ESPN

NEWTON, Mass. -- Through three weeks, Andre Williams leads the ACC in rushing yards (118.67) and attempts (25) per game.

The yardage total might be skewed by the 204-yard performance against Wake Forest in Week 2, but the attempt average is real.

Williams is Boston College’s workhorse. If anyone suffered doubts as to whether Steve Addazio believes in a power run game, all they’d need to do is check the box score from BC’s first three games to be cured of them. Here are Williams’ carry totals: 23, 35, 17.

Only Virginia Tech’s Trey Edmunds has more carries than Williams in the ACC, and he’s played four games to Williams’ three.

Coming off his least productive game of the season, the 17-carry, 38-yard outing against USC, Williams figures to be a big part of the Eagles’ game plan against No. 8 Florida State on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET on ABC/ESPN2).

ESPN Boston caught up with Williams after practice on Monday:

First of all, how are you feeling coming off the bye week?

Andre Williams: I feel great. It was good to have a little bit of a rest to just get our bearings and get as many people back as we can for Florida State this week.

What did the week off do for you as a team?

AW: It just really gave us an extra week to prepare. There’s so much film out there; you can only watch so much film, but with an extra week you can really get into your film study, really just game plan properly and make sure that you’ve done everything possible that you can to prepare for the game.

Did you spend any extra time reviewing the USC game?

AW: Yeah, we definitely looked at the USC game and saw where our errors were. And it really just helped us look at who we are as a team and what we’re good at. We really just were trying to harp on getting better at the things we do well.

So what were you working on last week?

AW: As a team, just being able to execute better. Leaders being able to find ways to energize the team. Momentum is a huge part of college football and we just talked about being able to fight the tide and make your own momentum. So when it is third down and you’re away, you’re not in your own stadium, and the crowd is really playing against you, how do you get in the mindset that, you know, we’re gonna make this first down? We really just gotta get better at executing.

Do you think playing at USC in your first road game will help down the road?

AW: I think it was a great opportunity. Obviously we didn’t come away with the outcome we wanted, but I think we definitely learned from it. Being in a huge stadium like that, the stadium wasn’t even full but it was still so loud sometimes it was hard to hear what Chase [Rettig] was saying even when I was right next to him. It’s a different environment when you’re in some place and the people around you don’t want you there. They don’t want you to succeed, and that’s when you really have to bow up as a team and understand that if you’re trying to get things done, the only people that are gonna help you are the people right next to you.

Did the loss at USC dampen the mood of the team?

AW: It’s only the third game of the season, and I don’t think any one game really defines your season. And it’s hard to win a game, so we just had to go back to work last week and get ready to win the next one.

Did you get a chance to watch any of the Florida State game?

AW: I watched a lot of games on Saturday, but I didn’t catch their game, though. I just have been watching tape; I saw their games against Pitt and against Nevada.

What are your impressions of the Seminoles?

AW: They’re a good team. They have some good players. Their defense is a little bit different than it has been in years past. But it’s the same type of guys, and it’s my fourth year out here and I’m sure I know what to expect on Saturday.

The Seminoles put up 54 points last week; does that put extra pressure on the BC offense this week?

AW: I don’t think it necessarily means anything to us that they put 50 points up on other people because we’re a different team. I think we have a dominant, aggressive defense and we’re going to be able to pressure them in ways other teams don’t. And on offense the emphasis is really being able to control the clock and run the football.

So do you expect to get the ball a lot and try to grind it out against this team?

AW: Yeah. I mean, I’m not a coach, but the way I see it, it’s gonna be on the offense to be able to control the clock and keep the defense off the field. To keep their team deflated and make sure we control the momentum of the game. That’s gonna be a big component to the victory.

FSU is tied for third nationally in scoring defense, allowing only 8.7 points per game. Do you think this offense can score on the Noles?

AW: Absolutely. Football is football, and everybody has guys that can excel on a certain part of the field. They have a good defense, but like I said, I’ve played this team before, I’ve played these players before and we’ve had success in the past and I think that we’re an even better team this year, so I think we can have even more success.

As it stands now, BC faces top-10 teams in two of the next three weeks. Is that daunting?

AW: I think it’s exciting. That’s the whole reason I came to BC, was to play in the ACC. I think this is one of the best conferences in the country and I’m excited when there’s talent across the field. That’s what competition is about. If you’re playing somebody that you know doesn’t really have a good chance against you, it doesn’t motivate you. There’s no real fire. And most of the time, your talent can bring you home against teams like that. But when you have to work and execute and compete at a high level, it really says something about you as a team and as an athlete.

