Jags as OC: Season 2, Louisville

The offense came into the Louisville game humming. They continued to move the ball against the Cardinal. However, two things happened. First: BC special teams and defense played got run over. Second: despite their heroics, the offense coughed up the ball repeatedly. Take a look at the stats:

Stat Line
First downs 24
Rushes-yards 31-174
Passing 291
Comp-Att-Int 22-34-1
Return Yards 62
Punts-Avg. 5-39
Fumbles-Lost 3-3
Penalties-Yards 3-30
Time of Possession 26:23

What can we learn from the game? Mutryn was coming into his own. Sure he killed drives with turnovers in this game, but he was also finally showing his ability. Out of high school, experts tagged him as a sure fire blue chipper. Signed and ready to be the next Foley, he then saw the coach that recruited him (Coughlin) leave. He played as a true Freshman, redshirted and then eventually lost a QB battle to Matt Hasselbeck. This is not a sob story for Mutryn or a claim that Jags is some sort of expert at reclamation projects. I think Mutryn’s eventual development into a solid starter during Jags’ first run at BC is just another good sign. Whenever you take over a program, you are inheriting other coaches' players (good and bad) and those players’ histories (good and bad). A resourceful coaching staff will work with what they have until the roster is filled with their own recruits. In 2007 Jags is fortunate enough to inherit a great QB in Matt Ryan. But next year he and Logan will need to do some of the same things they did with Mutryn. Find someone who has potential but might not have been their type of player and get him ready to play. That guy could be Chris Crane or the raw recruits Davis and Johnson. It is comforting to know that Jags has done it before.