Familiar situation, familiar outcome for O'Brien against former team

Tom O'Brien found himself in a familiar situation Saturday in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
 
He stood on the sidelines at Alumni Stadium as Boston College ran rushing play after rushing play against its opponent – eating up yards and time while wearing out the opposing defense.
 
But among the familiar vibes was one painful truth: O'Brien's team was the one getting worn out.
 
In his second return to BC, it was more of the same disappointment as O'Brien's former defensive coordinator and long-time colleague Frank Spaziani directed a rushing attack the likes of which the Wolfpack had not seen this year, racking up 293 yards on the ground en route to a convincing 52-20 victory.
 
All but 29 of those yards came from sophomore Montel Harris. Harris set single-game school records for touchdowns and yardage, while the Wolfpack's arm-tackling attack hardly slowed him down.
 
"Our biggest bugaboo is we don't tackle," O'Brien said after the game.
 
Redshirt senior running back Toney Baker, who was on the sidelines in Raleigh when State defeated O'Brien's BC, said his team's poor performance in the second half came down to fundamentals.
 
"Tackling, catching, blocking and doing those type of things – not getting those done," Baker said of how the Pack faded down the stretch.
 
And though the defense gave up at least 49 points for the second week in a row, Baker said the blame for the loss could go on both sides of the ball.
 
"Offensively our job is to put up more points than the other offense," Baker said. "We failed at that objective."
 
Redshirt graduate student defensive end and captain Willie Young said the success both Duke and BC had against State's defense was mostly due to the Blue Devils' and Eagles' prowess.
 
"We've played great teams. Great teams are able to make things happen," Young said, including perennial conference cellar-dweller Duke in the fold. "It's the ACC.  You can't say who's going to win a game."
 
As far as how O'Brien will prepare for the Pack's next test Oct. 31 against Florida State, he said putting together a practice plan during the team's bye week would likely force him to miss sleep.
 
"There's so many things [we need to work on] right now" O'Brien said. "It might take me all night to go through on both sides of the ball. We've regressed over the last two weeks for sure and we've got to get it turned around."
 
Young said the team's winless conference record won't affect this week's focus.
 
"If we were 10-0, I would take the same apppraoch to this open week as I am now," he said. "I'm frustrated, but it's not a time to lose my cool and just kind of say 'Forget about it'."
 
Though State's defense was ranked as one of the top run-stopping squads in the country before facing the Eagles, O'Brien said that didn't mean the Pack's run defense was effective.
 
"Nobody tried to run the ball against us," O'Brien said of the playcalling by ACC opponents this season. "Wake and Duke didn't try to rush at all."
 
Still, O'Brien said he's convinced the team hasn't become complacent with losing and addressed criticisms of the program's direction.
 
"We have a lot to play for and nobody is giving up," O'Brien said. "We have some holes we have to plug by coaching, recruiting or playing. I knew this was going to be a process and it certianly is a process. We're not going to take any shortcuts and when this thing turns we're going to win some games and win for a long time."

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samhlee tweeted @techsports: What is going to change over the next two weeks so that the team is ready for FSU on Halloween?
 
O'Brien: We'll do what we always do. We'll go self-scout and evaluate what we're doing and how we're doing it. That means everything from players to coaches to scouting and we'll put a game plan together and go play Florida State.