offensive tackles have disappointed relative to expectations, they have the ability to neutralize a player like Lewis. Firstly, Lewis is undersized for an edge defender, coming in at 235 pounds. Therefore, especially if a tight end helps out, the tackles should be able to dominate him on the edge in run defense.
Secondly, as this is only his first season playing on defense, Lewis is not as developed as a pass rusher in terms of his technique. While he is an impressive athlete, he’s still learning how to most efficiently use that athleticism. When BC’s tackles struggled this season, it was against savvy pass rushers with a bevy of pass rush moves. Even though speed and athleticism occasionally gave them issues, dealing with power and hand usage were their biggest problems. To attack Lewis, I would suggest BC runs the ball directly at him, allowing double and combo blocks to move him off the line, as opposed to running away from him which would allow him to track the run down. In the passing game, slide protections towards him and give the tackles help from the tight ends and running backs.
Jireh Wilson, S #0, 6’3” 211, R-So.*
Jireh Wilson is listed as a safety, but he is more of a linebacker-safety hybrid. He has played both positions for the Pirates but now they use him as their primary slot defender. He is an impressive athlete, so he can use his size to cover tight ends in the passing game and also take on blocks in run defense, but he also has the speed and movement skills to cover wide receivers. Wilson started seven games for ECU this season but played a significant amount of snaps in nearly all of them. As the Eagles like to get their tight ends involved in the passing game, he will most likely draw coverage assignments for Trae Barry and Joey Luchetti.
As Wilson plays a hybrid role for the Pirates, he is asked to fill many roles in their defense. He is tied for fourth on the team in tackles for loss (4) and third in sacks (2.5). He also has four passes broken up and one interception and he only has a passer rating of 79.3 when targeted. Phil Jurkovec will always need to make sure he has an eye on Wilson presnap, as he could be rushing the passer or dropping into coverage, which could give clues about the rest of the defense.
With Wilson playing in the overhang area, BC has the opportunity to attack him as the read defender in the option game. Since Phil Jurkovec returned to the lineup, he has been a major running threat, especially on designed read options. On some of these plays, Wilson will be the defender in conflict. This eliminates him from the run fit and should allow BC to pick up some chunk gains on the ground. Alternatively, if BC sends their tight ends to lead block for Jurkovec when he keeps the ball.
In the passing game, Trae Barry should prove to be a difficult matchup for Wilson. But BC could really create some explosive plays if they can force him to be matched up on Zay Flowers or Jaelen Gill in the slot, as he does not have the speed or athletic ability to match up with those receivers in coverage. Alternatively, if ECU blitzes Wilson on passing downs, the running backs will need to be sure to pick him up in pass protection. Blitzing a slot player typically opens up that area of the field so Jurkovec should look to throw the ball in the zones that Wilson vacates.
Ja’Quan McMillian, CB #21, 5’10” 183, So.*
Last but certainly not least is starting cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian. McMillian has been a fixture in the Pirates starting defense since he was a true freshman in 2019. He has started all but six of 33 possible games during his time in Greenville. McMillian earned preseason All-AAC honors in 2020 and 2021. Despite being relatively undersized, especially for an outside cornerback, he’s been a consistently solid performer the last three seasons, with his best work coming this year.
This season, McMillian has been a lockdown corner for the Pirates, ranking among the best in the nation. He’s tied for second in the nation in interceptions (5) and leads the country in total passes defensed (passes broken up plus interceptions, 21). When targeted, he has only allowed a passer rating of 54.1, the fourth-best in the AAC. McMillian also leads ECU in solo tackles (38) and is second in total tackles (56). According to Pro Football Focus, he has the third-best Overall grade among FBS cornerbacks (87.7) and the best Coverage grade (91.1) among all FBS defenders (20% snap minimum).
Unlike the other players I mentioned, I think the best strategy for attacking McMillian is not attacking him at all. He’s held up against the best receivers in his conference, only allowing 36 catches on 72 targets. Despite losing most size matchups, he’s only committed four penalties the entire season, three of which came in the first two weeks. As I discussed with Wilson, BC needs to find ways to get Flowers and Gill in the slot so they can avoid throwing at McMillian.
If the Eagles are dead set on going after McMillian, they should line CJ Lewis or Taji Johnson against him. Their superior size should give them at least one advantage against McMillian, especially if they give those receivers jump-ball, contested-catch opportunities. But McMillian is probably the Pirates' best player, so the best strategy would be to attack other matchups.