4 keys to a win in prime time vs. Michigan State
What an opportunity Bill O’Brien and his Eagles have on Saturday Night.
If you watched the Cowboys-Eagles game on Thursday night, every so often you’d see ‘BC-Michigan State prime time 7:30’ in the bottom right corner on NBC. That doesn’t happen very often if you’re BC.
The world will be watching when the Eagles (+3.5 point underdogs) head into Spartan Stadium in front of a raucous crowd. MSU is coming off a ‘meh’ 23-6 win against Western Michigan last weekend, but there were obviously be much more juice in the crowd for this one.
With a trip to Stanford looming on the horizion just days away, heading back late Sunday night and then out west later in the week will feel a lot better at 2-0.
Here’s four things I think the Eagles need to do to come out of East Lansing with a win:
Run, run, run
Run the ball. Run it again and run it some more. Yes, Dylan Lonergan is fine and playing and the Eagles’ receiving core is one of its biggest strengths, but there’s three reasons why I think you need to run it as much as possible. The first one is simple: because it wasn’t great against Fordham. The Eagles finished with 97-yards, but on 30+ carries and it wasn’t really very consistent in the non-blowout portions of the win. With so many weapons in that RB room (they’re legitimately six-deep), that needs to be the most reliable thing BC has. No better time than on the road.
That brings me to the crowd control aspect. It’s the most football cliche thing ever, but it works. You run the ball effectively, you make sure noise isn’t a factor. Ideally, you’re in the lead late and people are walking out as you put the finishing touches on with a few grind-it-out first downs, but early on, it’s going to be inmperative to keep that place as tame as possible.
The third reason goes back to the quarterback. He’s healthy, but IF there’s a chance he’s not 100%, what better way to take the pressure off than getting Turbo Richard, Jordan McDonald, Alex Broome, Bo MacCormack, Mekhi Dodd and Anthony Ferrucci involved as much as possible?
It’s also worth noting that BC had 152-yards on the ground in last year’s meeting. Different teams of course and conditions were pretty bad, but Turbo had 10 of those carries for 46-yards and a touchdown.
Better pass rush
On the other side, the pass rush was virtually non-existent against Fordham. BC did get a late sack from Xaverian alum Micah Amedee, another from a blitzing Carter Davis and a third from Daveon Crouch, but given that it was Fordham, that group up front should have been far more disruptive.
Last year, Donovan Ezeiruaku had two against the Spartans, but that was it. With an elite secondary this year that picked off MSU QB Aidan Chiles three times in last year’s game (Amari Jackson, Davis & Max Tucker), if they can force him into quick decisions or more bad throws with pressure, it could get ugly for the guys in green.
Owen Stoudmire is also back, which could be huge in terms of a push up the middle along with Sedarius McConnell.
Bond’s supporting cast
Last year, Lewis Bond had 102-yards and six catches for a touchdown against Michigan State. They aren’t going to allow that again.
That means it’ll have to be a big night for Reed Harris, Jaedn Skeete, Ismael Zamor, Luke McLaughlin, Dawson Pough, the tight ends and the backs if BC does chooses to air it out more. Only Skeete (2/27) and Treshaun Ward (2/11) caught passes in the red bandanna game aside from Bond. If you’re going to win on the road, guys will need to step up as Bond gets (rightful) WR1 treamtment.
Get up early with sevens not threes
Gotta get touchdowns and not field goals on the road. Again, a well-known football cliche, but (especially early) if the Eagles can turn red zone trips into seven and not three, they can take the crowd out early and then let Chiles hand them turnovers when the Spartans have to become one-dimensional.
Prediction
BC 27, Michigan State 17
