By Ed McGranahan.
By Ed McGranahan
Devotees of recruiting analysis wouldn’t give Boston College a shred of a chance in Saturday’s game with No. 17 Clemson.
Go ahead. Place the rosters side by side. Pick any recruiting service then decide which team has better talent.
Take Clemson and give the points, all nine, because based on the Star Systems the talent at BC doesn’t hold a candle to Clemson’s.
Starting in 2008, while Clemson was recruiting a bunch of top 20 recruiting classes, Boston College was 5th, 12th, 8th, 6th and 11th – in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
As Clemson signed nearly two dozen four- and five-star recruits during the February feeding frenzies, BC landed four fours – Steele Divitto, Seth Betancourt, Kaleb Ramsey and Albert Louis Jean – and no fives.
Divitto starts at strongside linebacker. Betancourt was listed this week at backup right guard. Ramsey started the first three games at defensive tackle. And Jean, who started twice at safety as a freshman, injured a foot in August and has not yet played.
Among BC’s most productive players this season, quarterback Chase Rettig was a three-star. Rettig leads the ACC in total offense and per-game passing yardage. Middle linebacker Nick Clancy, the league leader in tackles, was a two-star. So were receiver Alex Amidon and kicker Nate Freese, both among the most productive in the league at their positions.
This shouldn’t be a surprise, nor should it contribute to overconfidence. Clemson is not a lock to win Saturday despite the betting line.
Since BC entered the league in 2005, it has won four of the seven games though Clemson has won three of the last four. Five of the games have been decided by a touchdown or less. Clemson did not score a touchdown in one win.
These games are traditionally difficult because BC recruits tough, smart, bold football players.
And this roster isn’t an aberration. Other than Duke, nobody in the South gave running back Montel Harris a shot and he rushed for 3,700 yards and 27 touchdowns in three seasons. He was a two-star.
Matt Ryan was a three-star quarterback. B.J. Raji a two-star defensive lineman. Luke Kuechly a three-star linebacker. You remember them, and the havoc they wrecked on Clemson. Now you watch them on Sundays and an occasional Monday night. Mark Herzlich was a three as well.
The only five-star player in a decade was fullback/linebacker Brian Toal, the epitome of a throwback player whose pro career was scuttled by injuries.
So how does it happen, you ask, that a team with vastly superior talent needs to claw and scratch every season against a team like Boston College?
One argument might be that the recruiting analysts are full of it, and that you can’t really weigh the relative strengths of one group of players against one 10 states away.
Or, maybe the BC coaching staffs haven’t missed often.
Or, perhaps some schools do a better job of tending the garden. The growing season is much shorter in New England.