ACC Roundtabling with BC Interruption

I -- yes, I -- was selected to partake in the ACC Blogger Roundtable being hosted by BC Interruption as the BC blog representative. I was asked questions, and I answered them. And we're off!

(BCI) 1. Virginia Tech and Florida State seemed to acquit the ACC Championship Game well this year, turning in an entertaining 44-33 game in front of a crowd of 72,379 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Assess the success of the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte in year one. How much of the success can be attributed to the host city, and how much can be attributed to the matchup? A little of A, a little of B?

>>(STG) I’ve said all along that I like the game in Charlotte, as it’s much closer to the geographic center of the conference than Jacksonville or anywhere else in Florida. Flights to Charlotte can be pretty inexpensive on the East Coast if you book in advance. I think the matchup has more to do with it, though. Both of these fanbases are big and they travel well. Going up or down (as the case may be) to Charlotte clearly wasn’t a dealbreaker for VT or FSU fans, as it’s situated pretty well in between both schools. They’d have gone regardless of where the game was, however. These are big-time football schools and it was expected to be a good game, so you’d have to have imagined a large turnout was in the cards.

(BCI) 2. Would you like to see Charlotte become the permanent home of the ACC Football Championship? Or would you be in favor of some alternate Championship Game format? (continuing to rotate the location, move to campus a la the Pac 12, etc.) Explain.

>>(STG) If Charlotte became the permanent home, I’d be fine with it. If they decided to have championship games hosted on campuses, I think it would be interesting but it probably won’t happen. Could you see Alumni Stadium hosting one of those? The thought is practically surreal and I don’t know if I mean that in a good way or a bad way.

I wasn’t crazy about Jacksonville and Tampa didn’t do much for me. Back to Charlotte though, I think it’s a decent venue and as I mentioned in the first response, it’s pretty close to the midpoint of the ACC schools, which I think is fair.

(BCI) 3. On to the ACC's 2010 slate of bowl games. How happy are you with your program's bowl placement? Did your team's bowl destination exceed or fall short of preseason expectations? (No, I didn't forget about you, Duke, Wake Forest and Virginia. You can speak to general season results relative to preseason expectations here).

>>(STG) Well, San Francisco is apparently so nice, we’re doing it twice. I’d be lying if I said I’m thrilled, however. Going into the season, I thought we had a decent chance of ending up in Charlotte, but when you dig yourself a 2-5 hole, that’s a good way to blow up the season. Yes, BC squeezed out five wins to close out the season, but three of those teams are terrible and the other two are so-so teams with their own issues that squeaked into bowls themselves. Some would argue that 7-5 is good considering where BC was in October, but relative to our preseason expectations, winning 7 games with a defense this stout and a schedule this easy is just not acceptable. BC let a few too many get away. Forgive the rant, but being a 7-8 win team in a third-rate “leftovers” bowl every year is not what BC football should be aiming for; we should aspire to be where the Hokies are, but for some reason, we don't.

Anyway, as for this particular bowl matchup, well, I don’t think we got an easy one. I’ve seen several of Nevada’s games and they are a very good team (ranked, no less) with an outstanding offense. I expect BC’s defense to slow them down some, but the Eagles haven’t exceeded 26 points against an FBS opponent this season. The defense will have to play the game of their lives just to keep BC in it because quite frankly, we just don’t score points. Further, our best win this year was an average Syracuse team; BC hasn’t beaten anyone this good all year and it will be a big challenge. I can see how easy it would be for BC fans to think things have turned around lately and give us good odds in the bowl game, but we’ve beaten two bowl-eligible teams all year, and haven’t beaten anyone remotely good. UNR is a step up from our recent competition.

(BCI) 4. Looking at the conference's bowl schedule as a whole, how many games do you have the conference winning? Is this the year the conference has a breakout year come bowl season?

>>(STG) On a really quick glance, I give the ACC five or six bowl wins, so no, no breakout year. There are a few I view as tossups, but overall it should be a meh bowl season for a meh power conference. Going on the record, I do not presently have Boston College as one of those wins.

(BCI) 5. Clearly, there are many factors other than on-field performance that go into bowl selections (travel rep, ticket sales, travel distances). Pretend for a moment that the ACC placed teams in our conference's bowl games 1-9 based solely on their on-field performance this season (you can rank 1-9 anyway you see fit). Holding our bowl opponents fixed, how does your answer to question 4 change? Does the ACC then win more or less bowl games this year?

>>(STG) Well, if travel distances were REALLY a factor, we wouldn’t be getting stuck out in friggin California for the second straight year against a much more local team. Anyway, I don’t think my answer would change too much, because outside of Virginia Tech and perhaps Florida State, the middle of the ACC is very mushy and just not that dangerous. There are teams in there who I think will have difficulty winning bowl games no matter who they play.

(BCI) 6. Last one. The home of the ACC Champion has been the redheaded step child of BCS bowls the past few seasons. The Orange Bowl has been awarded either the Big East champ or a BCS at-large leftover the past few seasons and the casual fan has responded with some of the lowest TV ratings in BCS bowl history. Did the Hokies/ACC dodge a bullet not drawing an 8-4 Big East champ UConn in the Orange Bowl? Or would you have rather have had the Hokies face an easier opponent to improve on the ACC's 2-10 record in BCS bowls?

>>(STG) I’m fine with the way things worked out. I’m quite interested to see what the Hokies can do against a talented Stanford team, and yet I would have rather enjoyed watching the Hokies beat the crap out of UConn (though I’m fairly certain Oklahoma will take care of that). I think VT is capable of winning the game and improving that BCS bowl record. Playing a so-so team like UConn would have been a no-win situation of sorts for the Hokies: if you win, you were supposed to so it’s no big deal, and if you lose, you’re a disgrace to college football. So yes, VT dodged a bullet, we’re going to get a decent game out of it, and that school in Storrs probably will still lose.

Playing catch-up

Alright, here was your BC weekend:

Football: BC beats Virginia 17-13.