So would it mean more to you to beat a top 10 team like this?

AW: I think it means more to beat FSU than it would to say beat Villanova or Wake Forest. A win is a win, but this is a top-10 team. That’s just gonna boost your morale, boost your confidence and it’s just … if we can pull out a win like this, there’s no reason that we shouldn’t meet our goal of getting to a bowl game because if we can beat FSU, we can beat anybody on the schedule.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

What do you get when you combine a head cold, a hamstring strain and a week off from practice? If you’re Andre Williams, a career performance on national TV and an ACC Player of the Week honor.

On Monday, the ACC named Williams its offensive back of the week for his performance against Wake Forest, in which the 6-foot-1, 227-pound native of Schnecksville, Penn., carried the ball 35 times for a career-high 204 yards and a touchdown.

Teammate Bryce Jones also received an ACC honor, being tabbed the conference’s defensive back of the week after tallying two tackles, an interception, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup versus the Demon Deacons.

In his postgame chat with the media on Friday, Williams said he’d probably be sore on Saturday but that he welcomed the workload.

“I mean, I’m a running back, I love to run the ball,” he said of the heavy usage. “Put the ball in my hands and there’s nothing I like more than that. Coach Addazio, he’s an offensive guy and he loves to run the ball. It couldn’t have turned out better.”

Asked Monday how Williams was recovering from the pounding, Addazio said he’s responded well.

“I think those 35 carries helped him,” he said. “It’s good.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have him practice anymore,” a reporter offered.

“Maybe practice is overrated,” Addazio said with a laugh. “I don’t know.”

The 204 yards surpassed Williams’ previous career high of 191 (set at Army last October), and the 100-yard game was his second straight this season and seventh of his career (in 36 games).

Through the season’s first two games, Williams leads the ACC in carries (58), rushing yards (318) and rushing average per game (159.0). He’s third nationally in rushing yards and fourth nationally in attempts and rushing yards per game.

Jones got left out on an island by a breakdown in coverage in the first quarter Friday, the resulting one-on-one matchup with Michael Campanaro ending up in a 30-yard touchdown pass from Tanner Price even though Jones was running stride for stride with the all-ACC wideout.

But the 6-foot-1, 166-pound sophomore from University Heights, Ohio, didn’t let it throw him off his game. He came up with a Price fumble to end the first quarter, setting up BC’s second touchdown, and later picked off Price when he tried to find Campanaro one too many times.

Jones’ two interceptions, the first two of his career, have him tied for third nationally through the first two games.

“I think Bryce just rallied up -- he played a heck of a football game -- and came right back,” Addazio said.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

NEWTON, Mass. -- Andre Williams was in the open field, rumbling up the right sideline late in the third quarter with the Eagles up 17-7 when he saw a Wake Forest defensive back cutting off his path to the end zone.

He could’ve veered out of bounds, content to take his 15-plus yards and a first down inside the red zone. Instead, Williams lowered his shoulder and delivered a big blow.

“It was intentional,” Williams said of the hit he dished out on the play. “I never want to be the type of back that is gonna run out of bounds. I always want to punish the DBs because the next play, it could be play-action and that DB is a little fazed and [Alex] Amidon will make a big play.

“I’m a big running back, I’m 230 pounds, and I just have to be true to myself and realize that I can punish people, I can wear down the defense, and that’s just the role I’m gonna embrace.”

While the hit was impressive, that’s only a part of what he produced in BC’s 24-10 win on Friday night. Williams carried the ball 35 times for a career-high 204 yards and a touchdown (which he produced two plays after delivering that blow in the third quarter).

And he did it all after not practicing during the short week.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that the senior tailback had to leave last week’s game against Villanova with a hamstring strain, as the preparation for Wake Forest got underway, the 6-foot, 227-pounder found himself under the weather with a chest cold, too.

Boston College coach Steve Addazio revealed after the game that the Eagles held him out of practice this week, in hopes that the hamstring would heal and the cold would dissipate enough to allow him to play against the Demon Deacons.

They’re glad now that they did.

“Andre ran really hard,” Addazio said. “And that was important. Andre knew that it was important for him to come to this game and get on that field and overcome the hamstring strain that he had and have the night that he had. He needed to do that. And he did it, to his credit, he did it. That was important, because the team was counting on him.”

