CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Boston College may have to keep waiting on Michael Crounse, and Bill O’Brien isn’t hiding how much he wants the veteran center back in the lineup for Notre Dame.
Crounse, the Eagles’ starting center and a captain, was listed in the initial student-athlete availability report for Saturday’s game against FSU. O’Brien addressed the situation the morning after that report came out, and the update was encouraging enough to suggest this isn’t a season-ending issue. Still, it appears Crounse will miss at least this week.
“He’s progressing,” O’Brien said. “He was in a boot.
He’s out of the boot already. So we’ll see for Notre Dame.
[I] really, really want him to play against Notre Dame.”
The reason for that urgency is easy to understand. Crounse matters to Boston College in more than one way, and his return against Georgia Tech in Week 8 showed it. In that game, the Eagles piled up nearly 400 rushing yards with him back in the mix.
But his value goes beyond the run game. O’Brien pointed to the steadiness Crounse brings in the huddle, the kind of presence that can’t be measured on a stat sheet but still shapes everything around it.
Crounse first went down with a knee injury in Boston College’s Week 1 loss at Cincinnati and missed four straight games before returning against Georgia Tech. He got through that game without any major issues, but the next week at Duke, trouble struck again. His lower leg was rolled on in the second half, and he left the game in a boot.
That setback means the Eagles will turn to freshman DJ Williams again. Williams has a 48.7 offensive grade on PFF, a number that ranks near the bottom among FBS centers who qualify for a grade, and he’s set to make his fifth career start in Crounse’s spot.
It’s a tough assignment for any young lineman, and even more so when he’s replacing a captain. But Williams has at least had time to settle in after being thrown into action early in the season.
“DJ’s got another opportunity,” O’Brien said. “And DJ’s had a good week. DJ’s a great dude, and he’s a really good guy who’s practiced very well.”
There’s also a personal layer to all of this. Boston College’s road trip to South Bend next week carries extra meaning for Crounse because his father, Mike, played at Notre Dame from 1986-90 and was part of the Fighting Irish’s consensus national championship team in the undefeated 12-0 1988 season.
“It’s a special game for him,” O’Brien said. “But there’s not much we can do about it. We feel terrible for Mike, but it is what it is.”
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