We wasted a great defensive effort today. Especially from Albright, KPL and Herzy. We also wasted a whole half. Shinskie was melting down, but if you are going to bring in Marsco why handcuff him with play calling designed to kill clock not spark a comeback? We also wasted the first two games, because we clearly have a QB issue and we never gave Marscovetra (or Rettig) serious snaps to get them ready for ACC play.
This game and situation reminded me a lot of the 2008 loss to Georgia Tech. In that game we outplayed the Jackets but our QB cost us. We rebounded and road a great defense to the ACC Championship Game. Our D is very good, I just don't know if our coaching staff can "smoke and mirror" enough out of our offense to win games.
Second viewing thoughts and grades will come out late Sunday night.
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The defense was very good today and has the potential to be great over the rest of the season. The LBs are awesome. If the D-line gets penetration with 3 and 4 like they did today, the LBs can really shoot the gaps and flow to the ball. The pass coverage isn't great, but a productive pass-rush like we saw today can mask some of that. Albright is the difference-maker. Healthy, he's capable of collapsing the pocket and getting to the ball-carrier. We really saw that difference today. Great game from the entire front seven.
The offense, on the other hand, has issues. There's no simple fix. Only Montel, Castonzo, and Pantale look assured of their starting spots going forward. We don't have a WR who can stretch the field or a WR who can run routes in the middle of the field. We don't have linemen that can block in the the passing game and the run game. We really don't have a QB. On top of that, our OC doesn't seem to know what to do about that. The play-calling is strange and I can't see a pattern to the substitutions. It's pretty clear that the struggles of the first two games weren't simply due to vanilla game-plans. This offense needs an identity, leadership, and playmakers.
Great comparison to Ga Tech of 2008. My heart goes out to you having to watch this debacle a second time, but at least you will witness a great defensive effort.
I think it is quickly becoming clear that Spaz made a terrible, terrible hire with Tranquil. If Spaz wants to be a great head coach, he needs to be less loyal. Don't keep a dear friend as OC when he is not getting the job done and don't be loyal to a QB who just does not have it. I have stuck with Shinskie for several games, but I am not seeing any improvement. Even Crane was playing at a great level by the end of the '08 season. I don't know if Marsco is much better, but it might be worth giving him a shot. It's too early to throw the season away and go with the freshman with the hope of developing him for the future.
I'm sick! I predicted the loss. I predicted Shinskie's abysmal performance - why wouldn't I when every time he goes back 95% of the time he keeps looking at the guy he's going to throw to. He was lucky he wasn't picked off another four times.
But never in my wildest dreams did I envision a shut out; nor, see a BC team that had no answer to another team's blitzes. No end arounds, no side screens, no quick passes into the vacated areas, no nothing. It seems their offensive coordinator deserves most of the blame. First he had no game plan; next, he doesn't recognize how bad his quarterback is. Why can't we get a coach like that NC State guy?
Defense looked very good today. Collapsed the pocket a bunch and against a less mobile QB there woulda been more sacks. Hopefully Quinn finally being able to play next week makes the rush even more effective and lets the LBs/ Secondary make some INTs (hopefully for tds).
Really not sure what to do with that offense. Really think it comes back to O-Line play. When the holes are there we see the Montel we all know. With decent protection Shinskie looks serviceable. But unfortunately they are so inconsistent they're gonna get one or both of them killed.
The current use of Marsco is bordering on unfair. He should either get a full week with the 1st team and a start or an actual thought out set of plays for when he comes in during emergencies.
Dan, the announcers made it sound as if Shinskie suffered a head injury and that is the reason Marsco was inserted into the game. However, these announcers were atrocious, so it could be that Shinskie was pulled due to performance.
BC stat sheet is giving Keuchly 16tackles. So much for the "He'll never make that many tackles next year" argument people were trying. KPL had 11 and Herzlich had 7.
This is turning into the all everything LB corps we thought we'd see. Love that Keuchly and KPL get three years together. Hopefully we get an offense to go with the defense at some point.
They also said "Ethan Albright" had a great game, "Alex Im-A-Door" came back from his early drops, Max Halloway is an LB and DeLeon Gause is #91.
We had a "good" defensive showing - not great but it was serviceable. Our CBs pulled up when Taylor rolled out of the pocket and then he hit his man. This happened at least 5 times that I counted. The LBers looked good and the D-line got some pressure this time, so that was good.
