By Tim Healey GLOBE CORRESPONDENT APRIL 17, 2016
Patrick Towles spent the first 18 years of his life in Fort Thomas, Ky., a small town near the northern tip of the state along the Ohio River, and the four after that in Lexington, playing quarterback for the University of Kentucky.
Then, this past January Towles picked up and moved a 14-hour drive away from his parents and the car he drove around campus, and many of his 35 first cousins, to try to win the starting QB job at Boston College.
No more family. No more car. A lot more walking.
“It’s a lot different,” Towles said Saturday between signing autographs and taking pictures with fans after BC’s spring game, a souped-up intrasquad scrimmage to cap the six-week spring practice season.
“I’ve downloaded Uber and I’ve used that a ton — probably way more than my mom is happy about. That’s probably been the biggest difference.
“For the first month and a half, it took me a little while to get adjusted. Everything moves a little faster up here.”
The adjustment — in life and in football — is progressing.
Towles, a 6-foot-5-inch, 238-pound fifth-year transfer, won’t know if he’s successful in his pursuit of the starting job until closer to the start of the season in September. But Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium, he started opposite redshirt sophomore Darius Wade in the exhibition.
The play wasn’t as pretty as the weather. Wind knocked the football off the tee before the opening kickoff, and there were no touchdowns. Wade’s Maroon team beat Towles’s White team, 6-2.
Towles completed two of his four official pass attempts, with several more called back, while showing some zip with his right arm. Wade threw for 181 yards on 13-for-19 passing, albeit on a day when statistics — with teams a mishmash of the depth chart after a player-run draft on Friday — weren’t necessarily all that meaningful.
Wade and Towles are in effect battling for the No. 1 spot, with two other quarterbacks — sophomore John Fadule and freshman Anthony Brown — also on the roster. (Two players who saw time under center for the Eagles last fall, sophomores Troy Flutie of Natick and Jeff Smith, are converting to receiver.)
Injury-marred quarterback depth contributed to a 3-9 season (0-8 in the ACC) for BC last season. Now, coach Steve Addazio has options, a development he is pleased with.
“That’s as good as I’ve seen guys chuck it around. They were throwing it well,” Addazio said. “Couple of drops out there on [Towles], but he chucked it.”
He didn’t wait long to chuck it, either. On his first play from scrimmage, Towles tossed the ball nearly 50 yards downfield, well over the heads of his receiver and the opposing cornerback. On the first play of the second quarter, Towles hit junior Thadd Smith with a rocket along the left sideline near midfield.
Towles credits part of that arm strength to genetics. His maternal grandfather is Hall of Fame pitcher and former US Senator Jim Bunning.
If you think that’s cool, well, Towles gets that reaction a lot.
“I always say, I’ve got a good right arm in my blood,” Towles said. “He’s an ultracompetitor — he still is, at 84 years old.”
So now the spring season is over, and Towles’s continued acclimation will come more on a social level than an on-field one. He’s only known his new teammates and been at his new school for three months, after all, after being at Kentucky for four years and serving as starter for two.
“When you’re part of a new team, you’re practicing with new guys, it takes you a while to get used to them,” Towles said, noting that BC’s offense is a lot different than Kentucky’s. “It’s more complex, but I like it. It’s going to prepare me well — hopefully — for the next level. It’s a lot of different packages, a lot of shifts and motions. I’m excited.”
Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2016 12:57 pm