I'm happy for the players, particularly the seniors, that they won their final home game.  I did not watch or listen to any of it, but of course, I noticed that the Eagles scored 17 points, which makes ten straight BCS games where BC has not topped 26 points in offensive output.  I know we're all high on specific parts of this offense -- for example, Chase Rettig -- but if it were not for BC's defense and things like them holding their opponents to 20 or fewer points SEVEN times this season, this team would easily have a losing record.  Yes, the quality of BC's opposition has not been good overall (which is why this season remains a bitter disappointment), but the defense's accomplishments are very notable and to be respected. It is quite a shame that this team has no offense, because the sky might have been the limit in a weak ACC.

Now, if you're one of those people who is going to throw a party for becoming bowl eligible in the second to last game of the season, well, congratulations.  I have hopes for this program becoming more than a middling 6-8 win squad with no real chance of national prominence or reaching a BCS bowl under the current coaching staff, but hey, that's just me.  At least Rettig and the rest get to play in a bowl, regardless of how meaningless it is.  The only problem is, with the exception of Clemson, none of the teams BC has beaten are good enough to make bowls, anyway, so I wouldn't count on any miracles with Geritol Gary calling the plays upstairs.

Men's hockey: BC beats Maine 4-0 (Friday), 4-1 (Sunday).

A big weekend sweep of the Maine Black Bears for the Eagles at Conte Forum, and the Eagles are up to 8-4 on the year.  Maine, BC's opponent in last season's Hockey East title game, are one of the best teams in the conference.  That BC pushed them aside with two solid victories is nothing to take lightly.

Women's soccer: Defeats West Virginia 4-0

The Eagles have advanced once again to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament, beating West Virginia at home 4-zip. Next Saturday afternoon on Newton Campus, the Eagles will host the University of Washington for a chance to move to the Final Four.

Women's basketball: BC beats Dartmouth 87-61 and Vermont 85-50.

Two more runaway wins for the Eagles, both on the road. Their average margin of victory in their first four games is 26.8 points. BC is now 4-0 heading into their next game against Seton Hall on Black Friday.

Women's hockey: BC beats Boston University 6-3 (Saturday), loses 1-0 (Sunday).

Never a bad weekend when BU loses, especially to us. Olympic medalist Kelli Stack had a hat trick as the #6 Eagles improve to 8-1-4 on Saturday. Unfortunately, this was followed up by a Sunday loss to split the weekend series.

Co-ed sailing: BC repeats as ICSA Championship winners.

Can't close out the article without mentioning our sailing team which is essentially the best in the nation several years running. They hauled in another national championship this weekend at the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY (Long Island). Congratulations to them.

Support your Eagles this week

Because I don't feel like writing a real article, these are your BC home games:

*Men's basketball vs. Yale: Thursday 7pm.  The Eagles look to go 2-0 to start the year with another creampuff opponent.  Coach D went 2-for-2 against the Bulldogs last year with Cornell, winning both games by double digits.

*Women's soccer vs. West Virginia: Friday 7pm.  This will also be on Newton Campus as the ladies play on in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.

*Men's hockey vs. Maine: Friday 7pm.  A rematch of the 2010 Hockey East championship game.

*Football vs. Virginia: Saturday 12pm. Amongst others, Mark Herzlich's senior day at Alumni Stadium.

Plenty of good events from which to choose.  I know all of the teams would be appreciative of your support if you can give it.

BC weekend in review

It was quite the busy weekend in Boston College sports, and we have much to discuss.  I can't promise to hit every sport, but I will hit the big ones.  Let's begin:

Football: W 21-16 over Duke

Refer to Saturday's reaction article

Men's basketball: W 79-49 over St. Francis (NY)

Joe Trapani had 20 points, Corey Raji and Reggie Jackson each had 17, and freshman Danny Rubin had 9 as the Eagles beat the Terriers by 30.  New coach Steve Donahue is 1-0 at Boston College and looks to go 2-0 on Thursday night against Yale.  The new offensive system implemented by Donahue is producing results; Ken Pomeroy's website puts BC's offensive efficiency for the first game at above the D-1 average so far.  Not to be lost in the shuffle was BC's good defensive performance: the Eagles threw several different looks at the Terriers, disrupted shots, even dialed up some full-court pressure at times.  You don't want to take too much out of beating SFC, but there were a lot of good things in this win.

Men's hockey: W 3-2, L 5-3 to Vermont

The Eagles hockey team split their weekend series against the Vermont Catamounts, winning a come-from-behind game on Friday night but falling on Saturday night.  BC's defeat on Saturday was Vermont's first win of the 2010-2011 season.  Cam Atkinson had one goal in each game, while Jimmy Hayes scored BC's final two goals on Saturday.  Bill Arnold and Chris Kreider also posted goals this weekend.

Men's soccer: L 1-0 to North Carolina

The North Carolina Tar Heels headed to the men's soccer ACC Championship Game by beating Boston College in a very tight 1-0 contest in Cary, NC on Friday.  The first half was scoreless, but UNC's Enzo Martinez broke the tie for good at 54:01.  The Eagles managed only seven shots in the game, and Scott Goodwin for the Heels turned them all back.  BC is 10-4-5 on the year and are likely an NCAA Tournament team, but will have to wait for the selections.

Women's basketball: W 84-65 at Boston University

Like the men, the ladies won their first game of the season as well, going up Comm Ave and beating up the BU Terriers by a 19-point margin. This game was close at the half, but BU went cold in the second to allow BC to pull away. Carolyn Swords had a double-double for BC (14 points, 18 rebounds) while sophomore Kerri Shields scored a career-high 21 points. The Eagles' next game is tonight at Conte Forum, their home opener against Hartford.

Women's hockey: L 7-3, T 1-1 at St. Lawrence

The women's hockey team did not have such a good weekend out in the middle of nowhere (trust me, I've been in the area), going winless in a twinbill against St. Lawrence.  Mary Restuccia scored a goal in each game, while Melissa Bizzari and Blake Bolden each put one on the board on Friday night.  BC will do a home-and-home with the BU Terriers on Saturday and Sunday night next weekend.

