With the loss, BC will officially have a losing season for the first time since 1998. Our bowl streak -- which at times seemed hollow and at times seemed like a nice benchmark -- is over.
We suffered another blowout and had another game where we couldn't score. That's on Spaz.
The storyline coming out of the game will be using two QBs or going to a new offense with Bordner. I appreciate trying something new but the problem is not QB. It's coaching and head coaching.
I think these final few games have the chance to really embarrass BC. There is plenty of blame to go around, but we need to focus on how to rebuild. It's not with Frank Spaziani.
I'll have second viewing thoughts and grades up this weekend.
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37 comments:
Let's hope Kevin Rogers comes back soon.
Our OL was bad and outclassed by FSU. Our OL was once the core of BC football and the source of our success. No more. Our D - except pass rush after first series -- was better than the score suggests. but D got burned a few times when caught gambling (ignoring FSU FB O'Leary)
But our coaches are worse and badly outclassed by FSU
The announcers, as expected, were obnoxious to round out a shitty evening. Craig James is the worst.
thanks ATL. great comments as always. you called spaz's ultraconservative playcalling and strategy from the start.
i agree with you about the rest of the season...yikes. NC state at home is a winnable game. probably kuechly's last home game of his career so hopefully we send him off with a good crowd and a W. we then have two nationally televised beatdowns awaiting us with ND and the U. each team has coaching staffs that will completely dissect our "strategy" and gameplan. we are currently -101 on the season against division 1 opponents, hopefully we can keep it under 150.
BC came into the game with what seemed like about 5 plays on offense and thats it. we have zero variety, FSU knew what was coming every time, and it showed. the game plan was to run, and we leave finch hanging out to dry with no lead blocker or running him out of a freaking shot gun.
i disagree with you on bordner; i think he showed a lot of grit and determination in moving the ball, and his errors were likely due to a lack of reps/nerves. that being said, i thought, most importantly, that the team really responded to him. rettig has always struck me as a kid with an attitude. i could never tell if it was a "will to win" sort of thing or if he was just a baby. but seeing bordner get those yards, and the o-linemen running down to pull him up and guys on the sideline get excited answered the question, in my opinion. i have seen a few times this season rettig get hit hard and have either grass stuck in his helmet or his jersey stuck under his shoulder pads and nobody gives him a hand. bordner seems like a leader; rettig does not.
finally, spaz punted down by 31 points. seriously, why not just throw the towel and call the game? it is an embarassment to the players who played hard the entire game, to the fans who show up on a thursday night, and just an overall gutless and cowardly call. if you don't want to win the game, just call it off and let everyone go home early. that to me is a fire-able offense. if you don't want to win, let's find someone who does.
also, mod34b, picking up on your anti-BC sentiment. after the game, sportscenter showed the highlight. granted, BC lost by 31 points, but they have a highlight where they "feature" kuechly and van pelt says something like "here is BC's all-american luke kuechly" and they show him get caught by an offensive lineman on a block on a FSU touchdown. if you are going to highlight his play, pick one of his 20 tackles, or mention that he is going to set the NCAA record for tackles this year as a junior. dont show us some smarmy clip of the kid getting blocked.
i hope BC hires mike leach just to spite ESPN. at the very least craig james wouldn't announce anymore of our games.
I totally agree with El Miz about Rettig. He is not an accurate passer and even worse he looked very intimidated out there. He should have jumped on that fumble in the first quarter. He lacks pocket awareness and has poor touch on short passes. I am hoping and praying that Spaz and GDF leave after this year and we hire Whipple. I am not rooting against the players but really every BC win from here out makes it easier to make no changes.
With about three minutes to go the students started a fire spaz chant and every player turned around as if they were in agreement. If that isn't a reason to fire the coach i dont know what is
It took students until three minutes to go to yell fire Spaz? A little late, and Spaz is a symptom, Spaz is not The Problem.
Whoever keeps the over his head, ego driven AD Gene in place is The Problem. Do not they teach that management organization and strategy stuff at BC?
Time to get honest and actually take action to make the football and ball programs competitive. Get back to eight win football ceiling along the way to nine, ten, ...
http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/04/former-bc-lineman-spaz-is-defeated-things-need-to-change/related/
Agree with the above. The team responded to Bordner. It's not because Josh is a great QB, it was simply the change. Uncle Dave or Marsco might have been able to do the same thing. Rettig still might be our best option in the future, but he's gotten a free pass for too long because of Spaz and the O-Line (and all of Spaz' quotable excuses). It was redonkulous that Border comes in and lights a spark under the team, moves the chains, and they throw Chase back in. Then they put in Bordner a play later (crowd goes wild), he hits a great pass down the middle, and they throw Chase back in. Frustrating.
