David Mabe
The memory still haunts Tom O’Brien. The last time Boston College came to Carter Finley Stadium, in 2006, Daniel Evans launched a 34-yard touchdown heave to John Dunlap with 8.5 seconds remaining to cap off a thrilling upset of O’Brien’s No. 20 ranked BC Eagles.
Though the coach’s demeanor has been business as usual in practice this week, senior running back Andre Brown said he knows the Homecoming matchup means a lot to O’Brien.
“When he first got here, he was still haunted by the ‘Dunlap’s corner’ and Dan [Evans] throwing the ball down there…he still brings that up,” Brown said. “And [he] said, ‘Let’s do it again and go out there in front of Wolfpack nation and get a W this week.'”
This season, O’Brien has dealt with more injuries to his starting lineup than ever before in his coaching career. But the Pack will get one key addition back for the Homecoming game in redshirt freshman Russell Wilson.
O’Brien said Thursday that Wilson has been practicing well and will reclaim the starting job Saturday after sustaining an injury during the team’s 30-24 win over East Carolina.
“Initially I was told it was going to be a lot longer,” O’Brien said of Wilson’s time of recovery. “As I said, he willed himself to get healthy. He willed himself to get better so that he could play.”
O’Brien said Wilson’s mental eagerness to get back on the field to help his team quickened his recovery process. The team hopes Wilson can pick up where he left off against ECU, where he threw for 210 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, earning ACC Offensive Back of the Week for his efforts.
O’Brien said Wilson “adds a little something” to the offense with his ability to scramble when the defensive lines falters. O’Brien described BC’s defensive front seven as “very powerful” and said Wilson will likely have to use his legs to advance the offense.
“Certainly with their pass rush, he’s going to have to take care of himself on Saturday.” O’Brien said.
A lot of that defensive pressure will be against a relatively inexperienced Wolfpack offensive line, including redshirt junior Ted Larsen, who got his first collegiate start against Boston College at defensive tackle. This year, Larsen will be in the trenches at center against BC tackles B.J. Raji and Ron Brace, arguably two of the more dominant tackles in the ACC.
“It will be a good challenge and hopefully we can get some things going,” Larsen said. “If we could give it to these
guys it would really get our confidence up heading into the ACC schedule.”
The Homecoming theme, “Operation O’Brien,” suggests that the campus is rallying around the coach, particularly as he faces the team he led to seven bowl wins in 10 years as head coach. Last season, he had to travel to Alumni Stadium to face the fans he left for Raleigh in just his second game as head coach of the Wolfpack. This year, things will be different, he said.
“The difference was last year was [it was] the second game of the year, and [I] wasn’t even a year removed. And I think I could safely say I knew more about their team than I did about my team,” O’Brien said. “Now I know about more about my team than their team.”
Both teams have changed drastically in a year. Though BC’s defense remains similar, the offense has converted to a spread attack, which O’Brien calls the “soup du jour” of college football. Despite the changes in both teams from a year ago, O’Brien said he likes where his team has come in a year, despite injuries.
“Our football team has changed tremendously from last year to this year,” O’Brien said. “Maybe our record doesn’t show it, but I think looking at our offensive and defense and what we’re doing, we’re a much better team today than we were a year ago.”