Women's soccer: W 2-1 over Boston University, W 3-1 over Hofstra

One of our soccer teams won a tournament game this weekend, and it was the women over BU in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.  The Terriers had posted thirteen straight shutouts, but the Eagles would have none of it.  Victoria DiMartino and Julia Bouchelle put BC over the top and into the second round, where they beat Hosftra by two on Sunday afternoon to advance to the Sweet 16.  Next up for the Eagles will be West Virginia.

Highlights of October with Turner Action Sports

As promised, Soaring to Glory is teaming up with Turner Action Sports to give you something nice to look at with regards to BC sports.  Enjoy the photography, and feel free to visit Evan's website.  You can click on each photo to see it enlarged at Evan's Facebook page.

BC/Maryland, October 23

BC/Clemson, October 30

BC 21, Duke 16: Postgame reaction

*This was about as facepalm-worthy and hollow of a win as you will see in football.  Boston College led in this game by 15 late in the third quarter, and then Duke cut it to 12.  BC was marching inside the Duke 10 to ice it, but Montel fumbles, Duke runs it back, and it's a 5-point game.  BC then completely turtles up on offense and the defense lets Duke get all the way down to the BC 4 before tightening up and ending the game.  Absolutely cringe-worthy.

*Frank Spaziani was bailed out by his defense's final stand and Chase Rettig having put some nice TDs on the board.  His clock management and in-game coaching skills are abysmal, as he illustrated today, particularly near the end of the game.  Guess what?  They're not going to get any better, either.

*In the past two weekends, BC has played against some of the worst defenses in the nation: Wake (117th/120 in FBS at the time) and Duke (114th).  Their offensive output?  23 and 21 points, respectively.  You have a better chance of winning Powerball than seeing BC explode offensively this season.

*Luke Kuechly and Max Holloway were outstanding today on defense.  Luke is the MVP on defense again this season.  

*BC is 5-5, and as things stand, will probably make a bowl game.  It might make you feel better, or it might not.  It just hurts to know that this team just isn't that good.

The upcoming weekend, Part III: Football

The final of the three men's teams you will get to see on this busy sports weekend is our dearly beloved 4-5 football team, who travel to Durham to play the hapless 3-6 Duke Blue Devils.

If you're one of the people on the "BC can/will still get to a fourth-rate bowl game" bandwagon, then this is a game Boston College must win, no excuses.  Like the Eagles, however, Duke has won consecutive football games, both of which were high-scoring affairs (65 and 103 combined points).  The Eagles' two wins were low-scoring games, by contrast (26 and 36 combined points). 

The Eagles defense continues to be extraordinary, ranked 16th in the country in yards allowed and 44th in points allowed.  In another impressive statistic, this defense has picked up the third-most turnovers in the nation (26).  Linebacker Luke Kuechly, a semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, leads the nation in tackles with 13.9 per game.  If he continues in this fashion, he should end up being a finalist.

As for the BC offense...yeah, OK.  Moving on.

Duke gives up a lot of points.  A lot.  At 38.9 ppg allowed (114th in FBS), they're in Wake Forest territory with regards to defensive futility.  Thing is, while the Deacs have one of the most godawful defenses that I've seen in a while, it only resulted in 23 points for BC last week.  While it may happen, counting on the Eagles to put up big numbers against similarly-bad Duke would be counting on too much given how BC has played.

In Duke's two most recent wins, QB Sean Renfree has thrown no interceptions.  In the seven previous games, he threw 15.  It would seem that as Renfree goes, so does Duke.  It doesn't help him that he faces one of the best turnover-plucking defenses in the nation.

Expectations going into this game should be a smallish BC victory, maybe as big of a point spread as last week's win, and with BC scoring about as many points as last week, give or take a few.  Duke's offense is capable of putting up points, but they will probably have their hands full with the Eagles' defense.  Boston College would have trouble scoring on a high school defense, but can get out of their own way long enough to win.

Enjoy your ESPN3 tomorrow afternoon.

Good and bad: This past weekend

This weekend, we saw our share of good things out of Boston College Eagles sports, but of course, these good things were not without their negative accompaniment. Here’s the best and worst of the weekend that was:

Good

1.) BC football wins at Wake Forest, 23-13. The Eagles did what they had to do against the pathetic Demon Deacons to extricate themselves from the ACC Atlantic basement, winning by 10 down in Winston-Salem. BC’s defense was again solid, Montel Harris is as good as ever, and we have a player in Chase Rettig. This season won’t come close to being what it could have been, but at least we know what we’ve got for the future.

2.) BC wins their Saturday basketball exhibition. 85-58. Sure, the opponent was the University of Philadelphia, certainly not a D-1 team, but we saw the new BC offense under Steve Donahue in action. The Eagles were flying high and bombing away from 3-point land, making 15 triples. Not everything in the game was a positive, and the team will lack depth this season, but most everything was looking good. They will be able to ride some confidence into the marshmallow-soft early part of their schedule before heading down to Orlando for the Old Spice Classic.

Bad

1.) BC hockey loses to New Hampshire, 2-1. I’d have been at this game if I wasn’t sidelined by illness – and in retrospect, maybe I lucked out. This just was not a great night for BC, getting held to one goal and continuing their stretch of so-so play. The thing is, BC has made a habit out of playing meh hockey for the first few months and then exploding at the right time. I’m not worried, nor should you be.

2.) BC football still playing the same way. Sigh. It’s just not going to get better with Spaz and Tranq at the wheel. The playcalling is so completely obvious that it’s maddening, and taking knees when you could be trying to score points is just as annoying. This is a Wake Forest football team that could give up 40 to most teams before you could say “fire the DC,” and BC managed 23 in a 10-point win while being +3 in turnovers. Thank God the defense is worthwhile, because without it, BC would still be sitting on two wins.

