I'll have second viewing thoughts after January 1 and Year in Review stuff over the next two weeks. Happy New Year. 2009 should be interesting.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
No luck in Nashville
Throughout the BC bowl win streak we saw everything... close games, blowouts, some lucky bounces, big plays from role players, big days from stars, but in the end everything turned our way. Today it didn't. Bad throws, bad drops, bad special teams, stupid penalties, a few key injuries and a little bad luck. There was plenty of blame to go around. I am not broken up about the streak. It would have been nice to break the record, but this was a nice run. I am a bit broken up about losing. It sucks. Especially to lose in this way. We've been winning ugly with smoke and mirrors all season. Vandy beat us at our own game.
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16 comments:
Don't hold back, Bill. The game plan was terrible.
memo to steve logan , davis is not matt ryan , don't ask him to throw wide outs that took ryan 2 years to perfect and half the nfl qb's have trouble with ... terrible play calling , has been for last 3 games ... with this lost we took a step backwards ... don't blame davis , he was doing what he was told ... btw, when deposed nd coach bob davies in the booth is questioning things , i.e. why isn't harris getting the ball on the fourth and short at midfield , what the heck game are our guys in the booth watching , haden gets hit he goes down... harris gets hit he picks up another 2 , 3 , 4, yards , all season long ... frustrating ... ateagle , i love your blog , look forward to reading it every day , you do a great job , however , you'll be hard pressed to defend jags and logan on this one ...happy new year and thanks for giving us eagles a great forum to vent ...
I was at the game today, what a total heartbreaker. the bc fans cheered their hearts and voices out, but were totally outnumbered by the vandy crowd. I haven't had a chance to see the replay on the "fumble" that was recovered for vandy's touchdown, but I can tell you that looking at it from the 15-yard line, it was total bullshit.
bill, thanks for another fantastic season of blogging -- i look forward to your writing every day.
I agree completely. Thanks Bill for all you do. The true fans really appreciate it.
Its pretty simple and has been quite evident all year....Montel Harris should be the starter with Haden coming in to spell him.
One wonders what the coaching staff was looking at all year long.
Final stats
Harris 15 carries 68 yards 4.5 avg.
Haden 17 carries 40 yards 2.4 avg.
The defense did a nice job, but the entirety of the remainder was a complete fucking shitshow. Right ou of the gate, the group looked lethargic, disinterested, and unprepared. We should have walked all over Vandy. This team appears to have regressed over the past several weeks.
The offense was unbelievably terrible. Our line did not dominate as it should have, Harris couldn't catch and couldn't block, and Davis just looked dazed, scared, and confused. I don't care what anyone says; That kid is not the future of this program. If he is, we are in for some serious trouble over the next three years.
And the special teams - What a total goddamned mess. How Vandy didn't block three or four of our punts is beyond me. Also, when we receive on kickoffs and punts, do any of our guys know how to block? Do we have a special-teams coach? If so, it's time to let him go.
Great job, Bill. This site has been a great discovery for me this year. Have a great 2009.
I wouldn't be so quick to jump on Davis, or the special teams coach. Yes, they do some things unbelievably bad. You seem to forget the plethora of blocked kicks this year though, and only a few low FGs blocked against us. It's hard to judge Davis too, considering it was only his 3rd game. If they benched Matt Ryan after he sucked a few games, he never would be where he is today. I saw a lot of good things out of him, some great scrambles and some on the money passes. There's only room to grow.
Also, that punt most definitely did hit Anderson, to the person who was at the game and didnt see it. A lot of things went wrong, and that roughing the passer on Herzlich that could have ended the drive especially hurt. We've been winning games luckily all year, disguising our weaknesses for a few weeks, but the chickens finally came home to roost. Hey, at least we're not GT.
If you take away those two early drives, the defense played sensational. We are going to miss Brace and Raji next season.
The offense was terrible. We should have pounded the ball with Harris from the first play. We were passing way too much early and that cost us. The Maryland gameplan would have been much more successful against Vandy. The TOB-esque man-love for Haden over Harris is mind-boggling. How do you not get the rock to the greatest freshman rusher in BC history? Jags is a young coach and I think he is going to be great someday. One take-away for him is that to win big-time football games, you must get the ball in the hands of your best players. Keeping Harris on the sidelines was a mistake.
Special teams - they have been atrocious all season. Whether it be covering kick-off returns or field goals or fielding punts, it has cost us dearly. The special teams coach, to put it in Good to Great lingo, is not the right person in the right seat on the bus. A change needs to be made.
To be fair to Jags, TOB did not leave him with a lot of depth. Once we got hit with the injury bug, and all it takes is to lose 4 or 5 starters at our level, Jags was living on a wing and a prayer. To win the Atlantic Division with the rag-tag group he had on offense, was quite an accomplishment.
Not too excited about 2009, but when these young freshmen are juniors, look-out.
I must say, to any of you who were at the game, congrats for making yourselves heard. I could hear plenty of BC chants in the game. You guys were definitely very loud for being out numbered 25:1 by Vandy fans.
And another thing I thought I should mention: Did anyone else notice how Bob Davie was saying Vanderbilt's fans' showing at the Music City Bowl was them "auditioning" for other bowl games? He does realize that Vanderbilt is two miles away from LP Field, right?
The lack of depth Eagleboston talks about is probably Ty Willingham's fault anyway.
Terrible playcalling all game by Logan and Jags. Can't blame anyone but the coaches
I find it odd we were not prepared to deal with the so-called "rugby-style" punts.
The ball that bounced off Anderson's leg was such a punt.
We learned Gunnell was injured (after the fact-not from the broadcast). His replacement, LeGrand, had trouble handling the punts. Montel Harris was finally given the job of fielding punts, one of which bounced over his head. (Really not his fault)
The Vandy "Rugby" punter was the star of the game. His punts kept us in lousy field position much of time. He "scored" their only TD.
Not being prepared with a scheme to field "rugby" kicks was a key mistake. This has to be remedied as we will see more of it. I am reminded of the switch from "Lou Groza-type, straight-on kickers to soccer-style, side-winders.
Billie Flutie seems to be able to implement this type of kick, along with his pooch kicks. BC could use "rugby" kicking as a weapon ourselves.
I am so jealous of all these teams I've been watching during bowl season. They look forward to being on offense. They attack. Boy, we need Tahj Boyd or Justin Tuggle to save us.
I agree that a lot of this is one the coached. Pound the ball. Harris is the guy to do that. D did everything it needed to do but really there was no feeling that the offese could consistently move the ball. Davis is not the answer at QB.
My persoanl pet peeve was when the corner was hurt and playing the field (wide) corner spot. He could not run, he could not plant and it was obvious. WE DID NOT THROW AT HIM! He couldn't move. Any doouble move an he was toast. WE DID OT THROW AT HIM! Even Davies knew to do that! Frustrating loss.
And I think the roughing call was BS.
As a Hokie fan I was also stunned you didn't play Harris more. He's a far better weapon than Haden. It's not even close.
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