Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Rettig to start

As I said on Twitter last night, Rettig will start this weekend. The coaching staff is remaining coy for a variety of reasons, but I've heard confirmation from some pretty good sources. I don't know if or when Spaz will make the official announcement but barring some unforeseen issue or injury, Chase Rettig will make his BC debut as a Boston College starter this Saturday night.


[Eds note: I don't like "breaking news" like this because of the flack and blowback I get if wrong, but I think this is pretty solid.]

33 comments:

BCDoubleEagle said...

Good luck, Chase. We're behind you 100%.

GP11 said...

Absolutely the right decision. Mascro proved he's not better than Dave so it had to be sticking with Schinske or to give Rettig a shot. Let's just hope he shows enough flashes to get some points on the board and let the defense carry us. Beat ND

AlbanyEagle said...

Agreed.

Now, let's go O-line!
Get it together and give the kid a chance!

And PLEASE, Coach Tranq, give the kid something to work with.

A33Jim said...

What are the variety of reasons they are remaining coy? They want to add another wrinkle for ND to prepare for, I presume, but what else?

mod34b said...

1st Rettig play from scrimmage: long bomb to a streaking Coleman. 6 points. if only, if only.....

Erik said...

Let's go paste the Irish!

Unknown said...

our offensive line couldnt figure out how to block pop up ads on internet explorer

Raj said...

Not sure about the decision- but if this proves to be true, let's hope he comes out and manages the game. That's all we need.

Scott said...

Mod, that opening play you describe, is exactly how things started for Hartsall's opening start at Michigan under Henning. Play action bootleg, and 60 yard strike to G.Grice, who walked the next 20 yards for a score. Sadly, that was best day Harstall ever had. I'd rather see Chase start small and grow.

Anonymous said...

Scott, I don't believe we scored on that play. But we soon had Michigan on the ropes. We got a safety when Mamula was facemasked in the endzone. One of the tv announcers kept saying, "This Michigan team is just not ready to play..." Then, our pass defense fell apart, which Michigan exploited bigtime in the second half. I recall a senior DB left the team the following week. Another game BC should have won but didn't. For want of a nail...

mod34b said...

according to the Boston Herald in a 1995 article: "Quarterback Mark Hartsell began his career as a starter by throwing a 74-yard touchdown pass to Grice on the first play against Michigan last season"

Rettig- please repeat same to Coleman this saturday. Ignore Tranquill and call your own plays.

Scott said...

I was at that 1995 Michigan game. Hartsall actually had a great game. Almost 350 yards, and our defense was insanely tight, probably the best we ever had. That was the game that Touchdown Tim (Tibukia sp???) came out and had a pretty darn good game in relief of Tyronne Wheatley. Turns out, we were the only team to ever remotely hold TD Tim in check.

cwm2005 said...

biakabutuka

I also see this as a good game to start Rettig. ND's run defense is bad, and it's at home.

Montel should get 30-plus carries, and the D will play well. If Rettig game manages and makes ok redzone decisions, the game is very winnable.

Plus, never underestimate the value of watching Shinskie and Marscovetra suck. Rettig should know exactly what Not to do come gametime.

mod34b said...

I think shinskie opened up a home game in Hartsell fashion last year but Larmond dropped the pass

at least we know such a play is in the tranquill playbook

BCDisco said...

Fire Tranq. He's Dana Bible all over again.

evr2xl said...

Am I the only one who thinks Bible would be an upgrade over Tranquill? Uninspired play-calling to be sure and marginally better in-game adjustments, but under him BC was never as inept with the player development.

Big Jack Krack said...

Watch Russell Wilson and Company run Bible's offense the rest of this season compared to BC running Tranquill's offense and we'll each agree with evr2xl.

We need to let Nyquil enjoy his 3rd or 4th retirement - and bring in some up-and-comer; a young Mark Whipple. Anyone with some vision and enthusiasm.

Big Jack Krack said...

Best of luck, Chase - this is actually a big decision for Spaz (and Nyquil?) and I applaud anyone who makes a big decision.

Frankly, I wouldn't have brought Shinskie into camp in the first place, because of his age. We want 18/19 year old freshmen, not a guy who will be 28/29 his senior year. His probably a nice guy, etc. - I just didn't think it would be a good fit.

mod10aeagle said...

