Sunday, September 25, 2011

Our killer schedule is looking easier

We all thought this season's schedule would be a challenge. Yet even some of the teams we've already lost to -- like Northwestern and UCF -- have come back down to Earth. I don't trust Spaz to make the adjustments for us to have a big run, but there is no reason it can't happen. I think we will get to at least four wins, and if our staff gets its act together, we could still get to six wins.


Very winnable games
1. Maryland has the type of offense that can pick apart our defense, but they clearly showed they are vulnerable. Not only did West Virginia light them up, but yesterday they got destroyed by Temple! They will probably be favored (since its their home game) but that is a winnable game.
2. NC State looked terrible the other night. If anyone knows how to prep for Bible's offense, it's Spaz. This year they don't have the Wild Card in Russell Wilson keeping plays alive with his feet.
3. Wake Forest earned my respect with their game against NC State. But they also blew a game against Syracuse. If we can contain their offense, their defense is vulnerable.

Those are the three wins that can get us to four. The following all look tough, but I think at least two will be close enough for us to steal a win.

Games where we need some breaks
1. Notre Dame is still Notre Dame. Weird things happen when underdog BC teams go to South Bend. Plus the Irish have shown the bad habit of playing down to their opponents and turning the ball over. I think we go all in on this game.
2. Miami falls at an interesting time in our schedule. We could be playing for a lot or a little. If we are sitting on five wins, I expect us to treat it like the Super Bowl.
3. Florida State is still very talented and will be a heavy favorite when they come to BC. That said, they've now dropped two games. Plus we get them at home on a Thursday. Could be a fluky game.
4. Clemson looks great right now. That said, I could see them taking us lightly. I also don't trust their Head Coach. The talent is there, but will he manage them as the pressure builds?
5. Virgnia Tech will be very tough. They are probably the best team left on our schedule and it is at Lane. Last time Spaz went there, we rolled over. I would be shocked if things were different this time around.
FSU has now lost two games. Granted both were tough opponents and close, but we have them at home.

Wake Forest is probably

22 comments:

Mr. Tambourine MAn said...

Wake Forest is probably....

I'm going to guess you were going for "key to the season", if we win against Wake we'll get some momentum going into the meat of the season, if we lay an egg, it could be a long road ahead.

Kevin said...

Also don't overlook the fact that when we play Clemson, they will have just come off a 3 week stretch playing Aubrun, FSU and Virginia Tech. Knowing Clemson and Dabo, it's very possible let up following a very tough 3 week span.

Lenny Sienko said...

I'm noticing a distinct lack of comments, yesterday during the game and now after the fact.

I suspect that the BC fan base has moved on to other interests.

Too bad, as that disinterest will probably guarantee more of the same from BC admin; i.e., Spaz and GDF throw a couple of assistants off the back of the sledge to slow down the wolves chasing them and we get Spaz through 2015. OMG!

Dan said...

Lot of competition this weekend, Lenny. Yankees vs. Red Sox all weekend and Brady continuing his 2011 QB clinic.

hsk said...

....and Lenny they didn't show up at Alumni either. Had to have been the smallest crowd for a game on a relatively nice day, and not on TV, since forever.

Walter said...

Lenny,

I don't think it's so much that the BC fanbase has moved on to other interests, but more that the win, while nice, doesnt really leave much to say.

If we had lost, I have no doubt the BC "faithful" would have been out in droves decrying everything as per usual.

With a win, I think the team has mollified the fans a little. It would be great to see the team get some traction with Wake on Saturday.

neenan said...

Lenny and Walter, there is actually another reason for light commenting in this blog: Many BCers have found better BC blogs, especially BCI and EagleOutsider.

ATL himself spends a lot of time on EO - where some call him blogboy. ATL, in fact, provides far more commentary on EO than he does on his own blog. Clearly, after a long run on top ATL is bored with his blog and has lost his spark. Heck, if the blog owner prefers to blog on a site other than his own, that speaks volumes. It may be time for ATL to turn out that last flickering light.

Walter said...

I hadn't heard of eagle outsider before, but I don't care for BCI. They're far too negative and take the line of what I see as the typical BC stance too often.

Everything we do is always presented in an ironic, deprecating way. I don't really care for their format, either.

This blog is never prone to hysterics and usually provides a lighthearted, optimistic view.

I think ATL does a fine job and your comment is unwarranted.

Darius said...

I don't think the frequency with which ATL posts on a message board has any connection to the quality of, or interest in, work on this blog. He has always been a message board regular. And he has generally maintained different objectives in the different landscapes in accordance with the cultures at play.

Interest in the football team *IS* down, no doubt. Because they're not a good team. The line play has regressed to the lowest level in 20 years, and the reserve ranks have been utterly decimated by a combination of poor recruiting and attrition, both of which are due to the same cause as the crappy line play: a lousy coaching staff.

An apparently lopsided win at UMass means little. If it's possible for a 4-touchdown win in a game that was never close to be a narrow one, that was yesterday. Reverse the results of two plays--fumbles returned for TDs by BC-- and it's 31-31. Okay, one of them is a stretch, but the other was at BC's 1-yard line. Point is, the line play was still terrible, and UMass is mediocre by FCS standards. I don't see how that win yesterday creates reasonable cause for optimism against ACC teams. BC will still be an underdog in 7 or 8 games this year--rightfully so--and is VERY unlikely to win more than 1 or 2 of them. The problem with saying all these games are in play because our opponents might not be as good as advertised is that it ignores the reality that our team is terrible.