Anyway, I'm not completely anti-Rettig or pro-Bordner, but we've long reached the point where other guys deserve shots to see if they can get it going.
Doing a twitter search of @BCGeneD leads to some colorful messages. Made my commute interesting.
i was at the game last night. ive never been more embarrassed. i was sitting near some seminole fans and they kept yelling out the next play we would run and laughed when they were correct. they predicted a 56-0 blow out after the first quarter. they said our players and coaches didnt want to be there. and the thing is... i didnt disagree.
does anyone know who would be on the short list to be the new coach?
"With 4:51 to play in the second quarter, the Seminoles led 28-0; they had outgained BC 214 yards to 16 and held the Eagles without a first down." NYT
BC could not compete against a an upper-level (not even top) ACC team.
It was an embarrassing fiasco to watch.
But this gives a little more ammo to the #FIRESPAZ movement.
Short list is an apt description as it will be a very short list of candidates that would want to coach at BC. It's simply not a great college job. The pay is low, you have to compete against pro sports for attention, fan support, even during the Matt Ryan glory days is weak, academic requirements make it extremely difficult to recruit, and fans have irrational expectations. On more than a few occasions I have read posts mentioning BC winning the national championship. Huh? BC is never going to win a national championship. If you cannot win it all with Doug Flutie and Matt Ryan, two of the best players to ever play on the Heights, you cannot expect such lofty goals. Even Notre Dame, with more attention, tradition and money cannot win a title in this era.
On the plus side, Boston is one of America's greatest cities, the BC players are smart and coachable, the ACC is a great conference, and the job can serve as a nice stepping-stone to a better job. It will take a special person, but with so many former NFL players, I'm hoping there is someone with a solid BC connection and head coaching experieince that really wants to be at BC. By the way, realistic expectations for BC are 7-8 wins, an annual trek to a bowl, and legitimately competing for the ACC title once every 5 years or so. You can't even dream of a national title until you first win a conference title, something BC has not done in years.
I was at Alumni last night and the most striking stat was mid-way through the second quarter, Luke had more tackles than the BC offense had yards.
I have been following BC football for 27 years, and this is the worst team since the late 80's. Even the Henning teams were better. The good news is we can only go up from here.
With 10:16 remaining in the 4th quarter, with BC losing 38-7, Spaz throws up the white flag and says "WE QUIT."
"NO MORE. WE WILL RUN OUT THE CLOCK FOR YOU. PLEASE DO NOT SCORE AGAIN"
how? -- Spaz eats the clock with running plays. 11/13 plays on the last drive were running plays. RUNNNING plays. And then he punts. Why? No football reason. We had nothng to lose by 'going for it on 4th and 9. Spaz is a hopeless chump.
Here is the play log for BC's long march to oblivion:
1st-10, BC20 10:16 R. Finch rushed to the right for 4 yard gain
2nd-6, BC24 10:16 R. Finch rushed to the left for 5 yard gain
3rd-1, BC29 9:42 R. Finch rushed up the middle for 4 yard gain
1st-10, BC33 9:04 R. Finch rushed to the right for 4 yard gain
2nd-6, BC37 8:34 R. Finch rushed up the middle for 5 yard gain
3rd-1, BC42 7:59 D. Elliott rushed up the middle for 3 yard gain
1st-10, BC45 7:31 R. Finch rushed to the left for 1 yard gain
2nd-9, BC46 7:05 C. Rettig passed to R. Finch to the left for 6 yard gain
3rd-3, FLST48 6:32 J. Bordner rushed up the middle for 2 yard gain
4th-1, FLST46 6:04 J. Bordner rushed to the right for 2 yard gain
1st-10, FLST44 5:23 R. Finch rushed to the left for 1 yard gain
2nd-9, FLST43 4:53 R. Finch rushed to the right for no gain
3rd-9, FLST43 4:13 C. Rettig incomplete pass to the right
4th-9, FLST43 3:28 R. Quigley punt. G. Reid returned punt for no gain
I wonder if this was all Spaz or if this was Brock being a Spaz stooge. I guess it does not matter.
