Since it is a holiday weekend, I will probably have a few more posts. I should have grades and second thoughts up late Sunday night.
P.S. Half-hearted congrats to Rettig for his first 300 yard game (how was the show Mrs. Lincoln?).
Saturday, September 03, 2011
All too familiar
We came into this game with questions. Some were answered and new ones arose. This will be a frustrating loss because BC had plenty of opportunities. There is plenty of blame to go around. As Danny Kanell pointed out our biggest area of concern is on the offensive and defensive line. Spaz's game management doesn't really raise questions at this point (since there is nothing left to ask).
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Ok, so I did look up the rule. The clock starts once the injured player is removed from the field. Since this is the case, why on earth was BC burning clock trying to do a hard count? They wasted 4 seconds (would have been more if not for the false start). Why on earth would the coaching staff not have Rettig snap the ball immediately and spike it? They would have 17 seconds left and about 3 plays. Flat out piss poor clock and game management by Spaz. This is a flat out fireable offense.
We had a really good crowd in Dallas. It was completely wasted. Good job, BC.
This game was a concern for me all summer. We run a similar offense and defense to Iowa and Iowa gets owned by the Fighting Fitzgeralds every year. We have a very young football team (just 4 senior starters) and you would like to start off the season with a cupcake to build up some confidence. We lost 3 players from the O-line and that may be the most significant reason for today's loss. It takes time for O-lines to gel and we saw their difficulty today.
And don't think it gets any easier next week. UCF is a very good football team and the young BC team has to go on the road, banged and bruised, and completely lacking confidence. I will not at all be surprised if we go 0-2.
Here is the good news. BC proved they can move the ball through the air. When Rettig has time, he is dynamite. The defense was not as stellar in years past, but they made big plays when it mattered and kept BC in the game. Young teams have only one way to go...up. They will make dramatic improvements from week to week. And we are still 0-0 in the ACC race. Further, the best runner in BC history was not in the game. If he can return, that will be a big boost to the offense. Williams just is not in the same league as Harris.
I'm feeling down though as I believe that was a must-win game for bowl eligibility. We have a brutal schedule this year and when it's close and we have an opportunity to win, BC needs to seal the deal, especially at home. We may be sitting at home this holiday season unless the Eagles can get a couple upset wins.
I'm agreeing with Brian at BCI, that the season is not lost. Granted, it was not great game management, but that last drive shows what happens when our offense executes.
Negatives first:
- That abysmal third quarter. Neither the offense or the defense executed.
- Special teams: Six points. It would not have made the game, in terms of score, but it caused HUGE momentum shifts.
- People say game management, I guess I need to brush up on it.
Positives:
- Keuchly. My god, can he do anymore?
- We have a legit, and I mean legit quarterback in Rettig. I hope that injury at the end was just him shaken up. He will be deadly. It took him sometime to get into a rhythm, but he is leagues beyond what he was last year.
- Spaz going for it on fourth. Okay, people want Spaz gone because he doesn't have the stones to go for it on fourth. So he goes for it fourth, and people still complain and say he should have punted. WTF?
- Defense's last stop. Need I say more?
The third quarter and special teams killed us this game. I'm ready to see a team that fires on all cylinders constantly, because when we do, I'm think we're champion status. Granted this game hurt, but so did our loss to GaTech a few years back, where we went on to play in the ACCCG.
Next week at UCF will be a better picture of what our season will be like. If the team comes out flat, Spaz is on the hot seat.
Benjamin, you only go for it on 4th down when it is smart to do so. BC could have and should have gone for it on 4th down instead of trotting Friese out there for his second miss. Going for it on 4th down when Spaz did was dumb. It was 4th and 10. There was still 2:50 left in the game and BC had 2 timeouts. Everyone knew NU would run the ball 3 times. Punt the ball, pin NU deep, and get great field possession when NU goes 3 and out. Instead, BC went for it, didn't make it and gave NU possession at the 40. NU could very well have pinned BC deep or kicked a FG to ice the game instead of going for it on 4th down. Not a smart move by Spaz.