Our O-line started "okay" and then clearly got worn down and couldn't handle the pressure of VT's blitz packages. Toward the end of the game, they started putting Phifer in to block off of the edge and that helped a bit. But the OC seemed to have real trouble adapting.
Shinskie should never start another game for us. He locks onto his receivers, is mostly immobile, and throws a slow ball (very slow, something that is often overlooked in his comedy of errors). Marsco should probably be the QB for the rest of the year. He is somewhat mobile, has good velocity, and might end up being halfway decent.
And VT fans make me jealous. BC fans just sit in the stands playing with their cellphones instead of cheering on their squad. Pathetic.
Tom makes a couple of good points. I was at Alumni today and our fans were pretty awful. Not one GO BC chant, not one Let's Go Eagles. Granted, it was very hot and there's a weird vibe about the team but it was embarrassing (I went with a Michigan fan).
It was also my first time seeing Shinksie in person, and his ball is slow. I think that may be his real problem - that was the pick in the end zone and the other (were there just 2) - not necc. selection, but speed. Although at times it is almost as if Shinksie is all but pointing to where he's going to throw it
I left pretty down about the team. I accepted these types of games last year after all the crap the team went thru, but to have no spark and look so blase after a bye week this year against a big rival bodes badly. Marsco is no savior either. I stayed till the end b/cI saw Rettig warming up - it's a shame they didn't put him in.
Bottom line is that BC doesn't recruit the athletes that schools like VT, Clemson, and Miami do. We will never be able to win consistently against these top tier ACC teams with inferior athletes. We lack the big play on both offense and defense, and that showed today. For example, we have guys like Chris Fox returning kicks. He will never be a threat to take a kick to the house, and until we bring in a dangerous playmaker, we will lack the big play. That is what seperates us from the explosive teams that compete and play for BCS births each year. Thoughts?
I am going to disagree about us not having athletes. While I concede that VT, Clemson, and Miami get better overall athletes than we do, we still have playmakers. Montel Harris is a RB that 99% of teams would want on their roster. Our WRs have legit size and above average speed. They don't run the crispest routes, and that is a coaching issue.
What we have is a serious issue at QB, good skill position players, a shoddy O-line, and a quality D (biggest weakness is the secondary but we still held VT to ~300 yards and limited them to multiple FGs when they could have punched it in for a TD off of Shinskie's turnovers).
BC's historic strength of O-line prowess is gone this year. They look shaky at best and poorly conditioned, as evidenced by their lagging play in the 3rd and 4th quarters. We have playmakers, just not a cohesive team.
And, yeah, Fox stinks. Montel would kill it at returning kicks/punts but he'll never be put in that position this year as he's our best asset. Reggie Bush (a quality starting Rb that was electric as a return man) had Lendale White to back him up - Harris has Phifer...not really an option.
Tom i agree about Montel being a playmaker and certainly a back that every team in the conference (except Miami and Va Tech) would be glad to have in it's backfield. I also obviously agree about the quarterback situation. I think it's time we look into recruiting dual threat quarterbacks who can escape the pocket with a shaky O-line. But, It doesn't matter who you have at quarterback if the O-line doesn't give him time. Virginia Tech doesn't have a great O-line, but a quarterback like Tyrod Taylor can escape the pocket and make plays even with a good pass rush and weak O-line.
Let's not forget: Marsco sucks as well.
I disagree about the dual-threat suggestion. I know a long time ago we had this really mobile guy who won the Heisman, but I really like that as a program we've maintained a pro-style QB flavor. Foley, Hasselbeck, Brian St. Pierre, Matty Ryan - these guys are who I think of when I think of BC QB's. I'd like to keep this going. Watching Ryan Mallet in the Arkansas-Alabama game, I'm reminded of how it felt to have Matty run out of the tunnel. I think there's a certain confidence a pro-style QB exhudes. I'd rather go into battle with a guy that can put the ball anywhere on the field from the pocket rather than a short guy who can run and complete short passes. A 60-yard bomb says "We're imposing our will on you" way more than a 60-yard scramble
I don't really feel the need to comment on the game, all the above comments get to the point.
As for Rettig, 2 questions:
1) Is he not good? I mean, is he not better than Shinskie and Marsco? What have we heard about his ability?
2) Can we just assume he is redshirting now? I mean, if we were going to give him a look surely it would have been in that debacle
Chase Rettig was a 3-star recruit out of high school (ESPN ranked him as a 4-star). The word on him is that he has a cannon but is wildly inaccurate. I remember scouts putting it nicely by saying he pushes throws too hard and misses his targets.