Big Jack -- Spaz was having visions of another Chris Weinke, but I guess that bubble has finally burst. I agree with the decision but feel bad for Shinskie; it's not like he isn't trying. This experience must really suck.

Dan said...

I'm both nervous and really excited about Rettig playing. I like what I'm hearing about his arm and coming in early he's not much further behind Marsco in terms of development. What I really like is the fact that it sounds as if him warming up during the Kent State game was his idea. Sounds like the kid is pretty confident in his ability to make a decision like that. Now, confidence like that needs to be backed up with on the field play, but a little swagger from the QB could do wonders for this offense right now.

Big Jack Krack said...

Mod10 - I agree about Shinskie. I think he was trying as hard as he could. What does he have to look forwaqrd to now, but someone else's failure.

That's another reason I was against bringing him in - what do you do with a fellow this age who's not your starting QB? I feel kinda bad for him as well.

Maybe we should give him an early start into his coaching career, I guess. Should we make him the OC-in-waiting? :-)

Scott said...

Does anyone remember how bad Winkie started his career? 5 int's late in the year against NC State, and not much better the next year. Not saying we should wait for Shins to come around, but even a Heisman winner has a devil of time shaking off years of rust.

Dan said...

This is a big game from a recruiting standpoint. Night game against ND on ABC with a ton of recruits in the stands and I'm sure plenty more watching on tv. If Chase shows some flashes, it could be a great selling point showing a glimpse at what will hopefully be the next 4 years at QB while having what will probably be our liveliest crowd of the year in the stands.

Big Jack Krack said...

I would encourage Shinskie to stick it out and he could potentially win the job back. If he can't do that, he should try to graduate in 3 years and get on with his life, having gained a tuition-free BC education.

How many of us have had to "re-prove" ourselves during our careers?

Walter said...

Yeah, I can't say I personally feel too terribly for Shinskie. He got to pursue both a baseball and (semi) football career. You could do a lot worse than getting a free ride at BC.

mod34b said...

If Rettig is not ready to be a starter - a distinct possibility - and if he does not dazzle, Shinskie will be back. Shinskie is clearly better than Marsco

Had Amidon not fallen down (just before 1st interception) and had Shinskie gotten out of bounds, BC would have been up 10-7 at half and we would not be having this discussion. Real issue is why Tranquil made no adjustments for blitz???? Sure it is woulda-coulda-shoulda, but I mention this just to say it is good to know we have Shinskie as our new plan B. Rettig is still a big, big unknown. I am excited for the change, though. I hope he dazzles!

ORDEagle said...

Going up against a top ten match up of Oregon v Stanford. Be interesting to see what kind of numbers our game draws against a much better (on paper) game. It would seem like the casual fan will watch Ducks vs Trees

Scott said...

Even if it's time to go with Rettig, there is a good argument to letting Marsco take the opening series, so Rettig can see exactly what ND has in store for the the new QB, let him figure it out with the coaches, and then jump in. Not sure it's better, but possibly wise if "fear of the unknown" is a legit concern.

LinebackersForHeisman said...

I'm hoping Tranquill leans very heavily on Harris and just lets Rettig work off of the playaction with that cannon of an arm. We need to see Phifer and double tight end sets blocking for the kid.

Also, I'm betting BC/ND draws a bigger share than Oregon/Stanford. Casual fans will root for/against ND and BC is a pretty big name in the Northeast. I don't think anyone outside of NoCal and Portland cares about Stanford/Oregon.

eagleboston said...

It is extremely rare for a freshman to perform well at QB. Remember Matt Ryan's first start? And he is one of BC's all-time greats. I think it is great that everyone is excited, but we are facing an ND team with their backs against the wall (just like Va Tech). They are going to throw everything at the kid and they are desperate for a win. Also, keep in mind that Rettig did not beat out Marsco and Shinskie in camp. I'm hoping this is because the coaches wanted to save his redshirt but I have to figure that if he were much better than the others, he would have started game 1.

Here's hoping he defies reality and plays just like a young stalwart nearly 30 years ago....Sir Doug Flutie, Duke of Natick.

Matt said...

I definitely support the decision to start Rettig. I sure hope for the best!

Darius said...

Linebacker and ORD, perhaps the game will draw a higher rating than Oregon-Stanford, but it won't touch the ratings of Florida-Alabama or even Iowa-Penn State. Lot of good games on Friday night.

bc1900 said...

spaz has refuted the claim that rettig is the starter according to weei interview