As I’m still recovering from a nasty little illness, this should be a light week of blogging. Expect some photos from our new contributor, Evan Turner, and articles on the upcoming football, basketball, and hockey games. Of course, it takes far less effort to use Twitter, so be sure to follow me there, as that's where I am a good bit of the time while blogging.

BC-Wake: Bad offense vs. bad defense; who wins?

There's an old adage in baseball: good pitching beats good hitting. I've always wondered if bad pitching beats bad hitting (I assume it does).

In football, there's another adage stating "defense wins championships." When it comes to Boston College and Wake Forest, well, neither one is winning a championship this year, but they do get to play one another this weekend. The Eagles boast one of the most godawful offenses in the nation, while the Demon Deacons have one of the most putrid defenses I've ever seen. In a matchup of bad offense and bad defense, what wins out?

Consider the stats side-by-side (FBS rank in parenthesis):

	BC Offense	WF Defense
Total yardage	295.4 (112)	453.4 (117)
Scoring	18.8 (103)	40.8 (117)
Pass efficiency	105.9 (109)	151.9 (112)
First downs	14.8 (115)	24.3 (118)
Third downs	28.6% (117)	48.7% (117)

*Boston College has scored fewer than 20 points five times this season.

*Boston College has amassed fewer than 300 yards of total offense five times this season as well.

*This season, Wake Forest has allowed:
            -30 points or more five times.
            -40 points or more four times.
            -50 points or more three times.
            -60 points or more twice.

*In terms of total yardage, Wake Forest has allowed:
            -400 or more yards five times.
            -500 or more yards twice.
            -600 or more yards once (Virginia Tech).

Make no mistake, these two units are two of the worst at what they do in all the land.  On Saturday, however, one of them just might suck less thanks to the other.  I'm not entirely sure who it will be, so I'm putting the question to BC fans (or other ACC fans): when you have a bad offense (BC) against a bad defense (WF), which team do you feel should have the advantage?

More specifically in this game, do you think BC's offense will finally be able to get something going against Wake's defense, or will BC's offense make Wake's D look good for a change?

Busy day in BC football

And most of what happened was bad. What a season we’re having. It's OK though, because all is well!  The football program is completely fine!  All of our problems were inherited!  Woo, go Eagles.

Anyway, I’ll start with the negative developments, because most people tend to want the bad news first. Number one is the revelation today from the media that Boston College, via Eagle Action, committed a minor recruiting violation, thanks to a slip-up from Luke Kuechly (you know, something you don’t see too often from him on the field). It would seem, however, that the reporter interviewing Kuechly baited him into a recruiting violation (namely speaking publicly about specific recruits) apparently without knowledge that he was doing it. Whatever the case, and despite the fact that it is a minor incident (most SEC coaches would probably have a good belly-laugh listening to us talk about this like it’s notable), it is an incident nevertheless. With these rules in mind, Kuechly should have been less candid, that reporter shouldn’t have asked, and EA should have caught it before the article went live. As if BC needed more headaches, they got this today.  There were other elements of this story potentially worth weighing (you know what they are), but for the sake of sparing the program further embarrassment, I'll take a pass.

Number two was backup running back Sterlin Phifer leaving the Eagles, making him the fourth (unless I’m missing someone) player in two seasons to jump from the Good Ship Spaz. The other three, of course, were Justin Tuggle, Josh Haden, and Isaac Johnson. This is a disappointing development for BC, even though Phifer was a back-up. I don’t pretend to know his reasons for leaving, and I’m also not going to pretend that he was a difference-maker on offense (though he did show some talent), but it is quite demoralizing to see a team that should have been rolling go 2-5, and now have players quitting the team. If they haven’t already, I’m sure someone will find a way to blame Jeff Jagodzinski for this.

I have heard one comment from a BC fan, though, that I need to address, because I think we need to eliminate some bogus reasons why this may have happened. This individual I read today believed that this decision to leave the program is nothing more than a normal product of the most recent coaching change. Quite frankly, this argument is a complete load of bullshit. For one thing, the coaching change took place a year and a half ago. Why did it take Phifer so long to leave? Second, most of the coaching staff was held over. This is NOT the same situation with BC basketball where Al Skinner’s entire staff was cast out; Spaziani was hired largely as a continuity move and many of the assistant coaches stayed in place. What happened in the spring of 2009 didn’t suddenly make Phifer want to leave in the fall of 2010, but what did?  Can we say at all that Coach Spaz and his men are definitely the reason he’s leaving?  How about the fact that BC is tanking? I can’t say that because I don’t know his personal reasons, and I’m not sure I ever will. One thing is for sure, however, and it’s that there is a stale odor surrounding this program right now (though that may just be Gary Tranquill’s cologne), and as the old saying goes, "the fish rots from the head down."

Number three is the injury report for Saturday’s game, and it ain’t good. Wes Davis, as you might expect, is out. Albright, obviously ditto.  Gause, wouldn't count on it.  Shakim Phillips, a guy who caught one pass in exchange for his redshirt being burned, is also out. I’ve also read through the BC message boards that O’Neal and Newman are only questionable. All of this will downgrade BC’s chances this weekend from not going to win to, um, still not going to win.

Finally, number four does not impact the current state of the program, but is another bad break for a former football Eagle. Mathias Kiwanuka, one of the best BC players of the past decade, was placed on IR by the New York Football Giants after being injured several weeks ago. This is not the first time, unfortunately, that injuries have derailed one of his seasons, as Eagles (and Giants) fans surely know.

The lone positive from today’s BC news is that former Eagle DB Will Blackmon was picked up by the Giants to replace the aforementioned Kiwi on their roster. Though he has taken the spot of a DE, Blackmon will most likely be returning kicks in the place of Darius Reynaud, who has not had a good season at all for Big Blue.