The Eagles finished with 314 yards of total offense, meaning Williams alone accounted for almost two-thirds of the total.

“I thought our offense really punched hard and really wore down their defense and had a really great, critical last drive to just keep moving the chains,” Addazio said.

With BC leading 24-10 and just more than five minutes to go in the game, the Eagles got the ball back. Their strategy wasn’t hard to figure out on that final drive, as Williams got the ball eight straight plays, grinding out yards and letting time tick off the clock.

“That’s the beautiful thing about having a run game, is that you can do that,” Addazio said. “The run game is a funny thing. It’s not something that you can just all of a sudden show up and think you’re gonna have a run game. Sometimes it can be a little maddening. When you’re not hitting it when you want to hit it right. But you keep pounding at the rock, pounding at the rock and the rock cracked.”

After it was over and the Eagles had moved to 2-0 for the first time since 2010 and matched their win total from all of 2012, Williams was asked if this was his most satisfying game.

The tailback hesitated before answering.

“I don’t know if it’s the most satisfying game, because I’m sure there’s a lot of football left to be played,” he said. “And the next one is gonna be sweeter when we’re 3-0.”

True to form, Williams wasn’t thinking that enough’s enough. He wants more.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

NEWTON, Mass. -- If there was one thing that gave Boston College coach Steve Addazio agita in the run-up to the 2013 season, it was the lack of depth at key positions.

Though BC has some veteran players on its roster, including at the skill positions, there’s just not much experienced depth behind those veterans.

So when senior tailback Andre Williams had to leave the Eagles’ season-opening 24-14 win against Villanova in the third quarter with a hamstring injury, the alarm bells were ringing pretty loudly.

“I don’t have an all-the-way update, other than to say that I think Andre just got a little bit of a hamstring strain,” Addazio said in his postgame news conference. “Is it dehydration? Is it ... ? I don’t know that yet. We wanted to be real careful there. We didn’t want to make that situation worse.”

Before he left the game, Williams had carried 23 times for 114 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown to put Boston College ahead 21-14 in the third quarter. The Eagles wouldn’t trail again.

With Williams on the sideline, still in full pads but carrying his helmet instead of wearing it, true freshman Tyler Rouse shared carries with sophomore David Dudeck the rest of the way.

“We felt like, let’s see if we can hang in there,” Addazio said. “We played Tyler Rouse in there, the freshman. I think he’s gonna be a heck of a player. ... That’s just one more little bit of odds, you know? You’re trying to close a game out right now and now you’ve got a true freshman handling the ball, right? Nothing’s easy.

“But you know what, he came out of that thing and that situation, he’ll really grow from that now. He’s got real innate toughness and he’s got speed.”

Rouse carried the ball eight times for 14 yards, while Dudeck had four carries for 5 yards.

With Wake Forest coming to Chestnut Hill for a Week 2 ACC matchup on Friday night, the Eagles may have to rely on Dudeck, Rouse and fellow true freshman Myles Willis if Williams isn’t ready to go.

“That’s just the way it’s gonna be,” Addazio said. “Hopefully Andre will be fine and we’ll roll.”

Amidon making plays



After the year he had in 2012, BC fans shouldn’t be surprised by anything Alex Amidon does anymore.

And aside from an unusual fumble that stunted one BC drive, nothing the Greenfield, Mass., native did on Saturday qualifies as a shock.

The senior wideout picked up where he left off, catching a career-high 13 passes for 146 yards and a TD on Saturday. It’s the eighth career game with 100-plus yards receiving for Amidon, tying Brian Brennan and Rich Gunnell for most in BC history.

His 49-yard TD haul from QB Chase Rettig turned the momentum in the game, as the speedy Amidon got behind the Nova defense and ran free down the right hash marks to bring BC back even on the opening drive of the second half.

“You’ve gotta have your big-time players, they’ve gotta make plays,” Addazio said. “For us to be successful, Nate Freese has gotta be the kicker he was today, Alex Amidon has gotta be the pass-catcher -- unfortunately we put that one on the ground there -- and Chase has gotta make his plays. Those guys did a pretty good job with that.

“Our guys have to make their plays. We don’t have an abundance of playmakers, so the ones we have have gotta make their plays.”

With the Wildcats attempting to stop the run by stacking the box, perhaps the Eagles’ best playmaker often found himself in one-on-one coverage.

