I don't know if we resolved anything on the QB front. I guess Shinskie is ahead of the pack, but Tuggle played well enough to stay in the rotation.
On a more personal note, I have no idea how I will grade this game since I didn't see one down! (ESPN 360 1, ATLeagle 0.)
Leave your thoughts below.
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Very pleased with today's efforts. Now we just have to stay focused for Kent State, because they are not a horrible team and looking past them could end up costing us big time.
Great start to the season!
I saw game free on ESPN360. Is that normal?
Here are my thoughts:
1. Offensive line looked very good, as best as they could vs. a team like Northeastern.
2. The Running backs are as good as ever. They will keep us in many games.
3. Shinskie seems to be the more polished passer but Tuggle wasn't really given much of an opportunity to throw the ball.
4. The Linebackers were all over the field. They played very well.
5. The Defensive backs are going to be a big strength for BC this year. They are big, strong, experienced. Marcellus Bowman actually almost killed the NU quarterback.
6. Duece Finch looks good.
The backs ran so hard, they were really grinding out for extra yards after the contact. That was nice to see.
Couldn't watch the game. Had to work (and no ESPN360 anyway).
But the numbers all look great and we'll take a win like that any day, regardless of the opponent.
I'm a bit torn about the 'Bama-VT game. Hate to root for VT, but a top ten ACC over SEC would be nice.
For those of you who didn't see the game, you can rewatch it on ESPN's website. Go to the box score and click on "Replay". The game is available for free.
Fortunately, my normally crappy cable provider does offer ESPN 360 and I watched the entire game. My thoughts:
1) I kept hearing how conservative Tranquil is as an OC. Keeping in mind that he doesn't want to show too much to Clemson, I thought he called a great game. He stretched the field and went deep on a couple of occasions and really utilized the running game very well.
2) We should have a great rushing attack. All 4 running backs are good and Montel is bordering on greatness.
3) The young linebackers exceeded expectations. Kuechly was in on seemingly every play and I liked the play of Clancy and DiSanzo. When McLaughlin comes back, we still need to find a way to get Luke on the field.
4) The offensive line is very good but I want to see how they perform against Kent State.
5) 10 different receivers caught passes off of the 4 QBs used.
6) Expect punters to kick away from Gunnell as much as possible. He is electrifying.
7) The big, brutal safeties are going to strike fear in the hearts of opponents and will force trainers to work overtime.
8) The team was very disciplined. I believe there was one penalty and no turnovers.
Great first game but the opponent was clearly over-matched so I would caution about getting too excited. Let's see how they play against Kent State and they better be thinking only of Kent State or they can easily be upset.
Disappointed that all four QBs played, quite frankly. Wanted to see Shinskie and Tuggle get the reps. Boek sadly didn't look that good. Marco looked liked a very conservative, game manager type. Something out of the TOB days. Tuggle? Not even sure what to think. He seemed to be a run-first QB. Have we considered doing some option-type stuff? Not sure on his arm or instincts. Seemed more likely to take the sack that throw a pick, which is good. Shinskie? The only one who seemed to offer some exciting throw the ball down the field football. Though I am not sure if he could pull off some of those passes vs. a good ACC team. The running backs and running game (offensive line) looked great. Special teams seemed very solid as well.
Great job - let's build on this. I'm glad that we came out smoking and didn't hold back.
Some questions - did Jarvis play? No catches by Jarvis or Gunnell. Who played fullback? Anderson and McMichael as planned? Did Lapham play or sit out? How did Goodman look? Cleary?
I was so worried about Megwa, as we all were - and now he's back catching a pass! Wow, I was hoping he'd walk normally.
Let's hope Tuggle and Shinskie continue to improve.
Watching the replay of the game on ESPN.com right now. Cool feature.
Um, Duke lost to Richmond...
Virginia lost to Wm and Mary...
Wake lost to Baylor...
Not a banner day for the ol' conference...
CT,
Baylor has perhaps the best individual player in America in quarterback Robert Griffin. I think he is the fastest player in Division I football. I am not surprised Wake went down to this team. In fact, Griffin may win a Heisman before his career is over. Virginia and Duke on the other hand, did suffer humiliating losses. Va Tech did go down to 'Bama but they played a respectable game.
Shinskie's got the big arm. But he forced some and didn't check down his reciuevers.
Tuggle was good at checking down and has a nice touch.
Still not sure what to think until they play against some real competition, but I think we'll see both of them used throughout the season. With that arm, I think Shinskie is the better qb in the long term - he just needs to shake the rust off and learn the game again. But Tuggle's legs give a good added dimension. I think the staff can make this work this year.
I'm glad you mentioned that, CT.
Having just spent the entire day, and part of Thursday night, watching or tracking nearly all of the games involving this crap conference (by which I mean the state of football competition at present; I love the ACC in general, and it's certainly better than what we left), I'm left to wonder two things:
1) Just how bad does the national media think our program is, to have picked us to finish at the bottom of this carousel of crap teams.
2) Why *shouldn't* we seriously consider the possibility that this edition of the BC team just might be a contender for the league title? Not having seen Florida State, I acknowledge the possibility that they might turn out to be great, even though that's been expected and not come to fruition for about a decade straight now. But who else is any good? If Virginia Tech makes it through their side of the bracket again, it will be by default or Ryan Williams, because their defense isn't as great as usual and Tyrod Taylor is still nothing more than an outstanding high school QB.