When the best things that happen to your program in several weeks are (1) losing close to a ranked team and (2) a guy who graduated four years ago getting a mid-season deal for an NFL team, you know you’re up a creek. I haven’t been watching this team as long as some of you, but I’ve never seen it in this much disarray.  BC football is sinking by the stern, and something’s gotta give.

2010 Week 9 in the ACC

Last week was disastrous for me in the picks department as I went 2-3 (43-19 overall). That'll teach me to pick our team.

Florida State at North Carolina State
Line: FSU -4

Florida State stands out as the best team in the ACC Atlantic, while NC State of all teams have been rolling along nicely this season. This game could go a long way into determining the division champion, and though this game is at home for the Pack, I will go for the ranked visiting team. Pick: Florida State

Miami at Virginia
Line: Miami -14.5

Virginia finally beat an FBS team last weekend -- Eastern Michigan. I know, I'm impressed too. Miami is juuuust a slight step up from the EMU Eagles. Pick: Miami

Wake Forest at Maryland
Line: Maryland -5

Maryland seems to be figuring things out this season, sitting at 5-2. Wake Forest's defense, meanwhile, couldn't stop a retirement home's football team. Pick: Maryland

William and Mary at North Carolina
No line

William and Mary are pretty good for an FCS team. I still don't think that will make a difference. Pick: North Carolina

Duke at Navy
Line: Navy -13.5

1-6 Duke is simply terrible. 5-2 Navy, though not amazing, is far better. The Middies will go 4-0 at home. Pick: Navy

Clemson at Boston College
Line: Clemson -7

Last week purged any lingering hope that BC could recover in the second half of the season, at least from where I sit. Clemson have underachieved, but nowhere near as badly as the Eagles have. Expect Rettig to continue to grow, the rest of the offense to struggle under the sleepy leadership of Gary Tranquill, and the defense to have its moments to shine. Whatever positives, however, will be wiped out and then some by the negatives, as we've seen week after week. Pick: Clemson

Lowered expectations

Following Boston College's loss to Maryland on Saturday, a game in which the Eagles were favored by both the Vegas bookies and me, I have decided to re-evaluate my expectations of BC's remaining games.  Much like the political pundits do when evaluating key elections at this time of year, I will starting shifting around Eagles football games into different columns.

Clemson, 10/30
Tossup → Leans Clemson

Clemson has had BC's number in the last two seasons, and BC is flopping and flailing their way through 2010.  Expect a smaller crowd than last week, and Clemson to be favored.

Wake Forest, 11/6
Tossup → Leans Wake

I don't care what Wake's record is: I don't particularly trust BC at home, and I certainly don't trust them on the road. 

Duke, 11/13
Likely BC → Leans BC

This is still the only game I think BC has a better than average shot of snatching, keeping them from an 0-fer in the ACC this season.  Despite the fact that Duke is absolutely terrible, we're not much better.  This game is now at best slightly leaning in BC's direction.

Virginia, 11/20
Leans BC → Tossup

I'm not sure Virginia is quite up to Maryland's level, but this game sure looks like it could be Maryland Part Deux to me.  I don't think BC will have a clear advantage in this game, given what I've seen this year to this point.

Syracuse, 11/27
Tossup → Leans Syracuse

I didn't really like this game last week, and now I certainly don't like it.  The Orange aren't anything outrageous, but they did just beat a ranked team, and going on the road to play these guys in the last game of the season feels a little ominous to me.

BC would have to go 4-1 just to become bowl eligible, so abandon all hope of a postseason ye who enter here. What looked like an easy schedule (and still would be if this team was any good) doesn't quite look easy anymore.

The polls are open: What will BC's record be?

Given what we know now about this team's miserable performance so far this season, I've decided to ask all of you to vote on what you think BC's final record will be.



To assist you in voting, consider the following:

*To go 7-5, BC would need to win out. Do any of you see that happening?

*For 6-6 and bowl eligibility, BC needs to go 4-1. Again, not all that likely.

*For 5-7, BC needs to go 3-2. That's less difficult to do and there's I suppose an outside shot, but given how BC has played, that would require a big turnaround.

*4-8 would require a 2-3 finish. That's probably more like it.

*3-9 needs a 1-4 finish. That's a lot more like it.

*You know what 2-10 means. It's more unlikely than the two previous, but only by a hair. You'd think BC will get lucky and win a game, but who the hell knows at this point.

Time for heads to roll? You bet

That Captain Sisko sure does have the right idea after another one of these games by BC, doesn't he? 

Boston College football's losing streak hit five games yesterday, as the Eagles fell to Maryland, 24-21.  I did not see the game (thanks to others scheduling commitments for me when I would have otherwise had none), but the more I think about it, the more I'm pleased I didn't have to sit through it.

This team has proven itself utterly incapable of winning football games now, with the only two wins being unimpressive victories over Weber State and Kent State.  So now, what do we do about it?

Well, WE do nothing about it, but Gene DeFilippo can fire Frank Spaziani and Gary Tranquill (and if the whole coaching staff went with them, I won't shed any tears).  I think I officially hopped on the bandwagon during the NC State trainwreck, and got heat for it as it was supposedly "too soon."  Well, two weeks and two facepalm-worthy losses later, is it still too soon?

I doubt it.  The "Fire Spaz" bandwagon is taking on disciples, while the "Fire Tranq" bandwagon is so full that people are falling off and hanging onto the bumper.  Of course, I think we all know that there are more people involved with this program who may need to be shown the exit, but that's a matter for another article as far as I'm concerned.

Back to the matter at hand, I went into previous posts of mine to see what I had been writing about this team last year.  Take, for example, something I wrote on September 19, 2009, following Boston College's horrid loss at Clemson in which they amassed a whopping 54 yards of total offense:

"I'd can [Tranquill's] ass before they got back on the plane."

"Speaking of coaches, Spaziani's interview was weak and defeatist. "It could get ugly" - no shit, sherlock!"

Also in there was a mention of poor OL play and Spaz punting when down big.