And let's not get into that last 18 seconds. Only Les Miles could have screwed that up more.
My observations from the cheap seats after more than a couple vodka tonics:
-- Earth to Spaz & Co. It's not 1953. Very few teams play three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust football anymore. The college game is about speed, speed, speed.....It's time to recruit some of it.
-- We can't tackle. I saw very few solid hits, but countless reaches and arm tackles. Of course it's difficult to put a shoulder into an opponent's chest when you're too slow to get close to him.
-- Sylvia made a nice hit at the end. DiVitto and Holloway made a few plays (not enough).
-- Pierre-Jean or Louis-Jean or Jean-Guy Talbot, whatever he's called, you know, the hot shot transfer from Miami, should be given a red shirt right now and made to watch about a 10,000 hours of video of Darelle Revis, Herb Adderley, Lem Barney, Robert Clayborn and all the other Hall of Fame corners before he's allowed to step on the field again.
-- After Jean-Louis #5 has watched the videos and written an exhaustive treatise on how to play CB, he should be taken to a dusty pit on Shea Field and taught how to tackle.
-- Why does anyone think Pierre Jean-Guy, the watcher and reacher, is such a good player?
-- He also needs to add another 20 pounds of muscle to his upper body. After he fills out, and does his required homework, then we'll re-evaluate.
-- Our D line is slow, fat, weak and useless. It was pushed around all day, especially on the goal line. If we hadn't blitzed, we ever would have stopped them at all in the second half.
-- Without a blitz, we have no pass rush. Nothing new there.
-- Our O-line is more like an oh no line. Not only did it open precious few holes to run through, it did a poor job protecting the QB. Did we run a single running play to the right side?
-- Williams needs to watch a 1000 hours of video of Brendan McCarthy, Fred Willis, Mike Esposito, William Green, Montel Harris et al and hit the God damn hole with speed and power. If he's not going around end, he's nothing but a dancer. And if there isn't a hole, then make one.
-- I'm sorry, but Kuechly is vastly over rated. I don't care how many tackles he's credited with, in my view he had about 5 legitmate stops. And he missed the two big chances he needed to make inside the five. He made a nice play on the pick and is a good player, but he's hardly a first team AA.
-- Where was Larmond? Two short-yardage catches. So much for our so-called speedy #1 receiver.
-- Is there anyone on the staff to coach Rettig's mechanics? The way he's going, he will only be a 50-55% passer in an age of 60-65% passers. It's not because he's a soph. Schinski has the same problems. This is a fundamental weakness in the coaching staff.
-- Can we stop the Rogers vs. Tranq talk now? You can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit. Until we get some speed and talent on offense, there isn't an OC in the country who can make this bunch look good.
-- I've revised my expectations for the season down from 7-5 to at best 4-8, with a 2-10 record highly likely. If you can't beat Northwestern at home, defeating UCF, Duke and WF are highly problemmatic. Forget the rest of the schedule.
-- It's time for another vodka tonic.
Scoop,
Some good points...some a little off. If you think Rogers isn't an upgrade over Tranquill I think you need to have a couple waters and take a nap.
Being without Fletcher was a much bigger loss than Montel or anyone else. ALJ was flat out terrible. I don't want to come down on a 18 year old kid, but he was a big liability. Missed a ton of tackles in the first half. Hampton Hughes wasn't much better. Silvia has to start at FS. Without Fletcher and Ramsey there is not one senior on defense. And it showed. This might be the first time since 2003 (which is also when we lost to Wake at home to start the year and gave up 32 points) that our defense is below average.
All misery aside, I do want to say that it was great being able to watch BC football today. I'm not sure how the season will turn out, but dang, I do miss watching these games. I don't like losing like we did today, but the drive in the fourth quarter made remember the double overtimes against Clemson, BYU a few years ago.
We may complain about how terrible this team will be, how crappy some players (seriously Scoop, way to point out just how terrible an 18 year old is in his first. You did an awesome job with that), or about how Spaz has ruined the game for us forever, but you know what? This is a team that I'll cheer for through thick and thin. I'm not excusing a loss, but NW competed and competed well. I think some people on the boards are too quickly jumping the "ship," to go with JBQ's metaphor. I see a lot of potential in this team, and until we actually have a losing season, I'm not going to moan like it.