From a Tennessee Volunteer's scout in 2009:
"Rettig showed up for the afternoon session and instantly became the quarterback with the most tools. He has a very strong arm, is fluid in his drops, has a sound and quick release and he gets good spin on the ball. He was inconsistent at times and would have benefitted from the morning session but coming off the street cold and into drills and one-on-ones, he was impressive. He doesn't have any offers yet but it's only a matter of time."
I don't get the criticism of Fox?
He didn't fumble and consistently ran kickoffs back to the 30 yd line.
When Gauss went down, Fox and Swiggert filled in well enough.
Lenny, to clarify my comments on Fox: he "sucks" when compared to the return men gifted athletically who have the ability to take it to the house on a punt or kick off. Fox doesn't seem to have that ability but he's serviceable. It was in reference to the poster who stated we don't have uber athletic players. Where teams like Clemson often have return men that can house a punt return.
Also interesting from the Post:
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"On film, you see that [Shinskie] folds a little bit under pressure," Hosley said. "We were waiting on edge for those big-time plays to happen, and they did."
Man, the opposing teams not only disrespect Shinskie, they count on him to make errors to help them win.
Also, Rettig has the best pedigree of all three.
Shinskie was a 3-star back in 2002 per Scout.com but he had a mediocre HS career (passing totals of 1400 and 1800 yards for Mount Carmel and winning a AA state championship in 2002 while losing the championship in 2000 and 2001). Class AA is the second smallest in PA and he was in a run-heavy offense, so take that with a grain of salt. Had offers from Iowa, Indiana, Delaware, and Michigan State.
Marscovetra was a 2-star QB out of New Jersey. As a Junior he threw for 1700 yards and 16 TDs with 12 INTs. Modeled as a dual threat QB, he really doesn't fit this offense and doesn't seem to have a ton of upside. His other schools of interest included I-AA programs Delaware, William and Mary, and Rhode Island alongside ACC whipping boy Maryland. Suffice it to say, he wasn't considered a world class recruit.
Rettig played for La Salle and San Clemente(CA) where he tossed 2500 yards his senior year. Rated as the top 3-star QB and the 21st Pro-Style QB recruit in the country by Rivals.com. ESPN had him as a 4-star. Tennessee made an offer. USC and UCLA were considering per reports. Chose BC over UT.
I was at the game today. A dreadfully boring game to watch in person. But the weather was perfect. Ahhh so nice
Stands full. But very little to cheer about. VT was pretty uninspiring too.
BC does not do much to get the crowd jumping. One Drop Kick Murphy riff did spark some life. But there was little effort by BC to get the crowd involved. Also crowd was a lot of parents up for parents weekend. Lots of Volvos and Beamers. Not the rowdy types. Quite a few VT fans. Very nice fans.
Shin was worse in person than I expected . As others have noted, Balls slow and off the mark. No zip at all. Marsco did not impress either.
Among the unsung heros, I kept asking myself who is #56? He caused a lot of trouble. It was Halloway. Nice effort there. Keuchly was awesome. Herzy seemed slow.
Freeze looks to be ineffective post 46 yards. Kick today wobbly and off thevmark. He seemed to try too hard b/c he knew it was on outer edge of range.
Bottom line; very disappointing day. Only people smiling, smirking really, are the negative Nancy I-told-u-so crowd that seems to growing on this blog
Excluding Marsco's 35 yard pass, BC has -1 yards in total offense in 2d half. Wow.
1st half, we moved ball but could not finish. Should have had 14 points and lead.
What happened? Tired OL? Predictable play calling?
Marsco had plenty of chances today. He is not anwer. His passes also lacked zip, speed and authority. He does not deal with pressure well either
BC students were very nasty to Shinskie today (you suck screams) Heard that BC fans at soccer games also very very rude too. Seems to be a lack of class while in fan mode by significant number - vocal minority? - at BC. Hope that changes.
I was at the game - no energy in the stands.
We've gotr some very good players, and players with heart. Unfortunately, we don't have Glenn Foley or Matt Ryan or Brian St. Piere and we'll never have another Flutie - but if we had a Paul Peterson today, we would have won the game.
So here is the deal - Shinskie or Marsco + Nyquil Tranquil = a potentially very tough year. At this point, NC State will kill us for sure with Russell Wilson, because once they get ahead, we'll have no answer. Clemson could kill us, and FSU, Virginia and Maryland will scare us if not beat us. We have a chance against Duke and Wake and ND and Syracuse.
