Thursday, October 27, 2011

BC-Maryland preview

Despite more losses there were glimpses in the Clemson and Virginia Tech games that made you think we might be able to compete against lessor teams. Now we are playing a lessor team. After a promising start Maryland looks awful. And their style of play works well with ours. I am actually feeling good about this matchup.


Overlooked storyline for the game: Randy Edsall -- BC's constant Bridesmaid.
Randy Edsall made a big deal out of getting the Maryland job and claimed it was his dream job. BC fans know that his real dream job was in Chestnut Hill. He thought he had the role when we hired TOB. He wanted it when it opened up in 2006 and 2009. Now that ship has passed. Even with all his success at UConn and our frustration with various coaches at BC, I've never viewed him as the one that got away.


Three Simple Keys
1. Forcing Turnovers.
When O'Brien is good, he's making smart plays and avoiding turnovers. For many years we lived off of the well timed INT. We need that to disrupt Maryland.
2. High percentage passes. Maryland plays plenty of zone. Rettig should have time to make short, well timed passes.
3. Clock Management. It seems like we have bigger issues, but this has been chronic. Spaz often talks about margin of error. Well if he wants to win, he better be judicious with his timeouts and when we should eat clock vs when we should speed things up.


Gambling Notes
-- Spaz is 0-2 against the spread when playing Maryland
-- BC has been favored in Spaz's last two meeting with Maryland
-- BC leads the series 5-3
The current line is BC+7.5


Factoid
Maryland head coach Randy Edsall and Offensive Coordinator Gary Crowton first worked together at BC under Tom Coughlin.


Scoreboard Watching
Florida State hosts NC State. Both are approaching. I clearly have lost faith in Spaz, but part of me knows that we can win more games. NC State and FSU are both winnable in the sense that they are home games and we are facing flawed teams. It will be interesting to see if TOB's guys can hang with Florida State on the road.


I hope to see...
A controlled passing attack. There is no reason we cannot dink and dunk on them. Put Rettig in the shotgun and let him hit soft spots in the zone. I will be dissappointed if we attack downfield or go heavy run.


BC is in trouble if…
We cannot keep pressure off of Rettig. Edsall runs a very similar defense to Spaz. We should not be surprised and should be able to hold up their front. If we cannot, then 1-11 no longer becomes a possibility. It becomes a certainty.


Bottom Line
I don't know why, but I have a good feeling this week. I actually think we will pull out a close, hard fought game. We are due for somethings to break our way and I think Maryland has many issues too. I think BC gets up early and holds off a late comeback from the Terps.
Final Score: BC 27, Maryland 24.

13 comments:

TheShowGoesOnLupeFiasco said...

It's going to rain and be freezing at the game. BC advantage.

Mr. Tambourine MAn said...

Spaz and Coaching misfits have nearly extinguished my eternal optimism. I really thought they'd win last week, and was going to pick BC again this week. But Lupe's post is the final straw. Rain and cold will give Spaz the excuse to do what he loves--play conservative and run the ball.

I say that BC has a 3:1 run to pass ratio, even after we're losing. To go 1-11, you have to have some really bad luck. Well having our best chance left on the schedule to win be a game affected by weather sounds about right. Maryland 13 - 3 over Boston College.

Ugh.

TheShowGoesOnLupeFiasco said...

Rob, Maryland's D-Line is too awful to contain Finch. They got run over by 2 goal-line backs last week.

mod34b said...

Forecast for College Park, MD for Saturday:

"Rain. Snow likely in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 40s. North winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent"

not a day for passing. Sounds like 3:1 rush/pass is the way to go.

Mr. Tambourine MAn said...

Obviously, we don't have Tom Brady, but I've watched enough Patriots games in the elements to see them take advantage of the elements through the air to know that you don't have to. Receivers know where they are cutting, DBs don't, you can still pass, and this simply isn't 1985, there's enough technology regarding a teams gear that a slippery ball isn't a big deal for the QB anymore. Spaz, of course, will not but its another example of his lack of imagination.

mmason said...

This BC team will struggle to win against any team they face...Any prediction has to include how badly prepped they will be by the coaches regardless of the opponent. I predict rain, cold and...chaos.

Knucklehead said...

The team that recovers the most fumbles wins.

Erik said...

I'm with Knucklehead. Hopefully we win the fumble battle in the rain.

TheFive said...

Spaz's entire approach is aimed at ensuring that we will keep the game within one possession --- either up or down --- against bad or mediocre teams. Then we need to get a little luck. Maybe we'll get it tomorrow, maybe we won't. But let's not mistake the fact that it'll be luck. That's what you depend on when you gameplan the way he does.

EL MIZ said...

can't wait to see if the bye week did anything -- i doubt it. i expect a complete lack of imagination in the game plan, mental errors early and often from the offensive line, and one of the final nails being driven into spaz's coaching career.

maryland 13, BC 9.

PS i hope i'm wrong -- i think this and the NC state game are the only two games left that can save us from the embarrassment of a season with no wins over real opponents.

Big Jack Krack said...

Maybe we can sneak out with a victory in the crappy weather.

Their stadium will be empty and hopefully Maryland will be flat as a result.

As any good northeast coach will tell you - Make the weather your friend!

Go BC players!

EL MIZ said...

i agree big jack. i hope for the players sake they can string together an inspired two halves and get the W. maryland isn't that good -- let's get a win in the ACC!

Big Jack Krack said...

Boy, we fans are flat and apathetic.

Go BC players - get through these bad times.

My wife and I are making our future plans. Even though I cancelled some this year, I haven't quit.

Thanksgiving in Miami this year was already planned.

We're going to the USC game in L.A. in 2013 for sure and then vacationing on the Newport Coast. I am going to be optimistic.

Better days have got to be ahead - we're as low as whale sh.. right now, and that's on the bottom of ocean.