EagleBoston, I'd have to respectfully disagree that Griffin is "perhaps" the best individual player in America. Fastest? Near the top. But best? Um, again, I've seen him play like you and didn't take away from that anything other than, "hey, he looks a little Vince Young-ish" as a freshman. Watching Young as a freshman one glimpsed what eventually was, but that was b/c Young learned how to throw the ball. Griffin didn't really have a particularly good game today.
Which leads me to Tyrod Taylor and, in a roundabout way, the ACC.
I'd agree with Darius that Taylor showed little sign of improvement tonight, conceding for the moment that he played one of the best defenses in the country. It's the same ol' Va. Tech, it looks to me. Good defense (the fumbles hurt tonight) and an occasional play made by Taylor.
Truth be told, that'll probably be enough to get them back to the ACCCG.
Because this conference, granted it's early, looks pretty bad.
Maryland is getting run over, thrown around, and embarrassed by Cal, too.
We'll have to wait and see if FSU and Miami have made any strides on Monday night.
Otherwise, I'm sorta of the opinion of, "why not us?"
And I'm not especially giddy about beating NEastern by 54 when the QB situation still looks as muddled as it did last week.
Though I'm hopeful those LBs are every bit as good as they looked today. Cuz that secondary is pretty good.
Actually, the schedule sets up pretty well for an inexperienced QB...a gimme vs. Northeastern and then it gets a bit tougher vs. Kent State, before conference play begins.
The conference did itself no favors today and unless something surprising happens, it appears as though this year will resemble the past few. Unless FSU and/or Miami made GIANT strides.
Sorry for rambling.
BC has no chance to win the division for a third straight year... or do they?
I'm so sick of all the media/talking head types (especially those sell outs Ryan/Shaughnessy in their Globe 10.0 preview of the season). All they ever do is repeat the obvious.
Curly haired boyfriend indeed!
I was at the game today and we looked just as good as we have the past few years (taking into account the opponent).
Bowman is a beast at safety and is gonna knock some people around this year.
MD, VA and Wake all look like gimme wins at this point, and if we can go 3-2 in the other 5 conference games we will be in TB for third straight year.
I am a homer for sure and always have my maroon and gold colored glasses on, but why would I want to be any other way!
BTW, awesome job by the students today - they were pumped up all game and the student section was 100% packed (overflowing into other section too). Rest of the crowd was decent given the opponent and the fact it was labor day weekend.
students were 80 % gone when the 4th quarter started.
Matthew--
...by which point it was 47-0. Who can blame 'em? There was beer to be drunk.
I caution against speculating how well we are going to do this season based on one game. It's a long season and there will be many ups and downs. Remember 2 years ago when we beat a highly ranked Va Tech team and found ourselves ranked 2nd? We then lost the next two games.
We are 1-0. That's it. There is no way you can predict that we will win the conference at this point. Let's at least play 1 conference game before we decide we are in the ACC Championship game. A couple of you were critical of Tyrod Taylor. He torched BC both times last year and that was with Herzy in the lineup.
Va Tech was in the game against 'Bama until late. Notre Dame looked like perhaps Holtz is not such an idiot. Clemson won big and and UNC had a strong outing. We could lose to all of those teams. I don't think we will but I also don't think we can project BC will win the division yet. And there is always the injury wildcard as Oklahoma knows oh so well.
I'm with you, eagleboston. It was still just Northeastern, after all. Of course, the team did play very well and the game was very encouraging, but one week at a time.
As far as Notre Dame, I'm going to reserve my judgement for when they play a team that actually defends.
Also, I in no way believe that the ACC is as bad as everyone is saying. The teams that lost badly (Duke, UVA, Maryland) were expected to be bad. VTech played pretty well. UNC, Clemson and GT where what everyone expected. The real disappointments were NC State and Wake.
But that's five teams you just mentioned as being disappointing. Wake, NC State, Duke, VA, and MD. Va. Tech played okay...and I'm willing to give them credit...but, let's be honest, at what point do we accept losing by 10 to an SEC team as being "ACCeptable." We need to win those games to get more credibility. It's all you hear about down here in Atlanta. SEC this, SEC that. Unless and until the ACC starts winning these games, we're always going to be thought of as second-tier. And if you don't think that matters, try being in contention for a national champ. with one loss outside the top 20, as opposed to having one loss in the top 10. It makes a huge diffference.
I'm certainly not reading too much into a win against NE. Unless it's hockey, this was a glorified scrimmage. I agree with EagleBoston, Taylor beat us last year when it counted. Granted, we were playing with one hand tied behind our backs (Davis), but it counts all the same.
But I would also argue that as much as you can't get too excited for beating NE by 54, you certainly can't get too excited by ND beating Nevada (a horrid defensive team), or Clemson beating Middle Tenn. Am I wrong?
My only point is that this conference appears--I know it's early--to be pretty average. Which is good for us.
But until we settle on a QB, we're going to be just as iffy as most of the others in the ACC. The good news is...the rest of the ACC doesn't look all that impressive.
I know it's ridiculously early...but speculating is fun. It passes the time.
Agreed on just about every point. I don't think the ACC is all that good this year and the conference did get hurt by two factors: the best teams that played Saturday played against bad teams (or were VT) and the conference's marquee kick-off game isn't until tonight.
This whole student vs. not debate seems to rear it's ugly head every season, every year. Just look at this picture: http://eagleoutsider.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=75&p=658#p658
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