Boston College-Kent State: Three Things To Watch

1. The Evolving QB Situation

QB Dave Shinskie did not exactly light it up last week against Weber State (10-20, 185 YDS, 2 TD, 2 INT) and continues to stoke the debate fire over whether or not he should be starting over sophomore Mike Marscovetra. Shinskie’s inconsistent play has become a bigger concern since he showed little improvement through last season and started flat against a FCS opponent.

It would be jumping the gun to assume someone with as little experience as Marscovetra could jump in to the lineup and be effective, but BC has ACC title aspirations and the mistakes will need to be eliminated before the meat of the schedule starts September 25th against Virginia Tech.

Look for Marscovetra to throw more than the three passes he attempted last week, which will give BC head coach Frank Spaziani and offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill a longer look at his ability to move the offense down the field.

2. The Non-existent Pass Rush

Generating very little pressure against Weber State had the BC diehards as concerned as the erratic QB play.  One sack, 381 yards of offense, and 20 points allowed (including 277 through the air) was not the type of performance that was anticipated upon LB Mark Herzlich’s emotional return to Chestnut Hill.

Senior DEs Alex Albright

and Brad Newman will have to continue to ramp up the pressure or defensive coordinator Bill McGovern will be dialing up LB blitzes far too often for the defensive backfield to withstand the heat.

Kent State RB Eugene Jarvis provides a balanced attack that will allow BC to test the effectiveness of a number of those aforementioned blitzes before they head into their bye week.

3. Defensive Backfield Depth

The transfer of CB Isaac Johnson this week leaves the Eagles with very little depth at cornerback.  Senior DeLeon Gause and junior Donnie Fletcher are leaned on quite heavily but have freshman C.J. Jones and little-used senior Chris Fox backing them up. 

An injury to either of the starters would create a situation where safety Jim Noel might have to be pressed into action at corner, where he played in high school but has not been used at BC.

Frankly, the experiments should already be underway for Noel, sophomore A.J. Currelly (two INTs in the spring game), or freshmen such as Dominique Williams to be pressed into action.  With Gause graduating after this season, there can be no holding pattern at the position. 

This is an "all hands on deck" scenario starting immediately, and it would be surprising not to see some new names out there this week.