Boston College Loses TE Chris Pantale to Broken Foot
Today the Boston College football team received some bad news. Tight end Chris Pantale has broken a bone in his foot and according to head coach Frank Spaziani could miss “significant time”. This comes as a blow to an offense that is in dire need of playmakers.
Earlier this year Boston College dismissed their star running back Montel Harris from the team for a violation of team rules. Losing Harris will hurt BC, but the passing game is what really needs to improve. The Eagles ranked 112th in the country in points scored last year (18.2 per game), and a lot of the blame for that low number can be placed on the passing game which ranked 100th in the country (167.8 yards per game).
Pantale was one of the few playmakers that Boston College had in the passing game in 2011. He caught 21 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns. To put this into perspective, Boston College quarterback Chase Rettig only threw 12 touchdown passes. Pantale caught 25% of those passes. Not too shabby for a tight end.
Mike Naples is expected to replace Pantale as the starter this year. Naples is a junior but he lacks experience. He has only caught one pass in his collegiate career. If Boston College is going to improve upon last season, then the offense must step up. Pantale would be a big part of that, but now it is unclear when the senior will be able to return to the playing field.
Tight end isn’t the most glamorous position but it is certainly an important one, and Boston College had one of the best tight end’s in the ACC. If the Eagles can’t overcome the loss of Pantale then this could be a very long season.