Oh and Scoop? Kuechly had a one handed interception and 19 tackles. Yeah, he might have missed a stop, but when was the last did you anything impressive with your one hand?
I agree Benjamin. I love the school, love the team and always will. I was estatic to be there today, like a kid on Christmas morning...could barely sleep last night. I am worried about our defense, but am still really pumped for the rest of the season.
Same shit different year, this coach is a joke
Scoop, it's always dangerous to post after drinking. "Kuechly is vastly over rated." You are going to regret that when you have your Labor Day Bloody Mary tomorrow. Luke is flat out great and some of the issues today were young players missing assignments as opposed to Kuechly screwing up.
I'm as down as anyone about this loss, but there were some positives and mark my words, this will be a much, much better team in November. The offensive line will get better and hopefully Fletcher, Harris and Ramsey get back soon.
Herzlich made the Giants roster.
I went to the game today. Pretty good crowd for Labor Day weekend. Weather was surprisingly hot. Probably high 80s. Very sweaty, sticky day for all . But really decent crowd, and quite lot of purple NU folks, who were terrific spirited fans for NU, but not obnoxious fans and classy in victory too (no gloating punks) . Good to have them.
One interesting new stadium sound effect was this loud Gong. Seems to get the energy going!
Couple points/ questions
Offense was very herby-jerky and not smooth at all. Can't believe we could not run on NU. OL needs to go somewhere and gel. Constant off tackle to Williams was almost Tranquillesque. Rogers still needs to prove he can really create imbalance and opportunity through play calling. Plays seems somewhat predictable, with no new wrinkles at all. No screens even. Guess he needed to just get Rettig comfortable throwing. Crawl before you walk kinda thing.
I was expecting better use of TEs. I was disappointed, or did I miss something? Seems like TEs are playing flanker and staying back as a sort of RB blocker. Not their best use IMHO.
RBs. I only saw a two-back set once. Need some more variety there. Tajh Kimble showed a few glimpses of his ability. Very nice.
Edabali and Hollaway seemed ok, even really good on a few plays. But had some contain problems for sure. DTs was a game of musical chairs, Without Ramsey, McGovern seemed to be trying everybody without much success. Hoping Quinn would be more dominant.
This game was classic BC football: lots of reason for concern, but lots of reason for hope. I will choose for now to see the glass as half full, others will see it half empty and worse. And so it goes . . .
I loved Sean Silvia's stick on 4th down on NU QB. Good stuff.
WTF with Freese? Was that one disaster shank FG kick on Freese or the holder. Seemed like a holder issue, but I have not seen a replay
Did someone say that Kuechly was overrated? That's hilarious.
As tempting as it is to make sweeping generalizations after the first game, it looks like simply from a talent perspective that we're probably looking at another typical BC season. Some signs of hope for the future, but really not good enough to be taken too seriously. My question: how long do we wait for the future?
The fact of the matter is that we lost at home to NU's backup QB. Many of the same issues from last year reared their ugly head.
Spaz has a big task in front of him, but hey, at least he's loyal, right?
does anyone know of a highlights vid that isnt all northwestern td's?
Scoop -
Please put down the vodka and take a cold shower. Kuechly is a beast and played with heart all day. LJ is a true frosh and needs to be cut some slack.
That being said some reasons for the loss....
(1) Spaziani is joke. You get what you pay for, and BC paid for a Tom O'Brien disciple. Spaziani simply doesn't believe in playing aggressive football. He doesn't believe he has the horses and it shows with 15 yard cushions on defense and 3 yard passes on 3 and 15. It would be insane to expect anything different out of this team (youth aside) when BC is so incredibly predictable. I mean, was there any doubt that BC would allow NW to score before the half? If I could have called Vegas and placed a bet that NW would score on our "prevent-the-win" defense I would have.