The next week against Wake Forest:

"This Eagles team is talented, but as much of a poorly-coached mess as a 3-1 team can be."

And the week after that against Florida State, one of the few times you heard me utter "Shinskie" and "good" in the same sentence:

"This game should not have been close.  Spaziani and the coaching staff got soft as soon as the second half started, with their big lead, and just like last week, they let the other team come back in the game.  This is a poor coaching staff.  I'm not checking my blood pressure; I don't want to know."

You tend to notice a lot of recurring themes when you go back and look at things you said a while ago.  One thing I've noticed is that I didn't always pan the coaches or Shinskie, but the instances of me doing that were very much into the minority as opposed to me saying it's a poor coaching staff.  Now, let's look forward to 2010.  Here's something I posted on February 4th of this year, on the day the football schedule was released:

"My very, very, ridiculously early guess when looking at this schedule is 9-3."

That is very much in line with what most BC fans were thinking, given how light the schedule is, particularly the second half, and that we expected the team to be improved.  Recall the seven games which have been played so far this season, think about all of the criticisms you had of the Eagles last year, and think about all of the criticisms you have of them now.  What's one common thread that runs through all of it?

Answer: BC makes the same damn mistakes this year as last year, only this time, they're worse.  Our offense is worse.  Our defense is worse.  BC couldn't beat up the teams they should have beaten up, and lost to everyone else.  Adjustments, what the hell are those?  And as for varying the offensive play calling, forget it.  The football program, which by and large does not lack in talent, is floating upside down like my erstwhile goldfish.  This team is underperforming to such an incomprehensible degree that anyone who considers him or herself to be a fan of BC football should be physically ill at the preponderance of the team's failures thus far.  The only real solution I can see is to dismiss the coaches.

Does this mean the players bear no blame?  Absolutely not.  There are a handful of guys you can pick off of this roster and say "he's not playing well."  After all, several of our receivers can't catch the ball and our offensive line went from a strength to a joke.  Is it fair, however, to say that the players are then mostly to blame and not the coaches?  No, it's not.  The staff apparently doesn't have much of a winning mentality.  After the game, Coach Spaz said this team doesn't have a "winning edge."  Well, of course it doesn't, sir.  Your team looks flat just about every week, and that's on you.  Your offensive gameplan (concocted by your hand-picked buddy whom you coaxed out of retirement) is so transparent that it's practically invisible, and that's on you.  Some of your players are apparently regressing and/or making the same mistakes on a regular basis, and that's on you AND your assistants.  You wave the white flag with comments like "This could get ugly" and by punting at the end of the game when you're already getting killed.  Your picture will not be next to the word "Gutsy" in the new Merriam-Webster Dictionary.  You have a losing record now against FBS teams.  Finally, your team has managed to completely bomb out with one of the easiest schedules I can remember.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't think Frank Spaziani is a bad guy, and I don't question his allegiance to BC (hell, it's part of why he got hired).  That does not, however, make you a good head coach, or even an average one.  GDF painted himself into a corner by firing Jags, and Spaz was the "safe" hire to bring continuity.  The only problem with that was that we're worse now than under Jags, and worse than we even were under Tom O'Brien, a man who used to chuck his players under the proverbial bus and exemplified the "we are what we are" defeatism which, unfortunately, IS being continued in 2010. 

Will the AD own up to his mistake and kick the coach and his assistants to the curb?  I have my doubts.  Would it be the right thing to do?  Yes, and here's why: ATL posted something on his blog as I write this article, and he says it better than I can:

"The belief is that the PR hit and the shakeup would hurt BC more than another bad year under Spaz. I disagree. I think when you have the wrong guy in place, you are better off making a change." ... "Do recruits care about past instability? Do fans clamor for the old days or say that [the old coach] didn't get a fair shot? Of course not."

Coach Spaz is not, and never was, the right man for the job.  Why put the program through more losing seasons (and they would be losing seasons: he's almost a senior citizen for crying out loud, and it's his first head coaching job; he is well past his prime) just for the sake of sparing BC the "revolving door" tag?  In my view, I'd rather BC get rid of the bad coach and hire a good one rather than keep the bad coach, rack up some bad years, and be able to claim some flimsy shred of "stability."  It's better for BC to cut the crap now rather than embrace years more of mediocrity under the current regime.  It's your call, Gene.

This week in guest-blogging

Hooray, I've drawn interest from people!  This week, I had the pleasure of making guest appearances on two different blogs: the first was with Turtledroppings, a Maryland blog (the editor of which lives in Boston), and with our good friends Wesley and Mike at BCDraft.

That TD article is right here, where I answer six questions about the current state of the Eagles and what I expect this weekend. I hope to be guest blogging with them again soon, and vice versa, when basketball season comes around.

BCDraft is, of course, right at this link.  At the time I prepared this article (last night), the Keys to the Game haven't yet been posted, but I'm sure that's no longer the case at 11am Eastern on Friday, so check that out.

2010 Week 8 in the ACC

Last week: 4-2
Overall: 41-16 (.719)


Duke at Virginia Tech
Line: VT -26.5

Absolute mismatch.  Virginia Tech is on a total roll right now and Duke is Duke.  Pick: Virginia Tech

Georgia Tech at Clemson
Line: Clemson -5.5

Clemson hasn't beaten Georgia Tech since 2006.  It never ceases to amaze me how completely one-dimensional the Jackets' offense is (running, and running only) -- I mean, GT quarterbacks have 34 completions THIS SEASON.  Then again, Nesbitt had 12 completions total in both games against the Tigers last year, and they won.  Clemson's rush defense is OK, but couldn't stop GT last year.  Both teams are so-so this season.  If that's what I have to go on, I'll take the visitors in yet another close game.  Pick: Georgia Tech

Eastern Michigan at Virginia
Line: UVA -24

You know you're bad when the Wahoos are more than three touchdown favorites over you.  Pick: Virginia

North Carolina at Miami
Line: Miami -6.5

Interesting game.  Jacory Harris is an INT machine, and UNC is tied for 8th in the nation in picks.  I think UNC will win the turnover battle, and as for the game, both teams have firepower but I believe the road team will prevail in the upset, due in part to the aforementioned turnovers.  Pick: North Carolina

Maryland at Boston College
Line: BC -4

A weak 4-2 team vs. a massively underperforming 2-4 team, what could be better viewing on a Saturday afternoon?  BC's offense, even with golden boy Chase Rettig and star Montel Harris, is no great shakes.  Luckily for the Eagles, however, their defense is capable of it. 

