The end of a college football season can cause some interesting decisions from coaches. Most of those decisions are made by schools scrambling to either become bowl-eligible or are made by a coach looking to save their job.
In the case of first-year Boston College Bill O’Brien, it is to become bowl-eligible. This past weekend, the Eagles edged Syracuse, 37-31, at home to move to 5-4. Backup quarterback Grayson James came in relief of Thomas Castellanos to lead BC to a late game-winning drive for their second ACC win. On Tuesday, O’Brien made a surprising decision ahead of this weekend's game at SMU.
Boston College benches Thomas Castellanos
Meeting with the media on Tuesday, O’Brien announced that he was benching Castellanos for Saturday’s game at SMU in favor of James. It’s somewhat of a surprising move and against Virginia Tech this season back in October in Blacksburg in a Hokies statement victory, Castellanos was 17-for-26 through the air for 205 yards, and two third-quarter touchdowns. As expected, Castellanos didn’t take the news well.
Bill O'Brien: "I think what’s best for the team right now is for Grayson James to be the starter. Tommy has done a great job for us. He’s an awesome competitor. We have a lot of respect for Tommy. Obviously he wasn’t real thrilled with that. He’s taken a couple days." pic.twitter.com/U9wBweXFiH
— Trevor Hass (@TrevorHass) November 12, 2024
I get it, Castellanos was talked about as one of the better duel-threat QBs in the ACC this season, along with Kyron Drones of Virginia Tech. What does the news of Castellanos being benched have to do with the Hokies? It brings to light another concerning narrative on their 2024 campaign.
Castellanos being benched means that all five starting quarterbacks that Virginia Tech beat this season have either been benched or were a backup. That means wins over Marshall, Old Dominion, Stanford, BC, and Georgia Tech were against QBs who have spent some time on the sideline whether it was because of an injury or benching.
Considering all the talent that Virginia Tech has, that’s another eye-opening narrative on their season. Up next? Duke and Malik Murphy on Nov. 23 in Durham and with the Blue Devils also on a bye this week, it’s a good chance that the Hokies will have to figure out a way to stop another duel-threat signal-caller.