Funny thing is, Rettig was passing well last night. He was crisp and accurate on his short routes, but had few yards to show for it. I don't think he attemtped a pass over 10 yards, but he was effective with short passing. that is a big improvement for Rettig
Why did we not try to throw the ball at the end -- if if just to get some practice for rettig and the recievers. WHY? Spaz was committed to running out the clock so we would only lose by 31 and he did not want to stop the clock with an incompelte pass! He was sending the message to Jimbo that we were done competing. Jimbo heard the message and called off the dogs. Spaz was happy -- ish.
EAGLEBOSTON --
1. No one is suggesting BC is aiming for a NC. Why are you pretending otherwise?
2. BC is a fine coaching destination. Edsall, Golden, London all would have gladly taken the job last go round.
3. The pay is low? Maybe compared to Texas and the SEC teams, but the pay is not low. A new coach will probably get around $1,500,000 a year with a 4 year contract. Collecting $6,000,000 is pretty sweet.
Eagleboston - I wish I could agree with this "The good news is we can only go up from here."
Kelly will run it up in South Bend and we will lose 56 to 7, unless they reach 60.
I can't believe how far this program has fallen under Spaziani and his coaches - and of course Napoleon DeFillipo.
And, how does Stanford in the Bay Area with all the pro teams and very high academic standards do it?
"I wonder if this was all Spaz or if this was Brock being a Spaz stooge. I guess it does not matter."
I can understand blaming Brock, unless you have some evidence that Spaz is calling the offensive plays.
Joseph-
You have a short memory. Stanford is a perennial doormat, except for the last couple years. They had losing seasons from 2002-2008 (2002 is as far back as espn.com goes). Then again, maybe they've turned a corner as a program, but it's too early to hold them up as an example of college football regularly excelling in a pro environment.
Speaking of offensive playcalling, why did we routinely throw behind the first down marker on 3rd down?
i disagree about BC not being a place where a coach will come. people will come if you pay them, and BC has plenty of money. (jags got $1.1 mil a year, gene D gets $1.3 mil a year). the academic restrictions probably puts BC out of play on about 20% of all recruits; granted many of those are top recruits but i don't think it affects us too badly. we have had 2 top-10 NFL draft picks in the last 5 years (raji and ryan) -- we can and do get good players. (kuechly will be a top 20 pick in next year's draft and he goes to class; andrew luck is a double major -- not every great football player is a total moron).
the next coaching contract NEEDS to be structured creatively. what would mike leach think of a 5 yr deal that paid him $1.3 per season ($6.5 million total) BUT had a $10 million bonus if he was still at the school in 5 seasons. that would average out to $3.3 million per year, among the highest in college football. that would incentivize him to stay and not coach with one foot out the door (like jags did) and really build a program.
plus he would play an exciting, fast tempo offense that would score a ton of points. this would build interest in the program, sell tickets, etc.
doesn't have to be leach but someone like him who plays a certain way, is young and enthusiastic, and wants to win. structure the deal so the coach is incentivized to stay.
you're telling me BC doesn't have $10 mil lying around, or can't raise $10 mil from like 20 deep pocketed donors who'd each put around 500k in a trust to get a legit coach? (if he's gone before 5 years is up they get their money back, with interest!)
BC Double Eagle -- Stanford was a doormat, until they got Harbaugh to turn it around. It all starts with the Head Coach.
Thanks El Miz. Exactly my point. They have turned it around which proves that it can be done. Not easy, but possible. I never liked the idea of avoiding desirable goals because they were tough to achieve.
Brock/Spaz. Who is really calling the plays? I would guess Spaz directed Brock to call conservative plays. Brock has no incentive to run-out-the-clock and lose-by-less, like Spaz.
Think about it. Brock knows that his days as the BC OC are numbered and there is a 90% chance he is out after Thanksgiving. His personal motive must be to get the offense moving and make some progress. What is he going to tell his next potential employer -- 'it was my decision to punt when we were down by 31 points, were in FSU territory and had zero to lose by 'going for it."
The conservative play-not-to-lose crap is all Spaz.
I did not get upset at the game, but for the first time in my BC fandom, I almost left at halftime.
In 2001 - a year we beat WVU, PITT, ND and Georgia - Stanford kicked our butt.
They had better line play and their TE's and WR's were very good, as was their QB (Fasani). They were ranked in the Top Ten towards the end of the season and got screwed by being sent to the inaugural "Seattle Bowl".