Also, luckily for BC, Maryland is nothing to write home about, with some very soft wins in their pocket.  Of course, the Terps just got wrecked by Clemson in a game where they outgained the Tigers by 137 yards (committing 10 penalties and losing 3 turnovers along the way).

I think, albeit slightly hesitantly, BC will get out of their own way long enough to be able to win this game.  Pick: Boston College

BC football’s second half: Hope or nope?

Over the previous weekend, the BC blogosphere got talking about what lies in store for the Eagles in their last six games. The schedule is undoubtedly not that difficult for a team worth a damn, but, as we know, BC has made very little come easily this season. I’ve gotta know, in each game, what are BC’s realistic chances and why?

Maryland, 10/23
The Terps haven’t won a road game since September 27th…and by that I mean 2008. They’re about as weak of a 4-2 team as I can see. BC seems to be finding itself defensively, which bodes poorly for Maryland’s offense. Maryland’s defense isn’t so bad, but Clemson beat the crap out of them after having only put up 213 yards of total offense. This game might prove that it’s possible to beat a team without having an offense. Realistic expectation: Leans BC

Clemson, 10/30
The Tigers, much like the Eagles, aren’t the team everyone thought they were going to be this year. Our defense played admirably against Clemson in Death Valley last year in what were certainly not ideal circumstances. Dabo Swinney, however, appears to have BC’s number – those were better Clemson (and BC) teams, however. This game is tough to judge. Realistic expectation: Toss-up

Wake Forest, 11/6
Wake Forest has made a habit of getting absolutely, completely, and unequivocally destroyed by opposing offenses. They’ve given up 30 or more four times, and 50 or more twice. The Deacs aren’t a good passing offense and will likely make Chase Rettig’s life easier. My concern here is that Wake usually plays BC tough. Dating back to 2003, each game in this series has been decided by 10 points or less.  There’s no telling how this one could go on the road, but the Eagles should have reasonable odds in this game. Realistic expectation: Toss-up, possible slight lean to BC

Duke, 11/13
Duke is horrible, no two ways around it. They’re the only team in the ACC that can say without any question that they’re worse than we are. The Blue Devils haven’t beaten an FBS opponent yet this season; even BC can say they’ve done that. Duke QB Sean Renfree gives away picks like there’s no freaking tomorrow. Of all of them, even Maryland (which is merely leaning in BC’s direction), this is one game that I’m fairly sure that BC will win, short of another cataclysmically horrible performance. Realistic expectation: Likely BC

Virginia, 11/20
Earlier in the season, it looked like the Wahoos didn’t have much, but dammit, they had their defense. Nope, now they don’t even have that. QB Marc Verica’s stat line reads like an homage to Dave Shinskie, chock full of mediocrity and a discernable lack of progress. Oh, and he’s also been sacked more times this season than in the last two combined. Senior Day shouldn’t be a bad one. Realistic expectation: Leans BC

Syracuse, 11/27
Too bad the guys on the team weren’t around to experience the biggest WTF loss in TOB’s illustrious career on the Heights when Syracuse gave BC an atomic wedgie in 2004, keeping us out of the Fiesta Bowl. That’d probably provide adequate motivation for the Eagles to win, but alas, not to be. Anyway, Syracuse looks OK, not great by any stretch; not an automatic loss or win. For me, this seems like a hard game to read. Realistic expectation: Toss-up

Overall conclusions: Boston College's schedule is very light. It is possible for BC to win at least three of the remaining games, provided the defense continues playing well from the Florida State game and the offense doesn't continue to regress. With Rettig playing, I don't think that's going to be much of a problem -- the only guy I worry about is the one in the booth upstairs calling the plays.

I think we have to have some measure of skepticism about what BC will do to close out the year, given how they practically sleepwalked through the first half. There is reason to believe, however, that there are more wins on the horizon for the Eagles, thanks largely to the schedule makers and a potentially rejuvenated defense. That last part is a huge key, as I mentioned in the previous paragraph: the BC defense has to be able to duplicate their FSU efforts more than once throughout the rest of the season for these expectations to hold up. One game doesn't make a trend, but it wasn't the first time BC's defense looked good this season. Nevertheless, given the Eagles' offensive problems, it's going to be largely on their shoulders to keep the team in the game. If they step, BC will probably be favored in most of their remaining games.

FSU 24, BC 19: Postgame reactions

*I figured that Florida State might be flat for a little while, but would eventually turn on the jets and do unspeakable things to BC.  It never happened.  Florida State still ended up winning the game, but they honestly have nothing to be proud of today.  They won in spite of themselves and nearly blew a game to a three-touchdown underdog.  In what I saw, they looked bad.  Forget about the “BC plays them tough” aspect of it; the Eagles were getting blown out against teams better than Weber and Kent State, and Florida State is ranked.  The Seminoles, especially Christian Ponder, were nothing to write home about this afternoon.

*With that all said, the BC defense played a very good game.  Them having an extraordinary day was just about the only thing that would keep BC in it (aside from FSU being totally flat), and that’s pretty much what we got.  Hell, they even scored the only BC touchdown of the day.   Big props to them. 

*Chase Rettig is our future, of that there is no doubt.  The difference between him and Shinskie/Marsco is miles and miles.  With him, I see poise, mobility, and tight passes with zip.  The stat line might not totally show it, but he’s a big improvement over what we had.