“I wasn’t surprised at all,” Amidon said. “We go into this big personnel, and they stack the box and it was just one-on-one with me and the guy outside. We kind of anticipated that happening, so I wasn’t surprised.”

His quarterback was, though.

“I was definitely surprised that they had single coverage,” Rettig said. “On film they played a lot of man coverage, sometimes press, sometimes off. So that was part of our game plan, that we would go in and when they would clog the box up with eight or nine guys, we’d be able to hopefully have that guy eight or nine yards off him, just quick throw to Alex and pick up six or seven yards.

“And it has a chance to be a big play if he breaks one tackle.”

Feathered friend

For the first time in 47 years, the Eagles will have an actual eagle at their games this season, through a partnership with Zoo New England. The 9-year-old male eagle was on the field for the national anthem Saturday, tethered to his handler’s arm (which was in a protective sleeve). BC is holding a social media contest to choose a name for the bird.

The Eagles held a similar contest for the last live eagle to be at BC athletic events, with students selecting the name “Margo” -- a combination of the school’s colors, maroon and gold.

Bringing back the live eagle mascot is just one of a handful of changes to the game-day experience in Chestnut Hill this season, along with new tailgating options, a new hospitality tent outside Alumni Stadium and a new route for the team’s traditional “Eagle Walk,” which now starts at Gasson Hall in BC’s Middle Campus, comes down the stairs adjacent to Conte Forum and then winds its way along Campanella Way to Alumni’s Gate E.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

NEWTON, Mass. -- The Steve Addazio era is officially underway at Boston College, and while it didn’t start exactly the way they drew it up, the Eagles will take it as they used a strong second half to beat visiting Villanova 24-14.

How it happened: The visitors seized the momentum immediately on Saturday.

Villanova won the coin toss and elected to receive, quickly moving the ball to midfield after a touchback on the opening kickoff. After the BC defense stopped the Wildcats on a third-and-short, with linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis shooting the gap and hitting the back in the backfield, longtime Nova head coach Andy Talley pulled a fast one.

The Wildcats lined up to punt on fourth down but it was a fake, the handoff going to junior Jamal Abdur-Rahman, who took it 47 yards to the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

While the BC offense answered with a TD drive of its own, the defense struggled to contain Nova’s dual-threat QB, John Robertson. Making plays with his arm and his legs, Robertson led the Wildcats to another TD and a 14-7 lead at the half.

Addazio must’ve said something right during the intermission, as the Eagles took control with the first drive of the third quarter. Chase Rettig moved the offense with short passes to David Dudeck and Bobby Wolford out of the backfield, then hit a big play on the Nova D.

Alex Amidon got behind the Wildcats’ D, running free up the right hash marks. Rettig hit him and Amidon sprinted to paydirt for a 49-yard TD.

The play tied the game at 14 and swung the momentum to the home team. After the defense forced Nova to punt on its next two possessions, Rettig hit Wolford out of the backfield for a 34-yard catch-and-run up the right sideline and on the next play Andre Williams found daylight to the same side and rumbled down the sideline for a 26-yard TD and a 21-14 lead.

BC wouldn’t trail again.

What it means: BC now holds a two-to-one edge in the all-time series with Villanova, the Eagles going 30-15-1 in 46 games against the Wildcats.

The Eagles also managed to realize the first of their two stated goals -- to win the opener and get bowl eligible -- from preseason.

Williams tweaks hamstring: Williams carried 23 times for 104 yards and the go-ahead 26-yard TD, but had just one carry after that and left the game with a hamstring injury. He was spotted on the sideline in full pads in the fourth quarter.

Up next: It’s a short turnaround for BC, as the Eagles host Wake Forest on Friday night (8 ET on ESPN2, WatchESPN) in both teams’ ACC opener.

The Demon Deacons opened their 2013 season with a 31-7 win over Presbyterian. Tanner Price, Wake’s fourth-year starter at QB, led the charge against the Blue Hose, completing 14 of 25 throws for 219 yards and a TD and rushing 14 times for 31 yards and another TD.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

New Eagles coach Steve Addazio wants to establish a power running game at Boston College in 2013, but it’s fair to question whether or not he has the pieces at running back to cobble together that puzzle immediately.

When it comes to RBs with experience, there’s Andre Williams … and that’s about it.

Tahj Kimble has shown glimpses of big-play talent, but hasn’t demonstrated the ability to stay on the field consistently. He’s currently rehabbing after knee surgery.

David Dudeck burst onto the scene after Rolandan Finch lost favor (and has since left school) and Kimble was injured, but he’s got 41 career carries and wasn’t even a full-time running back at the start of last season.

So if the Eagles are to play the kind of physical, power game that Addazio favors, it’ll be up to 6-foot, 227-pound Williams to carry the load.

The senior from Schnecksville, Pa., showed in spring work that he is capable of being a top back, and on Thursday was one of four ACC backs named to the Doak Walker Award watch list.

The Doak Walker Award, given each year to the nation’s top running back, is presented by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum. Semifinalists will be announced on Nov. 14, with the winner announced on Dec. 12 on the Home Depot College Football Awards show on ESPN.

Williams’ inclusion on the list may be due more to potential and opportunity than past performance. Coming into 2013, he has 349 career carries for 1,577 yards and 10 touchdowns.

For comparison’s sake, Montee Ball won the Doak Walker Award in 2012 after carrying the ball 356 times for 1,830 yards and 22 TDs for Wisconsin.

Williams had 130 carries for 584 yards and four TDs in nine games in BC’s 2-10 season. (Nearly one-third of those yards came in one game, with 196 yards -- including a 99-yard TD run -- rushing against Army).

If he can stay healthy and if the restructured offensive line can open enough holes, Williams will likely surpass those numbers in 2013. That’s not really a question.

The question Eagles fans are likely asking heading into Addazio’s first season is this: Can Williams’ legs carry BC to success?

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

NEWTON, Mass. -- No different from many college students, Andre Williams dreams of doing today's work tomorrow.

The Boston College junior does his business on Saturdays now, but he would really like to do that business on Sundays someday.

Games like the one he had against Army, in which he carried the ball 24 times for a career-high 191 yards and two touchdowns, just might help him get there.

"It felt really good," Williams said of his big game when he met with the media before practice Wednesday. "It had to come at some point during the season. It was definitely a confidence-builder going into an even bigger game this week."

The Eagles (1-4, 0-2 ACC) travel to Tallahassee on Friday for Saturday's game (5:35 p.m. ET, ESPN2) with No. 12 Florida State (5-1, 2-1).

BC is 6-4 all-time against FSU, having lost the previous two meetings and sitting at just 3-4 against the Seminoles since joining the ACC. The common thread between the most recent wins was big performances by Montel Harris and a strong defensive effort.

Harris, the school's all-time leader in rushing yards, has moved on to Temple after being dismissed from the Eagles. When it became clear Harris was no longer in the picture, it looked like BC had three backs who would split the duties in the run game.

Rolandan "Deuce" Finch was the lead back, Williams was the No. 2, and Tahj Kimble was a change-of-pace back and an option to catch balls out of the backfield.

"It started out looking so perfect, having all three of the running backs who are all capable of doing such diverse things, each of us having our different skill sets," Williams said. "But as it is now, it's just me out here."

That's because Finch has dropped off the depth chart and Kimble has been banged up.

So now it falls to Williams to shoulder the load. He doesn't mind at all.

"I think it's a great opportunity to be able to be the featured back," he said, "and I'm just trying to make sure I make the most of it."

Coach Frank Spaziani is happy to see Williams where he is, after he had trouble with ball security to begin the season.

"He stumbled a little early and then he responded," Spaziani said. "He responded to his adversity and the coaching and what we told him needed to be done. And the last four weeks, he's taken on the challenge, and it shows. Hopefully it'll continue."

It has to continue if BC has any hope of leaving Doak Campbell Stadium with a W.

"You have to run the ball," Spaziani said. "The years we've beaten them, we've made them work defensively and had a running game. So that's a good recipe for success that we haven't been able to have."

"I think we're gonna have to run the ball well, and then we're gonna have to do what NC State was able to do and try to complete upwards of 30 passes," quarterback Chase Rettig said of the game plan against FSU, referencing the Wolfpack after their 17-16 upset of the Noles this past weekend. "We have to have a pretty balanced game."

Balance has been in short supply for BC. Rettig ranks at or near the top of the ACC in most passing statistics, but the Eagles are 11th in the ACC in rushing offense with 104.8 yards a game.

Rettig said the Eagles have worked to simplify the run game, focusing on a few plays and doing them well.

"He's a really hard worker," the QB said of Williams. "Andre is a good back, a fast back. We look to him to carry the load and get 3 or 4 yards every time. He knows he's capable of doing it, and we're behind him."

The Eagles' confidence in Williams was hard to miss late against Army. After the defense made a goal-line stand to preserve a 31-27 lead with a little more than two minutes to go, BC was pinned deep in its territory and just needed a first down to potentially seal the road win.

Williams got the ball three straight times but managed only 7 yards, and the Eagles had to give the ball back to the Black Knights, who converted that possession into the game-winning score.

While in hindsight it seems the Eagles might have benefited from throwing the ball in that situation, Williams said the play calling wasn't to blame.

"Ultimately the responsibility still lies on us because we didn't get the first down," Williams said. "The plays that we ran, we ran them more effectively in earlier parts of the game so it still lies on us that we didn't get the first down.

"I definitely felt confident getting the ball in that situation. I thought I might break it again or, I didn't want to be selfish, but if I would've gotten it on fourth down, I wouldn't have minded that, either."

The highlight of the afternoon came in a similar situation, with the BC offense on its own 1-yard line in the second quarter. On that one, Williams got the call and ran all the way into the record books.

"I think it just worked out perfectly that the hole was there, that the line made the perfect hole and I hit it with the right speed to just be gone after the second level," he said of his 99-yard scoring run.

The play is the longest rushing touchdown in school history and tied Williams with eight others for the longest rushing score in NCAA history. The first such player to do so? Gale Sayers.

Not bad company to keep.

"It just feels great that even though we didn't get the win, I still have something to sit back on, I still have something to build on for the next game," Williams said of the 99-yarder. "I have dreams and aspirations to go on to the next level, and I think that being able to do things like this just makes it a little bit closer, a little bit more real for me.

"I want to keep building on it and I want to keep breaking records."

He just hopes the next record-breaking performance comes in a BC win.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

NEWTON, Mass. -- Disappointed but not discouraged.

That's the mindset Boston College coach Frank Spaziani has after his team lost a wild, back-and-forth affair with No. 17 Clemson 45-31 on Saturday.

"They certainly deserved to win," the fourth-year head man said of the Tigers. "You score 30-some points ... you gotta do better than that on defense. I think we were lined up right most of the time, but we just weren't able to make some plays.

"We did some good things on both sides of the ball, a couple times, but not enough on defense."

BC struck first, with Andre Williams breaking a couple of arm tackles at the line of scrimmage and rumbling up the right sideline for a 30-yard score with 10:16 to go in the first quarter.

But that was just the start of the seesaw on the scoreboard.

Clemson scored the next 17 points, taking a 17-7 lead. Then Chase Rettig led two scoring drives, ending each with a touchdown pass (a 3-yarder to Johnathan Coleman and a 31-yarder to Alex Amidon), to give BC the lead back at 21-17.

And then back came Clemson, scoring the next 21 points to establish a lead it would not relinquish.

"You can't take anything away from Clemson," linebacker Nick Clancy said. "They're extremely talented, man, they have lots of weapons and they're not afraid to use them. And that's what they did.

"It's just one of those things you wish you could have those plays back."

Those plays included a 58-yard catch by DeAndre Hopkins to rescue the Tigers from a rare third-and-long deep in their own territory, a 35-yard touchdown catch by Hopkins to swing momentum back Clemson's way after a BC score and a 46-yard run by Andre Ellington to put the final drive away and help the visitors run out the clock.

Tajh Boyd finished 28-for-38 for 367 yards and three TDs. The bulk of those numbers came on hookups with Hopkins, who had a monster game with 11 catches for 197 yards and that 35-yard TD. (He had what looked like another TD catch waved off by officials, a call that was upheld by a review.) Ellington carried 25 times for 132 yards and a score.

"Those are very good players and they've done it to a lot of people," Spaziani said. "We just didn't make enough plays. We just weren't able to make plays when we had to."

When asked if Boyd was the best QB the Eagles have faced so far, Clancy said he couldn't say that but "he is very, very talented, and he beat us today."

BC's offense was good, just not good enough to overcome the defense's shortcomings.

The Eagles' junior signal-caller finished 25-for-43 for 341 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. More than half of Rettig's yards and touchdowns were to Amidon, who finished with eight catches for 193 yards and two scores.

"It puts a little edge on it when it's back and forth," Rettig said. "It was fun, but we just gotta do better ... and score probably two more touchdowns."

Looking for the silver lining, the Eagles were asked if they can take any solace from the fact the teams they've lost to are a combined 13-2 so far this season.

"I mean you have to take solace from it, but we're 1-3," Rettig said. "At the end of the day, those are the numbers."

Spaziani agreed, to an extent.

"I guess you can take some [solace]," he said. "They're good football teams."

But the coach also doesn't want his team to have a false sense of security, saying, "It's dangerous to think like that. They're good football teams but we still got beat."

BC has to know what it is right now, and that is a team which has made undeniable strides on offense but is still trying to put together a complete effort.

"You know we just gotta keep working," Rettig said. "Those are the situations we're gonna be in a lot this year, I feel like. So you've just gotta go in with that mindset in practice and make it happen on the field."

Until the Eagles can get both offense and defense clicking at the same time, chances are they'll continue to leave their fans disappointed, if not outright discouraged.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

NEWTON, Mass. -- The Eagles called this game a benchmark, saying it would be a good indication of how far they need to go to be where they want to be.

If that's the case, there's still a long way to go.

Chase Rettig and the new-look offense started out Saturday like a house on fire, moving the ball efficiently and scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions.

Then the house just burned to the ground.

A three-and-out and a pick-six on Rettig got the Hurricanes back to even, and then the differences between these two teams started to become more and more evident, as Miami pulled out the 41-32 victory.

The Eagles struggled at times to move the ball against the Hurricanes' aggressive defense and ultimately had to settle for field goals. They put the ball on the ground multiple times, losing two fumbles and recovering a couple more.

The Hurricanes showed true home run-hitting ability, getting two 50-plus-yard TD runs from touted freshman tailback Duke Johnson. And when they weren't hitting big plays, the Hurricanes were converting third downs when they needed to and keeping drives alive.

"I thought we played sloppy, made some mistakes that hurt us on offense," BC coach Frank Spaziani said. "I thought we moved the ball and did some real nice things. We had a couple fumbles and the turnover, obviously, that gave them a score and two long runs that we can't have happen on defense.

"We've gotta play better defense than that. But there were some good signs there, so we've gotta build on it and go forward."

There were, indeed, good signs. Rettig threw for a career-high 441 yards, completing 32 of 51 passes, two touchdowns and one interception. The 441 yards are the most for a BC signal-caller since Doug Flutie -- maybe you've heard of him? -- had 447 on Nov. 3, 1984. It's sixth all-time in the BC single-game record books.

In the first game under new offensive coordinator Doug Martin, the offense piled up 542 total yards and scored 30 points (the final two came on a safety). And there were more points to be had, if not for a few untimely drops and the aforementioned mistakes with ball security.

But it wasn't enough.

After a Nate Freese field goal gave BC back the lead at 23-21 midway through the third quarter, Kevin Pierre-Louis and the BC defense had Stephen Morris & Co. right where they wanted them. It was third-and-16 from the Miami 39-yard line after Kasim Edebali made a play to stop Mike James in the backfield.

The crowd got loud, and those on the BC sideline jumped up and down, willing a stop.

Instead, Morris found Allen Hurns open for a 21-yard gain and a first down. The drive stayed alive and ultimately resulted in the winning points for the visitors.

"No one made a play [on defense]. Didn't look like it," Spaziani said. "Although we did fight and stop them a couple times, not when we needed to. We can't give up that many points."

The big plays by Johnson were killers, but the Eagles said he didn't take them by surprise.

"He's an explosive back, and you can't give him areas like that to get through," Spaziani said. "We've gotta be a little better positioned and more precise."

Pierre-Louis, who had a game-high 11 tackles on the day, agreed.

"I just feel as though we need to execute a little bit better," Pierre-Louis said. "We were right in the right spots; we just need to push a little bit harder."

"When you score 32 points, you expect to win," Spaziani said. "The defense has got to play better than that. We're not equipped to play junior high school basketball games."

A clearly disappointed Rettig said he thought the offense played well overall.

"The only thing I can come back to is we didn't convert a few third-and-1s, and just not scoring touchdowns when we were in the red zone," he said. "We had a couple good looks on a couple plays; we just need to finish them."

The Eagles did score on six of their seven trips to the red zone, but only three of those scores were worth six points. Miami scored on all four of its red zone trips, and that doesn't include the scores by Johnson.

BC just made too many mistakes -- putting the ball on the ground at costly times, in costly positions on the field -- to win against an ACC opponent.

In fact, if the Eagles play like this next Saturday, they might struggle to put away the Maine Black Bears. And they're in the Football Championship Subdivision.