As far as the tv commentators, Craig James at one time was matched with Doug Flutie. It became very obvious that James had the green eye of jealousy toward Doug. He maneuvered Flutie out and had him replaced with Palmer.
JBQ -- Agree Craig James is awful. Just a jerk in so many ways.
But the following from his Wikipedia bio was revolting:
"In an interview with WFAA-TV in Dallas, James revealed that he is interested in getting involved in politics . . . . He has founded a political group called Texans for a Better America. James has said that he would not rule out running for the United States Senate seat currently held by Kay Bailey Hutchison in 2012."
Our country is truly going to hell if a punk ESPN announcer thinks he is going to the U.S. Senate.
Observations from the cheap seats:
-- Play-calling had very little to do with the outcome of last night's game. BC is simply not good enough to beat teams like FSU.
-- The talent divide between the two teams is enormous. I doubt there are more than half a dozen BC players who could make the three-deep roster at FSU.
-- As I said after the NU game, college ball is all about speed. We don't have any and FSU has it in abundance.
-- To state the obvious, to turn things around, BC needs a 180-degree change in recruiting philosophy. It must be based on speed, attitude and football toughness. Not size, IQ, press clippings, religion, etc. That requires a new, young-and-hungry coaching staff with an attitude, some flexibility in admission standards when necessary and a president who wants to win.
-- I don't see that happening anytime time soon, if ever.
(1)The stadium was pretty empty near the end of the game.When the team formed for the playing of the alma mater the only coach present was Barry Gallup.Why did the rest of the staff bolt early? I recall that Tom O'Brien always stood with the team during the playing of the Alma Mater. (2)In 1991 Miami joined the Big East with the aid of BC and others. BC played 2 historic games against the U.( Flutie 1984 and Ed Reed interception 2000). When the ACC expanded they only wanted Miami. It was Miami that forced the ACC into taking BC in. Miami reciprocated the kindness of 1991. Fr. Monan and Gladchuk got Miami into the Big east. Gdf had nothing to do with BC getting into the ACC. Gdf's work history was in the Big East(Villanova 5 years and BC 8 years) Prof. Katz at the Law School had the same impact on the ACC decision. ZERO. There is no causal connection between Leahy, Gdf and Katz and BC's entry into the ACC. (3) York for ad, Leach for coach and Bordner for QB. That team would be a sustantial up grade over what is there now. (4) Did anyone at Espn cover the "Espn told us what to do" story? Was Gdf mentioned? Was the anti-trust angle mentioned? Were the criminal penalties for restraint of trade addressed? Was Gdf delusional when he spoke to the Globe? Or was his retraction false? Someone has to get out the complete story.
Ned, thanks for the comments. Appreciate the clarification on the Monan angle.
Leach for HC/Bordner for QB i can get behind. if york was AD would that take him off hockey? what does the AD even do?
I agree with Scoop -- the difference in athletic talent was overwhelming. There's a reason Kuechly makes so many tackles week after week -- because no one else gets to the ball before him. He's an awesome player, and he deserves the praise he gets, no doubt, but I'd like to see a stat on the percentage of his tackles that are made more than four yards downfield from scrimmage. He frequently gets all the way to the other side of the field to make the tackle before any of his teamates, who were already on that side of the field get there (or after they've all missed). Put him on a team with a strong DL and CBs who aren't giving up a 12 yard cushion on every play and see how many tackles he gets (and how many games that team wins, btw).
This sounds like a bit of a rag on Luke, but that's not the point at all. I'm talking about the quality of the other ten guys.
I don't know what happened to BC recruiting, other than that it appears to have gone off a cliff.
Watching BC football now I truly feel bad for the current students.
I was a student between '95-'99 where we were 17-29 with no bowl appearances, no ND wins, and the henning gambling scandal.
The last three years watching the Spaz and DeFilippo ineptitude has been worse.
The coach is so overmatched and DeFilippo's mismanagement and micromanagement of the football team has to end.
Bravo to NED GDF had nothing to do in a positive manner with BC getting into the ACC. It was Monan and his connections as well as Miami. GDF almost blew it. He has to go, but I don't know if it will happen. It makes me sick to watch the demise of the programs and of any positive media attention over the past 4 years
Is there a huge gap between the fans and Fr. Leahy/The Board of Trustees? Where are the checks and balances, and why have they allowed GDF to amass so much unbridled power? He has been allowed to run the football program as his own personal fiefdom-to serve the needs of his own unquenchable ego without no regard for the good of the school. Why is this happening?
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