Thursday, September 15, 2011

BC-Duke preview

We've reached a point where the games provide relief from all the other worries, injuries and nonsense surrounding BC football. To call this a "must win" is a bit of hyperbole, but a win would sure be nice. Without a win over Duke, BC will have even more trouble selling tickets for the next two weeks and there will be plenty of pressure on Spaz and Gene to do something. Spaz keeps trotting out "expect the unexpected" to explain the vibe. I get where he is coming from, but my expectations are a little different. I expect BC to play much better and win the game.


Overlooked storyline for the game: Kimble's return game
He hasn't provided a Jeff Smith or Will Blackmon moment yet, but I think Kimble's aggressiveness on returns will pay off soon. He is clearly not afraid to bring the ball out of the endzone. We also need that spark too since at this point every bit of field position counts.


Three Simple Keys
1. Stop the run. For the first time this season we won't be facing a running QB. We need to revert to our base defense and do what we've traditionally done well.
2. Put more pressure on Renfree. BC sacked him twice last year. BC needs to do more of the same this year. We cannot let Renfree pick us apart again. Last year he almost stole the game.
3. Rettig needs to complete more than 20 passes. If Rettig is that successful, it will mean that our passing game was effective, we drove the ball multiple times and we are keeping our defense off the field.


Gambling Notes
-- Spaz is 0-2 in ACC openers
-- Cutcliffe is 5-11 in ACC road games
-- Cutcliffe is 6-18 coming off a loss while leading Duke
The current line is BC-7


Factoid
Duke only has two players from Massachusetts so this won't be much of a homecoming.


Scoreboard Watching
The biggest game for us is Oklahoma vs Florida State. We need the 'Noles to win for conference pride. A strong FSU team also helps our BCS rating and our bowl attractiveness.


I hope to see...
BC giving Rettig the time to throw. Our oline hasn't done its job so far. Now we need them playing with more consistency and Rettig to make good decisions.


BC is in trouble if…
We are trialing at halftime again. At this point does anyone really trust our offense to generate real points or come from behind?


Bottom Line
I think BC wins this game. The teams will have similar gameplans to last year's meeting. Only this time the game is in Boston and we have some offensive help. As for the first game with Brock calling plays, I just want points...and just enough points to win.
Final Score: BC 28, Duke 17

13 comments:

Evertosmell said...

Au contraire this is a must win game. Duke lost to the Richmond Spiders who play Maine and New Hampshire; it got slaughtered by Stanford. It is not a good football team. A loss here we might be looking at Coach Ed Chlebek times.

Coach U No Spaziani is now 16-13 and will end up with a losing record by the end of the year. He is 64 years old. To be charitable he has trouble expressing himself.

Have you noticed that most winning coaches speak well and are much younger than U No. We all know he was hired from his DC spot because he had no place else to go so that turned into the idea he was a big loyal BC man so whether he would be a good head coach or not was plowed under by the good guy image. That's not why you hire a coach.

BC has every chance of being a top 25 team with the right coaching. If we lose to Duke there is a chance for an 0 - 12 season.

Unknown said...

I really can't see BC scoring 28 points...but I think we do gut this out

EL MIZ said...

if not for missed field goals and blown opportunities we score 31 on northwestern.

we usually matchup well against these type of teams.

28-13 BC.

EL MIZ said...

also, i agree with ever to smell, i think this is a must-win game. UMASS next week is pretty much an automatic W but outside of that, it could be a very ugly season if we don't start the ACC season with some momentum and confidence.

BCMike said...

This team and staff have no automatic wins.

I hope BC wins, but feel like this is a 50/50 toss-up game.

Sr.Atlanta said...

We're #2!! (At having brainy schools on our schedule!!) See link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904060604576570672011904838.html?KEYWORDS=schools+that+pick+on+brainy+kids

Darius said...

I don't think UMass is an automatic win. Neither does Sagarin.

mod10aeagle said...

"BC is in trouble if ..."

... we're worried about beating Duke. 'nuf said.

EL MIZ said...

darius, what does sagarin know that we don't? umass has played one game! they won 24-16 @ holy cross... in other words, it should be an automatic W.

BCDoubleEagle said...

Here's a sobering thought: it has been more than a year since our offense scored more than 21 points in a game.

Erik said...

That is sobering. ugh.

BCDoubleEagle said...

... and nearly two years since our offense scored more than 21 against a BCS-level opponent (Oct. 17, 2009)

mod34b said...

Don't worry about the offense Tranquill ,, err, ah, Rogers....ahm ah err. Brock will get them going. Yes. Brock is our man