Football 2005 In Review: Biggest Disappointments

Ripping college kids is easy, but not fun. I understand that they are young and doing the best they can. Yet they are still public figures. They knew that when they signed up. I’d like to think these critiques are pretty even-handed. All that said, here were my biggest disappointments from the past season.

1. Quinton Porter. I hedged all over the place during the summer (here and here) on whether or not he would have a good season. As you can read, I was rooting for a happy ending. It didn’t come. Some fans blame coaching. Other’s say he got a bum rap or was thrown to the wolves. I am now in the camp that he was never very good. His arm is weak. His poise and pocket presence never developed. It is hard for me to judge from a distance, but I never saw any signs of leadership. He made bone-headed mistakes when pressing. His fundamentals disappeared as the season wore on. He repeatedly threw to the check downs when he didn't have to. I could pile on for days...it was that bad. Porter probably never should have started a game at the Heights given his understudies' subsequent records (12-2, 5-1 respectively). It was not his fault he was the starter (and the coaches’ decision on the starter is a much bigger issue). He started 17 games at BC so he cannot say he was never given a chance. The guy never put it all together.

2. Special Teams. If a unit is expected to be inconsistent and is inconsistent, can they be called a disappointment? I think so. Although our special teams have been bad before, some of the glaring problems could be overlooked due to our success returning the ball. This year our punt and kicking returns were down too. But those returns and Ayers kicks were the bright spots on Special Teams. The problems -- our kick coverage, our punt coverage, our punt protection and of course our field goal kicking. All were atrocious. Why can’t we find a place kicker who is not a head case? Why are will still allowing multiple blocked punts during a season and having clear protection breakdowns? How can 11 guys all be caught looking around on coverage against inferior teams? These questions are not new. BC fans have been asking them for four or five years. The players change, the problems don’t. As I said recapping the game, something needs to be done.

3. Chris Miller. Listing Miller as a disappointment might be unfair and point towards my own bias. I thought the kid was going to have a big year. We had only seen glimpses of his ability prior to the season and all indicators were good. Given the starting slot, I thought he would shine. He didn’t. After the BYU game he became a non-factor. He was mediocre blocker and dropped plenty of balls thrown his way. It is a shame, because we’ve used Tight Ends effectively in the past. I thought he was a diamond in the rough and would explode with Kashetta gone. This season proved that he had no upside and we saw the best he had…which was just okay.