(2) O-Line U is no longer headquartered in Chestnut Hill. The O-Line performance today was one of the worst I've seen by a BC team in years. I watched the game with my brother-in-law (a former D-1 O-Lineman) and all he could say was that BC must have the biggest-softest Line in college football. They were manhandled by a poor NW D-Line. No push up front and they let blitzers run free at Rettig all day. If we are going to play like a Big Ten team, then we need tough, rugged, dirt-eating, O-lineman who simply exert their will on the opposition. Where oh where are the guys like Snee, Woody, Koppen, Trueblood, Nalen, Kendell etc? This current crop of 300 pounders are sullying the reputation they put in place.
(3) BC simply doesn't have quality players in the D-Line. I want to throw up whenever I watch the lineman try to generate a pass rush. They are mostly monuments that cover a 5yd x 5yd area. Holloway showed a brief glimpse of something, but it wasn't nearly enough. Until Spaziani recruits some athletes on the D-line BC is going to continue to allow teams to move the ball up and down the field at will.
As much as I love BC, this squad is going nowhere fast. I don't think NW is a bad team, but to get beat by a backup QB in the home opener certainly doesn't bode well when more athletic teams come to town.
Brook Eagle, That analysis was spot on! My task is to lower my expectations as long as Spaz is still here. The play-not-to-lose philosophy made an all-too-brief 2 year hiatus from Chestnut Hill and now it's back, stronger than ever. In my heart, I knew it was "back to business as usual" when Tranquill was hired, but I must admit the hiring of Kevin Rogers and the improvement in Rettig gave me hope. All that remains to look forward to now is the lone inevitable victory over a highly favored team(another TOB specialty) to keep the "Spaz just needs time;" sentiment alive. But taking a knee at halftime with time left to get some possible points is not teaching the kids to win.
A congrats to Rettig and Momah, who are 3rd and 7th respectively in passing and receiving for the nation. 375 on the day for Rettig. Last time we had a QB even close to those numbers? Chris Crane in 2008 at NC State. We lost early to Ga Tech that year, and went on to play in the ACCCG. I know I've stated that previously, but it just goes to show that we can start off slow (or poor, what ever words you want) and still go on to great things.
Let me just say that again: Rettig threw for 375, even when he had crappy protection from the Oline. That's one of the reasons why I'm not as demoralized with this loss.
Brookeagle,
Good points, but I think you overstate the D-Line's lack of ability. Most of the D-line played extensively last year and the results were good. Sure, our guys are not **** DL guys, but they showed last year they can play beyond their pedigree.
One glaring problem largely overlooked is Spaz's ability (really, inability) to get the team ready for opening day. Remember Opening Day last year against Weber State. The team was totally flat, not too mention Skinskie lining up behind the guard on the first play. Team was also flat against Kent State state too and got smashed by VT in game 3. Same deal yesterday.
Team seemed to be not fully prepared yesterday. Rettig's timing was not great. Kuechley and Spaz are both saying post-game thaat the NU 'tempo' was tough to defend (meaning the D was winded, remarkable!). Oline was obvioulsy not in sync.
Also, aside from Spaz, it is time to ask if our OLine coach Sean Devine is really any good. Based on last year and this year, you'd have to say "Not really."
I think a lot of our problems over the past couple of years have been rooted in the oline. Devine is a good recruiter, but the o-line just has not been gelling. I'm not sure if you can place that on the change in offense schemes.
Lot of issues yesterday. Not having Donnie Fletcher was a bigger loss than not having Montel Harris. Al Louis Jean, while potentially a future stud, was completely overwhelmed. He missed tackle after tackle and was out of place on numerous pass plays. Speaking of out of place, Hughes was lost at FS. The losses of Okoroha and LeGrande might be bigger than i thought. That said, this game was lost on the lines ... both offensive and defensive. First on the defensive line, Quinn was a non-factor. How can someone that big and strong get so manhandled? Losing Ramsey was big as well. Holloway showed some signs from time to time. Edebali was a complete non-factor. On the OL, yet again this season starts of the season looking clueless. When is Spaz going to abandon his "five best guys" approach and instead go with the "best unit" approach? Why are guys continuing to play out of position such as Richman at T and Spinney at G? Stop with this garbage. Didnt these coaches learn anything after the start of last season? The sad part is, this team has a better group of skill players on offense than we have seen at the Heights in maybe 2 decades. However, the old monicker, the game is won in the trenches rings true. Funny, when BC has dominant line play, they have no skill players. Now when they actually have some decent skill players, they have no line play. Lastly, to the guy that said Kuechly is overrated ... you are nuts.