As for Lenny's comment about disinterest, I don't see how fans turning away from the program is cause for maintaining status quo on the coaching staff or AD. If anything, it's a catalyst for change because of its effects on the bottom line. Continuing to support the program at the same level despite a terrible product all but guarantees that the staff will be left alone by the higher-ups.

Big Jack Krack said...

I'm flying up for the Wake game and catching the Pops on the Heights on Friday night.

But I make my plans well ahead of time and really I am more excited for the Pops than the football game.

I watched much of the game on ESPN3 on my MacBookPro and I agree that the game would have been a lot different without those big plays.

The UMass line was pushing our guys around on both sides of the ball. It is really embarrassing and frightening at the same time - how badly our lines are playing.

I think we might have a chance against Wake, NC State and Maryland. I think we will be killed by Clemson, VT, FSU, ND and Miami.

I'm flying up for FSU also, and working in the area so I can go to the NC State game as well - and then Thanksgiving in Miami.

And I'm not even excited about the football - too bad, really. Thank goodness there are other attractions in Boston and Miami to make the trips worthwhile.

Mike said...

ATL is great. He provides a unique perspective you can't find anywhere else. I look forward to his new blog posts more so than any of the other BC sites I read.

Big Jack Krack said...

Whether or not I will continue to renew my season tickets and support the Flynn Fund going forward is seriously open to question at this point.

40 years of season ticket loyalty and I haven't lived anywhere near Boston in 15 of those years.

Big Jack Krack said...

I like ATL as well and check it out everyday.

Thanks Bill - keep up the good work.

Lenny Sienko said...

I meant no criticism of Bill or the blog. I prefer the comments and posters on this blog to the WWF mentality on some of the other blogs.

I recall our first BC football blog, when we were asked by BC to stop being specific about the team leading to TOB's closed practices. It was shut down to avoid disclosing info to the opposition. We were really naive when all of this started.

It morphed into EA and went "commercial", drawing BIG PETE and the other rude, obnoxious, crude posters, who preferred anonymous verbal diarrhea to football.

Many thanks to Bill for keeping on, in light of his family responsibilities, etc.

Lenny Sienko said...

I suppose things could be worse; i.e., we could be New Mexico Alums:



New Mexico Fires Locksley

janebc said...

Eagle in Atlanta is a fantastic and forthright source of info for BC football fans. The fact that he is not mindlessly positive when our program is in a freefall does nothing to detract from the quality of his posting.

Ry said...

No other blog is better at getting info out about the range of stories that might interest BC fans (sailing anyone?)

His analysis of basketball is also absolutely top-notch.

neenan said...

Yes, ATL is a fine man - no question there. A BC Eagle through and through. It is just that ATL has gotten a tad stale. Sure, sometimes the blog is good but it used to be better. To quote Spaz, "It is what it is."

CALVIN LAI said...

I think ATL does a fine job. Could the blog be better? Of course. Just like any other seasoned blog. There's always room for improvement no matter how good you are. But considering ATL does this more or less for free (not sure those ads are huge money makers) and the fact that he's a dad, hey, I'm pretty impressed. As a fellow Dad and fellow blogger, I can attest to the fact that it's hard enough to find time to write a serviceable blog post even once a week. Bottom line, I read ATL everyday. Every morning, I log onto ATL before I get to ESPN, Facebook, BBC, and any other site except my email. I have ATL to thank for that. I'm also growing to appreciate ATL's Twitter page which definitely has a different, more aggressive flavor to it.

neenan said...

The "dad" excuse is lame.

mod34b said...

I think the low in-game posting for the UMass game is largely due to the opponent -- nobody cared about the game. When we played Northeastern in 2009, there was also a big drop in comments.

But, the commenting on this blog is down and trending downward. Why? More blogs? More twitter? Or, is it that Spaz is putting out a bad product that is losing fans? Or maybe this blog needs a bit of 'freshening'. Answer: some of all of the above!

my quick Googling reveals:

2009 in-game comments:

N'Eastn 33
Kent 79
Clem 85
Wake 82
NCSu 148
Cent Mich 60
ND 350
MD 251
UVA 132
VT 173
FSU 184

2010 in-game comments

Weber 37
Kent 78
VT 91
ND 137
NCSU 102
FSU 79
MD 77
Clem 47
Wake 65
Duke 94
UVA 71
Syr 72

2011 in-game comments

NW - 84
UCF - 49
Duke -- 69
Umass -22

Big Jack Krack said...

We are trending down in terms of in-game comments for sure - just as we are trending down in our football program. It's too bad.

Personally speaking - I have never been this low since 1978 or Dan Henning's last year - what a disaster he was. Even in those years, I was not as low as I am now.

Maybe it's because of my age, but I don't think so. I hate negative people - I hate Boo Hoo coaches, etc.

Gene DeFilippo and Frank Spaziani have succeeded in sapping my energy for BC Football. They have taken the air out of the room. They have been TERRIFIC in that regard.

I am on board for the rest of the season, but only positive developments will bring back my spirit.

This board will once again light up with some good news - some or all.

Change in AD
Change in HC
Change in Coaching Staff
Halt in attrition
Improvement in publicity-bring some excitement to the program
Beefed up and improvement in recruiting
Vast improvement in game day experience - better parking options and tailgating options, etc
Kick the Newton FD off campus.
On and on - we know what we need.