2017 BC Football Camp Insider: The Running Backs

0 0
Read Time:6 Minute, 25 Second

2017 BC Football Camp Insider: The Running Backs

Perhaps no position identifies Boston College football more than the running back. Since Steve Addazio’s arrival, the ground game stands paramount to any other gridiron performance. As the Eagles continue preparations for 2017, there’s an increased spotlight on passing and tempo, but at its heart, BC remains a team built around a stable of talented athletes looking to create the difference in the team’s success.

“Coach Addazio did a great job recruiting those guys,” offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler said. “I think we’re all going to be really happy with the young players, and our older players at that position are pretty good too. It’s a good feeling to have depth at that position because those guys go through a lot of banging, and you need more than one. You need more than two. We’re very fortunate right now at that position. There’s a lot of really good depth and talent in my opinion.”

At a time when college teams worked more in the spread with fast-paced offenses, the Eagles built their offenses around their strength and power. They had experienced offensive lines which allowed them to gash defenses with their legs, allowing them to create an old-school mentality and tradition.

It formed the program’s identity in Addazio’s first two seasons. Before he arrived, Andre Williams ran for 584 yards in a pass-heavy spread offense. In 2013, he became a household name, rushing for 2,177 yards en route to becoming a Heisman Trophy finalist. Winning the Doak Walker Award, he is now “playing on Sundays” with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Williams graduated after that magical season, but the identity as a running team remained. It just didn’t remain in the same capacity. Williams was a power back, the kind of guy who burst through the tackles and ran over the competition. Transfer quarterback Tyler Murphy created a completely different headache for opposing defenses. He was extremely agile and made players miss. The centerpiece of an option offense, BC upset USC at home en route to a near-victory in the Pinstripe Bowl.

“When I got here, Andre (Williams) really hadn’t done anything yet, but we put that together and had an elite running game (in 2013),” Addazio said. “When (Tyler Murphy) came in here, we changed our style a little bit. We had some spread principles in there and option principles, and with Murph and (Jon Hilliman) really had an elite running game (in 2014).”

But when the Eagles switched to the spread style offense in 2014, they still had an elite offensive line plowing holes. They also received immediate impacts from a freshman – Jon Hilliman. Hilliman, who gained 860 yards that year, gave the offense enough of a different look between the tackles to unbalance defenses. He averaged four yards per carry and scored 13 touchdowns.

Hilliman saw 2015 end with an injury and a medical redshirt, so he began returning to form in 2016 when he gained 542 yards and six touchdowns. Now entering his junior season, he’s back to full strength and the headlining running back of a deep unit.

“Jon Hilliman had his best spring ever,” Addazio said. “He’s had an unbelievable offseason, and he’s looked fantastic in camp.”

Hilliman is a game breaking headliner by a reputation he built with his own skill. He has the patience to hit a hole, then turns into gear to explode into the second level. He has the power in his lower body to churn through tackle attempts, then allows breakaway speed to charge ahead.

He’s not the only threat in a backfield built around depth and power. Davon Jones averaged more than four yards per carry as a freshman in 2016, and he broke off 20-plus yard runs against both Wagner and Syracuse. Scoring a touchdown against Connecticut, he’s a versatile back with tremendous vision to complement Hilliman’s potential thunder. Junior Richard Wilson has also shown great potential during the spring and preseason camp for the Eagles and gives Addazio and company another power back.

They’ll be augmented by rookie backs already turning heads before their first game. At 247 pounds, it’s easy to assume AJ Dillon is overweight or plodding. But he’s lean, with muscle and the type of speed that makes him downright scary in practice. He can get downfield, where his size makes him virtually untackleable by undersized defensive backs. He’s also the grandson of Thom Gatewood, a 2015 College Football Hall of Fame wide receiver who set a Notre Dame school record for receiving as the favored target for Joe Theismann.

Travis Levy, meanwhile, was a four-year starter in high school, where he earned Maryland Player of the Year honors after rushing for 1,800 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior. The Scout.com fifth-best running back recruit in the East, he matriculated to Boston College in January, enrolling early for spring practice. That gives him crucial experience in learning the Eagle playbook and cadence.

“AJ is obviously a little bit bigger,” Loeffler said. “Travis does some different things that you can do out of the backfield. Both are different, but both have a skill set we’re all going to like. They’re both tough. They’re both smart. They’re both fast.”

For the runners, if the offensive line can open holes, they’ll be able to take it from there. There’s no doubting Addazio’s ability to develop a running game around available talent; it happened in 2013 and again in 2014. Those teams had big, nasty offensive linemen plowing the road or clearing the traffic. The offense had gaps and gashes, able to control the clock and tempo before bursting upfield.

In order to return to its former glory, that’s something the Eagles need to enforce in 2017. They have a stable of running backs capable of doing anything and everything, but they need holes to run through. With a reputation as a running team, backs will face eight or nine man fronts. In the past, that wasn’t a problem. This season, it needs to be off the radar once more.

“I feel like I’ve made a lot of strides in just understanding the offense and the flow of the game,” Dillon said. “That’s a credit to (running backs coach Brian White) and Jon Hilliman and Davon Jones and the older backs in the group. The speed of the game is definitely faster, but the offensive line that we have is very, very good. They’ve been opening up a lot of holes for me and for (the other backs).”

Practice Notes: The Eagles completed practice No. 15 of preseason camp Wednesday … BC returns to the practice field just two more times this week with a practice Thursday and scrimmage set for Friday evening … CBS Sports Network will televise the first game of the season at Northern Illinois on Friday, Sept. 1. Kickoff from DeKalb is set for 9:30 p.m. ET with Jason Horowitz (play-by-play), David Diehl (color analyst) and Erik Coleman (sideline reporter) on the call … a new, behind-the-scenes 30-minute program showcasing the Boston College football program will air this fall on NESN and will be available on BCEagles.com … the show, Boston College Football: Decide to Fly, will take viewers inside the BC football program with interviews with the student-athletes and coaches and an all-access look into the program. A full listing of air dates will be available soon on BCEagles.com.

Happy
Happy
0 %
Sad
Sad
0 %
Excited
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
Angry
0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 %

Average Rating

5 Star
0%
4 Star
0%
3 Star
0%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *