The #21 BC Eagles made it very clear who the better team was on Saturday afternoon. The only scare Ball State was able to provide occurred on the opening kickoff when they were almost able to recover an onsides kick. A heads-up play by Larry Anam prevented that from happening and the Eagles never looked back.
The offense capitalized on its first two possessions and the rout was on. LV Whitworth was the key to the first drive as he took a screen pass from Matt Ryan and ran for 21 yards and then broke a 14 yard rush to the outside for a touchdown.
“The line was doing a great job,” said the sophomore running back. “The holes were huge and I just knew it was gonna be one of those days.”
That score gave the Eagles all the points they would need.
The defense was tremendous all game keeping Ball State under 160 total yards on offense. The only real scoring threat came after Will Blackmon muffed a punt and gave Ball State the ball at the 18 yard line. The defense allowed them a mere three yards and Brian Jackson’s 32 yard field goal attempt went wide to the right.
The shutout was very important to the defense as it was something they were preaching all week. After last year’s scare against Ball State in the opener, it was nice to see the game play out as the odds-makers expected (give or take a half point). When a game turns into a rout like this one was, sometimes a defense gives up a garbage touchdown or two, but this unit had too much pride to give in.
“It’s been important to the defense,” said O’Brien following the game. “They have been straining to try to get to this point. It was important to them to shut somebody out, and it just so happened to be Ball State.”
The undermanned Ball State squad came in at the right time for the Eagles. Coming off two tough ACC games and missing a few key starters, BC needed an easy game which is exactly what they got. To their credit, Ball State never quit during this game. They showed BC some different looks with fake punts, onside kicks and wide receivers taking snaps in the backfield. All of that did not matter, however, as the Eagles did what they needed to do and walked away with a win.
Matt Ryan did all the right things in this game, doing the damage with both his arm and his legs. He looked very composed in the pocket and was able to put the ball on the money most of the time. He is still working with what appears to be a very limited playbook, although Ryan was able to air it out a couple of times.
The score did not show it, but there were plenty of things for the Eagles to work on heading into the Virginia game this week. There were some miscues that need to be corrected as the Eagles jump into the next stretch of conference games. There was a dropped punt, a fumble, kickoffs that went out of bounds and numerous penalties that would normally keep BC from beating another ranked team.
O’Brien and his coaching staff will have the team ready for Saturday's contest as his current team goes against his former school in Virginia. While O’Brien’s post game comments would lead you to believe it is just another game, you know this one has a little extra meaning for him and his staff.
Coming off a shutout in which they were able to rest many key players, O'Brien's squad should be well-rested for the Hoos on Saturday.