Someone is complaining because Spaz took a knee with 38 seconds to go in the half? Do you know how many national championship coaches have the exact same philosophy? I can see trying for something with a minute or longer, but very few drives are successful with just 38 seconds and a lot can go wrong. If Rettig were rushed and made a bad decision, you could have seen a pick 6 putting BC down 7 instead of tied.
I'll criticize Spaz for putting Momah on the kick coverage team but I will not slam him for taking a knee to end the half.
Boston College lost the game. Our kicker missed two field goals. Our new offensive coordinator threw the ball 44 times. The refs did not call an obvious pass interference late in the 4th quarter or holding call on a kick return late in the 4th quarter.
The kicker should have made the kicks. They were within his range.
Boston College has not thrown the ball 44 times consistently in 15 years. The offense needs to be balanced. It doesn't need to move 180 degrees from a focus on the run. The BC offensive line is most effective run blocking. More running plays tire out the oppossing defense. Given the weather and size discrepancy of the two lines more runs would have lead to at least 3 more points. Assuming N.Freese goes 2/4.
The refs were terrible in the 4th quarter, when it matters most. There was an obvious pass interference when the NW DB warded off the BC WR on the NW 30 yard line. The non-call cost the team alot of field position and another 3 points. There was a mugging of I. Mohmah on mid field during a punt which would have shifted field position which also hurt the teams chances.
NW went for it on 4th down and didn't get it which cost them a chance for three. BC couldn't get it done in the last minute of the 4th quarter.
BC really should have won this game. As is typical though the coaching was a little weak and refs cannot seam to call a clean game when BC plays at home.
Stop with the whole refs were bad nonsense. They did not affect the game at all. Blame the loss on the coaching staff for some of the most puzzling decisions and worse clock management ever. I still don't know what Spaz was trying to accomplish in the last 18 seconds of the game. That's time for 3 plays. Instead, after the injury, BC let the clock waste down to 14 seconds when the false start occurred. I've asked before and I'll ask again, why the hell was BC burning clock by running a hard count? Snap the ball immediately after it starts and spike it. Give yourself 17 more seconds. Absolutely ridiculous.
This offensive line can't run block for shit. It looks like its going to be their biggest weakness this year. AW had no holes at all and the line was getting no push.
Random Thoughts:
After waiting eight (8) months for the new offense, "...meet the new boss-same as the old boss..."; i.e., one back sets; ignore the tight end; avoid the middle of the field; still no "vertical" passing game; one screen pass; one swing pass; no gadget plays-no trickeration; poor blitz pickup; no tempo; no rhythm; no counters; no draws; no push off the line; and in the red zone--the same inability to score.
On defense: to say the coverage was "soft" is a gross understatement. But most disappointing was not being ready for the hurry up, spread offense. `
NU was rolling in perfect tempo, moving the ball at will, when they called a counter play that left a lane off their left side that could have handled the traffic after the game. Somebody has to have seen that on the film and known it would be used. They ripped off another 20 yards.
I don't know what to say about our formerly reliable kicker. Is it a holder problem?
***
Irrelevancies:
Unis looked good--glad to see no "stained glass" on the helmets. BTW just to prove I am not adverse to upgrading unis, I thought the Georgia "electric red" head-to-toe look was fantastic on TV. Boise State made some odd changes in their unis with asymmetrical logos and colors on the sleeves and a weird bronco outline on the helmet. All had no influence on the game outcome.
Lenny, sure, when lined up at the line of scrimmage, our offense looks the same, but that's where it ends. How can you say there was no vertical passing game? We threw 44 times. That's more than what we threw in three games last year. I'm okay with a similar scheme, because it doesn't require players to completely re-learn a system. The offense had a completely different feel. Except for the o-line.