*I’d throw this game in the “moral victory” bin, but unfortunately, those don’t count, and I'd rather have real victories, but that seems outside the abilities of this BC football team.

*Up next is Maryland; if BC’s defense plays like this, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be in it.  As for the offense, well, despite Rettig playing fine and Montel finally getting some rushing yards, they still put very few points on the board.  That will probably be an issue all year.

2010 Week 7 in the ACC

Last week: 5-1
Overall: 37-14 (.725)


North Carolina State at East Carolina
Line: NC State -7

Another BC connection weekend for TOB; this time, he faces former Eagles quarterback Dominique Davis. ECU would be a tempting upset pick, except for the fact that they’ve gotten blown out by both ACC teams they’ve played (those games were on the road, but that shouldn’t matter). Pick: NC State

Maryland at Clemson
Line: Clemson -14.5

Maryland has the better record, but Clemson is favored. Looking at their schedule, however, the Terps don’t have much in the impressive wins department. Clemson certainly doesn’t, either, as their only two wins of the year were against squishy also-rans Presbyterian and North Texas. I actually believe this game is much closer than the line would suggest, but I figure Clemson’s losing streak has to end sometime. I’ll take the Tigers but I feel like I might regret this on Saturday night. Pick: Clemson

Miami at Duke
Line: Miami -19.5

Miami will rebound, and Duke is the only team in the ACC in my estimation that can claim to be worse than BC. I doubt this will be a must-watch. Pick: Miami

Mid Tennessee at Georgia Tech
Line: GT -19

The Blue Raiders aren’t even that good for a Sun Belt team, as opposed to last year when they were 10-3 and won a bowl game. This will most likely get ugly. Pick: Georgia Tech

Wake Forest at Virginia Tech
Line: VT -22.5

The Hokies are finally on a roll, and the Deacs can’t stop anyone. Following consecutive bitter losses, Wake's 4 game losing streak will become 5. Pick: Virginia Tech

North Carolina at Virginia
Line: UNC -6.5

UNC has lost four in a row to the Cavaliers. Their last win was in 2005 – a 7-5 baseball score. In fact, they haven’t beaten UVA at Charlottesville since 1981. This is kind of a weird game with no clear favorite to me, but based upon the ‘Hoos complete ownership of the Heels, I will give it to the home team. Pick: Virginia

Boston College at #16 Florida State
Line: FSU -21.5

Well, we all know where Boston College has been and is heading this season. It needs to be said, as it has been said so many times: our team sucks. This wasn’t supposed to happen this season, but it did, and the Eagles will probably only continue to get worse.  Chase Rettig, regardless of how effective he is, can only do so much.

Florida State, on the other hand, is ranked. I can almost certainly picture this team in Charlotte in December. Most recently, the Seminoles’ conquered a pretty hapless Miami squad (hapless for a team that was also supposed to be ranked, that is) and are turning their guns on the Eagles.

As for my pick: I wouldn’t have to tell any of you that I’m picking the Seminoles. The only question, of course, would be “by how much?” The Eagles are losing worse and worse every weekend. UNRANKED teams are making them look like absolute crap, and now they have to go down to Doak to get a spanking they won’t soon forget. Forgive me, BC fans, but I think Florida State wins by a substantial margin. My best-case scenario probably won’t be realized; a 40-point defeat, which was pretty close to my worst-case, seems well within the realm of possibility.  It might not get that bad, but it'll be bad nevertheless.  Pick: Florida State

Boston College at Florida State: Best and Worst-Case Scenarios

I think we can dispense with the Friday pick article – I’ll include my very obvious selection in tomorrow’s ACC picks. On Friday, I’ll give you a hockey article, which is much better than an extra day per week of “BC football sucks.”

Anyway, around these here parts, many BC fans are under the impression that things on Saturday could get very, very nasty for the Eagles in Tallahassee. They would be correct. I was curious, however, about just how bad it could get, and similarly, what BC’s ceiling looks like in this game. I came up with the following:

Best-case scenario
The Boston College Eagles, hoping to avoid a fourth loss in a row, head down to Doak. Florida State, fresh off of their big win in Miami which got them ranked once again, settle in for what they think will be an easy afternoon and another crucial ACC win.

The Seminoles offense doesn’t click at first, and BC’s defense shows some spark. Luke Kuechly has almost ten tackles before halftime, and the score is reasonably close, but in Florida State’s favor. In the second half, however, Christian Ponder throws a few touchdown passes to regain FSU’s mojo.

Boston College’s offense is led once again by Chase Rettig, who is still shaking off rust and getting back to business following his ankle injury. He is not largely inhibited by it, and shows some nice zip on his passes, but Rettig’s offensive line collapses around him like a cardboard box in a rainstorm and his receivers drop several of those balls. Rettig and some other playmakers look OK, but BC fails to move the football effectively, and Gary Tranquill makes few, if any, adjustments.

Florida State wins the game 31-17, in a closer contest than they expected. Coach Spaziani holds a postgame press conference where he is proud of how the team played their butts off.

Worst-case scenario
The Boston College Eagles, hoping to avoid a fourth loss in a row, head down to Doak. Florida State, fresh off of their big win in Miami which got them ranked once again, prepare for what they think will be an easy afternoon and another crucial ACC win; the Seminoles smell blood in the water.

Florida State’s offense clicks right away, and the home team is up 17-0 at the end of the first quarter. Boston College, at that same point, has 18 yards of total offense. Chase Rettig does the best he can, but the offensive line continues to stink, Gary Tranquill takes a nap during the game, and Chase is still a freshman, after all. Rettig has a rough day against Florida State’s stout defense and narrowly avoids re-injuring his ankle when he is sacked for the third time. The Boston College offense ends up with less than 200 total yards of offense, about half of which were compiled in garbage time.

Christian Ponder throws a season-high five touchdown passes, the ‘Noles run for two more from short range, and kick some field goals en route to a 55-10 stomping of Boston College. Coach Spaziani holds a postgame press conference where he is proud of how the team played their butts off.