Brown vs BC, an education

There will be much to study about Don Brown over the next few months, but I thought a good place to start would be in his games against BC. The Eagles have faced his defenses four times, winning three games. But the win-loss record doesn't capture Brown's side of the ball and the chaos he caused.

2004: BC vs UMass

We won this game 29-7, but Brown gave Paul Peterson fits. Peterson threw three picks and only completed 16 of 30 passes. As expected, Brown blitzed often and forced Peterson into some rushed throws. The game was close and BC only really pulled away when our defense started making plays. BC also went heavy on the run in the second half.

2007: BC vs UMass

BC was flying high coming into this game and the fans got a real wakeup call. After going up early BC stalled out and UMass cut the lead to three points. Matt then put the game away with an efficient drive. The problem was between the strong opening and the strong close, UMass knocked Ryan around. The game recap recounts: "Ryan was sacked once, roughed once illegally, forced to scramble three times and knocked down on a half-dozen or more other plays." UMass held him to 204 passing yards, with 24 completions on 42 attempts.

2009: BC vs Maryland
This was a low-scoring game that BC won despite Maryland having multiple chances to comeback. We also got to see the risk of Brown's blitzes. BC scored on a 66-yard touchdown when Shinskie hit Larmond in stride on the blitz. Once Larmond beat his man, no one could come over to help. Another recurring theme of BC taking on Brown's D was our ability to run the ball. Montel Harris had 142 yards.

2010: BC vs Maryland
This was a weird game in that Maryland got up early, BC calmed down and Rettig tried to lead a comeback. What I remember and appreciate is that even as BC climbed back, Brown didn't go into prevent. They kept coming. They also picked off Rettig twice.