I have left no doubt now about which side of the debate I’m on: I am in favor of Boston College burning Chase Rettig’s redshirt and giving him the starting role. The current quarterback situation can’t continue, and I understand that the coaching staff are tentative about it, but I believe it is the best move for the long-term (by that I mean the next few seasons) well-being of the football program.
I don't root for any BC players to fail, and I did not want Dave Shinskie to end up being as bad as he's been, but it's not panning out. At this point, he has been the starter since last season, and he's supposed to be experienced. We can make excuses about the offensive line and the game plan (both of which were terrible yesterday), but they don't make Shinskie force the ball into coverage, heave up bad throws with time, and have poor body language, amongst other things. These are the exact same issues we had with him last year, with no sign whatsoever that an abatement is forthcoming. He can't be apologized for anymore, so if anyone unrelated to him is still doing it, just fucking stop. The experiment is over.
Now that we've identified part of the problem, we need a solution: its name is Chase McDonald Rettig. Of course, there are pros and cons to this move of bringing him on as the starter, but in my opinion, the potential positives outweigh the negatives.
Why it’s a good idea
1.) The current active quarterbacks on Boston College suck. Can’t put it any plainer than that. Dave Shinskie, in a year-plus as starter, has made essentially no improvement from when he was a raw freshman. I sincerely doubt he will get any better than where he is now. Mike Marscovetra hasn’t been all that great either, and the coaching staff doesn’t seem to want to waste too much time on him, anyway. I am convinced that BC is going nowhere with either one. You could argue that Marscovetra never really got his shot, and it’s a valid argument to an extent, but it’s hard to put faith in these guys. You’re wasting your time trying to squeeze victories out of them at this point. Rettig is the future, and looks like the best bet for long-term stability at QB.
2.) Rettig can gain experience. With offensive play like this, the season might be shot. He can use this time to play through the conference schedule, learn the ropes, and perhaps mature a little. He will be running this offense in the future, anyway – the time may be now for him to learn. It reminds me a little of how Frank Beamer had experienced QB Sean Glennon starting for the Hokies, and had one Tyrod Taylor redshirted. Glennon wasn’t getting it done, he burned Taylor’s redshirt, and in the end, it’s worked out pretty well for that team.
3.) Well, maybe the season isn’t shot. There are more offensive issues to fix besides quarterback, but if you take away the hugely critical mistakes Shinskie made, yesterday’s game is a lot more competitive. Is Rettig the guy who learns from his mistakes, doesn’t repeat them, and is able to take charge of this offense? There’s only one way to find out. Even if he can be adequate, that looks better than where we’re heading.
Why it might not be
1.) You’d be wasting eligibility on this potential crapfest of a season. If Rettig plays now, that’s one less year we’ll have of him in the future when he could potentially be good. The counterpoint to this would be that since I’d imagine he’ll be playing next year anyway, why not let him play now and get experience rather than have these two guys stink it up this year and follow it up with a freshman on a learning curve next year.
2.) The O-line might not protect him, anyway. Pretty hard to learn when your line can’t pick up blocks and you’re eating sod every other play.
I would have added something like “he’s a true freshman, and it’s risky to toss him into the fire like this” blah blah blah but I kind of want to see him thrown into the fire. I want to see him face what the conference has to offer and learn on the job. BC fans should be optimistic and excited to see what he can do. Of course, in hindsight, we'll say BC should have started him in the first place rather than wasting precious weeks on what we have now. It's a legitimate argument.
In my opinion, those cons that I could think of don’t really give me pause. Yeah, it’s not ideal, and it would have been nice if we didn’t have this problem with burning his redshirt, but we do. The current play at quarterback has necessitated the coming of BC’s future at this position. Is he the savior of this team? I don’t know, and none of us can know at this point, but he is going to be the starting quarterback of Boston College in the near future. The Eagle offense is swirling the bowl at present, so now’s as good a time as any for him to take the reins.
The big question, of course, is “Will Spaziani do it?” I don’t know; I wish I did. My BC blog brethren believe he will, as of Sunday afternoon -- if there is confirmation, an update with a link will be posted below. I believe Spaz doesn’t want to and will avoid it if at all possible, but despite a 2-1 record, the season is teetering on the brink of mediocrity. If they’re satisfied with mediocrity, they’ll leave the QB spot the way it is and hope things work out (which seems to be the way we do things here – “we are what we are,” right?)
If they want to take a chance – a bold but intelligent in the long run chance – they’ll burn Chase’s redshirt and give him the keys to the offense. I am confident that it will pay off over the next few years.
Update (Sunday afternoon): It would appear the Dave Shinskie era is over. We might be waiting several days before we find out who the new QB will be.
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