"That was a winnable game," Spaziani said. "Not taking anything away from Miami -- they deserved to win. We need to play better, catch the ball, hold on to the ball, tackle. Those are the things that we can improve on. And we need to."

If this first game was truly a benchmark, a road sign telling the Eagles just how far they have to go to reach their destination, that sign told them two things -- one that might be comforting, and another that might be just as discomfiting.

They seem to be on the right road, but there are still miles and miles to go before they're where they want to be.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

NEWTON, Mass. -- Eventually it got to a point when all they could do was shake their heads in disbelief.

One player went down, then another. And then another.

Injuries will always be a part of football, and the Eagles understand that. But to have this many, this early in the process?

Chris Pantale was lost first, then Al Louis-Jean got hurt. Deuce Finch, Tahj Kimble and Kaleb Ramsey all missed time in camp with various injuries. And now Bobby Swigert, QB Chase Rettig's go-to guy for much of last season, is out for several weeks with an injury of his own.

"It's always gonna have an effect on a team when your playmakers are not on the field, but I think that our offense is dynamic enough to overcome the injuries," running back Andre Williams said Wednesday as the Eagles were preparing for their season opener against Miami on Saturday (3:30 p.m., ESPN2).

Williams has seen first-hand the effect injuries can have on a team. Though he's been healthy through training camp, Williams was held out of a scrimmage because of injuries to fellow RBs Finch and Kimble. Head coach Frank Spaziani didn't want to risk an injury to Williams, too.

No one in Chestnut Hill is looking to use the injuries as an excuse. Don't get things twisted.

"That's just something that you just gotta go with," senior receiver Colin Larmond Jr. said. "I suffered that a few years ago."

Larmond, who missed the 2010 season with an ACL injury, said BC's coaches have preached accountability to the players, before and after the recent spate of injuries.

"They always tell us if you go out there, don't take practice for granted," he said. "Take it one step at a time, one day at a time. You have to give it your all, keep trying, keep getting better."

Players have to know that they may be one snap away from being a starter. And they have to prepare accordingly.

That doesn't mean the losses of Pantale, who was voted a captain this season before breaking a bone in his foot and undergoing surgery to repair it, and Swigert, who is out with a knee injury, will hurt any less.

"It hurts, just because me and him are close off the field," Rettig said of Swigert's injury. "He just loves playing football and he has a great work ethic, he's always there, 24-7. On the field he's quiet and calm and smooth.

"It's just a target that we're gonna miss for a couple weeks but someone else will step up. Guys have been stepping up in practice so we just need to see that transition onto the field."

Larmond agreed with his quarterback.

"It just gives other people a chance to step up," he said.

And if you ask the veteran, there is no shortage of wideouts capable of filling in. He cited Johnathan Coleman and Alex Amidon as two players to watch.

(Read full post)

The bad news just keeps coming for Boston College this summer.

Featured tailback Rolandan Finch, the team’s leading rusher last season, injured his foot in Wednesday night's scrimmage, according to the Boston Herald.

“I hate to say it, but it is his foot, but it’s a little too early to say more,” coach Frank Spaziani told the paper. “We put some ice on it and do the usual routine, X-ray and MRI.”

The Eagles had recently announced the news of injuries to starting tight end Chris Pantale and cornerback Al Louis-Jean. Boston College was already missing one of its top rushers, as Montel Harris was dismissed from the team in early May.

In Wednesday's scrimmage, junior tailback Andre Williams carried the ball seven times for 18 yards and two touchdowns, which included one touchdown in goal-line simulation. Freshman George Craan, who also scored one touchdown in goal-line simulation, carried five times for 12 yards. Senior Mike Javorski carried the ball nine times.

The good news is that the quarterbacks played well.

Starter Chase Rettig completed 14-of-21 passing attempts for 259 yards and one touchdown. He completed passes of at least 12 yards seven times, including a 72-yard touchdown to senior Colin Larmond Jr., passes of 30 and 35 yards to junior Alex Amidon, and a 26-yard completion to junior Johnathan Coleman.

“I’m looking for him [Rettig] to run the operation, make good decisions, and, right now, run our offense,” Spaziani said, according to the team's scrimmage report. “We did a couple new things out here today, gave him some more stuff to do. I thought the quarterbacks -- they looked fine. I think he’s been practicing well.”

He's going to have to play well, too, if the Eagles are going to overcome all of these injuries.

Heather Dinich talks about the Eagles' running game, along with the turnover the offensive staff has had.