A couple things I noticed that weren't mentioned on here:
1. Rettig was under constant pressure all day, but on several occasions he held on to the ball WAY TOO LONG. He had chances to throw the ball away to avoid taking the sack, but did not. Gotta blame the coaches there. Even the last play of the game, was Rettig trying to avoid an interception? Throw the ****ing ball, give someone a chance to make a play!!! Momah's standing in the back of the endzone a half a foot taller than anyone in their secondary! Speaking of which...
2. Some of Rettig's completions would not have been completions against secondaries with D-I talent/size. Momah was able to use his size against the guys that were a foot shorter than him to grab several poorly thrown balls. I have to think that DB's with ball skills or more size would have broken up or intercepted a few of them.
3. Although Rettig was frustrating to watch for a good portion of the game, he did show off why he was highly touted coming out of HS. He had some very nicely thrown balls. With some development in consistency, I think he can become a QB that can actually win us games, instead of just being the (poor) game managers that we've had since Mr. Ryan took his talents to Atlanta. I'd be much higher on his future with a different HC though.
I am really worried about this team
I will be at the UCF game on Saturday - and if we don't see any improvement, the year could be bad enough to send the HC packing.
I have been rooting for the guy, but anyone who would hire Tranquill is suspect.
I hope there was a good reason to throw Okpara off the team - a real good reason. I know and appreciate that we have high standards, but that move might have cost us several games this year.
The 15 yard soft cushion designed for our DBs is liable to send me into season ticket retirement - it's awful. It's also almost un-manly or something. It's not football.
Excuse me - Okoroha.
This was posted in the Globe this morning - truth hurts:
SJS1214 wrote:
This Spaziani Northwestern quote makes me wanna get sick.... why not try and fix it?
“There was one crucial third-down play, [the safety] didn’t get the right read,’’ said Spaziani, referring to a 27-yard connection from Colter to Christian Jones to the BC 11 that led to Northwestern’s final touchdown. “But in the 15 years I’ve been here, that has happened before.
Remember, our lovable Spaziani, as a BC defensive coordinator, was Hail Mary’ed a mind boggling 5X!!! --- And 3 were completed and two were dropped.
Only in recent years has BC used some new nickel and dime packages after the NC State bomb debacle where the previous plays were telegraphed on what the Wolfpack was going to do ----and BC was in a plain vanilla 4-3-4….after a timeout???? If not for a dropped Clemson perfect pass bomb, and two Tire bowl game drops, the record would be even more disgraceful and humiliating.
Also in many of the past 8 season games, including 2 bowl games, teams were chucking darts into the end zones where BC escaped with wins versus lesser opponents by turtling up on leads.
In one year 2007----- where 3 freshman QB’s were allowed to get their confidence, and settle in and riddle the poor pass defense set-up, combined with the habitual no pressure rush of the BC defense and catatonic calzone cushion.
I have seen some local high school and college practices in my day and now where Coaches tell DB’s to use a hard chuck, impede the WR’s progress, and give them a subtle early shove or bump or all the teachable tricks or ploys of the trade. BC lets opponents WR’s run free like gazelles on spring break and worse, gets exploited underneath with its soft, mushy “prevent nothing” zones.
You need a certain “athletic arrogance” to play DB, ----one of the toughest psychological and physical positions in all of sports where the best athletes call home---- and being lined up in another time zone, is an instant mental submission, that the WR owns you.
That catatonic calzone cushion instills a destructive defensive mindset condition that slowly diminishes a defensive back’s natural athletic aggressiveness and prevents BC’s DB’s from learning how to cover and get better in practices and become ball hawkers and better instinctive and active defensive secondary players.
Maybe BC can put it all together in 2011 and win big games, since again on the fly, in game adjustments are also not part of the Spaziani disciple McGovern’s DNA since we come out in the same sets and eventually BC’s pass defense gets torched.
You need blitzing killers to win BCS and Big Boy games and BC’s defenses have always lacked that critical chemical element of real nastiness and QB killer mentality to finish the job under Spaziani and now McGovern.