This season has 6 and 6 written all over it.
I hated the Tranquil hire, and Spaz will never reach any potential until he makes a change. If he brought Rettig in instead of Marsco in the 2nd half, the fans would have supported it. He was warming himself up, but no luck.
We're stuck with Shinskie and Marsco, I guess - we'll have to hope for the best. I felt bad for the defense today.
In all seriousness - if we got better play from the QB position, and had a better OC, we'd be a pretty good team, considering we played a lot of true freshmen today. What was wrong with Billy Flutie or Ryan Lindsey?
Freshman Alex Amidon was wide open in the end zone, and was so excited as a true freshman on one of his very first plays - he fell down.
We had a very nice dinner tonight at Saporito's Florence Club Cafe in Hull - and we're going to Newport tomorrow. I'm going to enjoy the heck out of my time here - including my work week in RI and CT - and maybe the ND game next Saturday night will be fun.
I will not let this stuff get me down this year. If you throw in with Nyquil Tranquil et al, you'll be in therapy.
Just enjoy it for college football - "we ain't going nowhere" this year is a distinct possibility.
Shinskie: I Should Start
If my link fails see weei blog at
http://bcblog.weei.com/sports/boston/football/boston-college/2010/09/25/shinskie-i-should-be-the-starting-quarterback/
It's not Negative Nancy. It's realism. Shinskie has barely improved after a full year. Haven't some of us been saying that? Why is this result surprising? A BC crowd flat? Shocking. An inconsistent OLine? What in the first two games was different?
It's the little things. Shinskie isn't good at them. His timing on routes isn't good. He gets happy feet under pressure. He seems to lack leadership skills. He offered his OLine a free dinner if he wasn't sacked today. I honestly think last yr's VTech game scared him. I think he was scared today. The two picks were timing issues. His late 1st half run to the 6-inch line was dumb dumb dumb. His situational awareness hasn't gotten better with time.
Having said that, I'll never boo a college athlete. It's now up to the seniors to make sure everyone understands that there's still a lot to play for. And even though I don't think this team is breaking through the ceiling this year, I'm eager to see how they respond next week. Not having playmakers (besides Harris) on offense is one thing, but not having a leader at QB is entirely different.
I was never a Shinskie fan, so this may come off as finding reasons to scape-goat the guy. However, it's really starting to look like he doesn't have the brains/head/mental attitude to be a starting college QB. Everyone knows that the guy makes bad decisions and doesn't value the football. It's more than that, though. His body language is terrible and he often appears to not want to be on the field. Hardly inspiring. You never see him rallying his team-mates. He doesn't pull guys to the huddle (see Mallet yesterday). You never see him cheering the defense from the sideline or getting in his receiver's face after a bad route.
One of the truer things Bill Simmons ever wrote was about how QBs need to be charismatic. They have to be leaders. In every sport or even just on the other side of the ball, announcers talk about leaders being the QB of the basketball court or the infield or the power-play. QBs have to lead. And Simmons said it was telling how most of the good QBs are natural leaders. He was surprised that Roethlisberger was so funny and galvanized a room like Peyton. A QB like Byron Leftwich never did that. Dave Shinskie doesn't look to have it. We don't hear his team-mates coming to his rescue or see him trying to pull his team together. We hear him complaining about reporters being critical of his performace. This isn't Tim Tebow after a bad start. This is Chris Rix after every game.
BURN THE REDSHIRT!!!!!!
On another matter, if the OC had any class, he would resign tomorrow morning and go back to fishing. This would relieve Spaz of the awkward position his long time friend put him in. Earlier poster had it exactly right, at half time yesterday, Bud Foster went into the locker room and made adjustments, our OC took his daily afternoon nap. Just pathetic. Where is the accountability? It can't all be on Shinskie.
Sitting in the south endzone is a great vantage point for identifying plays, seeing what the QB sees, etc.
The cutback runs out of the 2xTE twins formation went away because the safety started cheating up... basically, Bud Foster was daring somebody to go down the field.
Several times they had Lee isolated against an inferior DB or LB but Shinske cannot identify before the player recovers. Too many late throws... too many receivers falling down. The worst though was the pick in the endzone. No NCAA quarterback should make that read. Shinske cannot handle the compressed defenses he faces in the red zone. He has regressed since last season, but Tranquill has been worse. His ability to adapt his game plan mid game has been exploited by every quality opponent... expect Kelly to show one scheme early, letting Tranquill get comfortable, then change it up.
That was the worst game I have attended since 2002.
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