As one who popped a bottle of champagne the day TOB announced he was heading to Raleigh, I hate to say this, but Spaz could actually start making his play-not-to-lose mentor look good.
Benjamin:
Sorry about the confusion with my term "vertical passing game". I meant down the center of the field. We ran one double post route that didn't click; but there were few other throws over the middle-to tight ends or anybody else.
The completions were outs and down and outs--throws requiring a strong arm for sure; but what about the center of the field--slants, dinks and dunks to the back slipping out, rub offs (picks), getting the ball to a tight end open in the middle.
A balanced passing attack requires receivers to catch the ball in the middle.
We'll see if Spaz and company can out coach George O'Leary, who has been around forever and has UCF on the upswing.
While the loss was disappointing no doubt, once we get back some injured players we should be ok. The O line has to play better though. Andre Williams (two 100 yards plus games in 2010) did not all of a sudden lose his talent. He had nowhere to go. Rettig showed promise as well but he, obviously, can not do it alone.
Anyone know what channel the UCF game is on in New York? Is it on CBS the broadcast channel or the CBS College sports network (the cable channel? thanks.
Even though we had a rough loss this weekend, there were two huge developments to make BC nation proud. First, Mark Herzlich made the Giants roster! Second, ESPN just ran a feature on BC grad and former lacrosse player Welles Crowther. He is the famous "red bandana" guy who saved people on 9-11 but lost his life in doing so.
So proud that Welles was a BC guy, and thrilled for Herzy.
I read through all the comments and there were two things I wanted to highlight.
Kneeling the ball at halftime was objectionable. They had 30 some odd seconds and a timeout. (Also the timeout issues in this game did not leave me thrilled. Why didn't we call one long before we did in Northwestern's drive?) Sure, Rettig could have thrown an interception, but then that puts Northwestern in the exact same position that BC was in. Why would it be the right thing for them to go for it and not us? If taking the knee was the right thing to do, presumably they would just take a knee after an interception. (Obviously where the ball gets intercepted matters, but more often than not, you're not gonna take it all the way back anyway.)
The second big thing was the "spike it immediately with 17 seconds to go." BC had tons of time to figure out their next play during the injury timeout. Why on earth would they burn a down? The play call (should) obviously be just to wing the ball into the endzone and a broken up pass results in another down if you do it fast enough.
With 17 seconds left to go, they probably did have time for only a couple of plays, but I don't think Rettig goes into the post-injury huddle without an idea of what he has to do. It would have been more confusing for everyone to waste more time spiking the ball than just execute the gameplan they had been discussing.
The offense ran the ball 30 times for 130 yards. Over 4 yards a carry. The coaches cannot ask lineman who were recruited to run block to pass block 44 times. It doesn't work. In the past we ran the ball to much. Now we seem to be overcompensating and throwing to much.
The weakest asspects of the team so far are the kicking game and the secondary. The offensive line is banged up see Nate Richman peal himself off the turf each play.
If you watch the game again the two missed calls in the fourth quarter were agregious. Those calls halted our momentum and did not give us the field position that we deserved.
This mentioned from what have read here but BC always has trouble with running QB's going back to Major Harris. Fitzgerald used the weather conditions to his advantage and Spaz/Rogers did not take the weather conditions in consideration.
Someone does need to get the O-line fired up though they played all right but not up to their potential. They miss Claibournes enthusiasm. The players need to say FORGET-YOU to Spaz et al and go out and play for their school.
Most of the readers here go to work to better their families and themselves not for the person who writes their annual review. The players need to have some attitude(positive) and go their for themselves, their teammates, and their school.
I beginning to get concerned that the clique, snob, prep-school culture of the undergraduate community at BC is starting to seep into the schools athletics. Maybe I missed it from the stands but I didn't see the team rallying around each other enough.
Walter, I agree that they could have snapped the ball and run an actual play without spiking it. However, my entire point was clock management. Snap the ball at 17 seconds. Don't burn 4 seconds going with a hard count. They burned 4 seconds (almost time for a play) before the false start. Who knows how many more seconds would have been wasted if not for the penalty.
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