I've been writing about it all week -- and I am a little tired of the subject -- but the ACC did elect to continue playing eight conference games. Each school will sacrifice approximately $500,000 in TV money from ESPN. The traditional powers in the conference argued in favor of flexibility. Their argument against the money is that one of these neutral site "kickoff" type games is worth in the neighborhood of $4 million. ACC schools would have less scheduling flexibility to play those games if they had to commit to nine conference games plus a non-conference Power 5. Given Addazio and Bates' track record on scheduling, I think BC will use their flexibility to find more easy wins. The only silver lining is that future BC leadership will have open slots to toughen up the schedule once again.
Three Simple Keys
1. Don't let Watson escape the pocket. Spying him or only rushing four might create other problems, but I still hope our LBs wait back a bit to keep Watson from running. Ever drive he keeps alive with his feet keeps us off of the field.
2. Complete 65% of our passes. Drops and errant throws have hurt BC so far this season. Now that we are facing the best team in the conference, we cannot have mistakes.
3. Aggressive Special Teams. Rouse has already shown he's willing to return anything. We need that same sort of attitude on kick returns and another punt block would be nice.
Gambling Notes
-- Addazio is 1-6 vs Top Ten teams
-- BC has lost ten straight ACC games
-- Swinney is 23-16 on the road
The current line is BC+17
Factoid
BC and Clemson were both regulars on Thursday night games, but never played each other on the formally "big" night of college football. This is the first time the game is not being played on a Saturday.
Scoreboard Watching
The most optimistic fans have all looked to Wake and Syracuse as winnable games. They play each other this weekend. How good is Wake's D? Can Syracuse outscore them? Can BC still expect to beat both? This game might provide some answers.
I hope to see...
The Defense dominate. Last year -- even in the most lopsided games -- the D kept the games interesting. That didn't happen against Virginia Tech. If we are going to pull this off, we need our guys to play the best game of their lives.
BC is in trouble if...
We don't stretch the field. Like everyone else, Clemson will probably load the box and dare us to throw. There should be a bomb or two to Jeff Smith early to keep them honest.
Overall
This team has not scored 21 or more points against a Power 5 team since 2015. I just don't see it happening this weekend. I think our D comes to play and the game is close for a half. I think Clemson pulls away in the second half and BC gets a late score to make it look respectable.
Final Score: BC 14, Clemson 24
Posts
8 comments:
I hope to see ... Darius Wade get a shot this week.
Towles has been a total disappointment. 50% completions, doesn't play like a 5th year. we get two more seasons of Wade, he's looked good in limited time, and he's been in the program now for almost 3 full calendar years (he grayshirted, so he was on campus January 2014) - i find it hard to believe he couldn't be as good as Towles. hopefully we give him a shot in a non-garbage time situation and he proves up to the challenge.
will also be interesting to see if the fan support comes back - the second half of last week's game reminded me of a BC Rugby scrimmage being held at Alumni that I once attended. Clemson always travels well, it could turn into a de facto home game if our fans leave in droves (or don't show up at all). Thanks to Bates and Daz for captaining this sinking ship!
48 - 6 Clemson over BC. Clemson puts up 475 yards on offense and keeps BC to under 120 yards. BC punts 16 times and averages 28 yards a punt. It's a fiasco.
Nonetheless, Daz crows how this is an improvement over the VT game, especially for his "young" team. One player takes to Twitter to call Daz a "jackass" - he is found out and dismissed.
Daz wins the "Baghdad Bob" award for self-delusion.
I've got this feeling that BC is going to wipe the board with Clemson.The whisper about campus is that Addazio has seen the light and had decided to go for broke. The team members are astonished at the wide open game plan he had developed. It is based on the defense stepping up and stuffing Clemson's quarterback in much the same way that Louisville did for a while last week and playing a Brady-type offense with the tight end and wide receivers being hit with short passes and having them pick up big yardage after the catch.Apparently Rick Pitino is so upset at what happened to his team he flew up to Boston and spent time with Addazio helping him develop this plan. Pitono is still hoping to play in the championship game and the road to do that is to have Clemson lose. The Pitino/Addazio meeting is hush-hush since it breaks all sorts of ACC rules so it is best my source said to keep it quiet so I ask you not to spread it around.
Wouldn't it be nice if all that was true?
Innovation to win by Daz. Nope.
"STEVE ADDAZIO: Well, we absolutely believe at Boston College that you need to run the football to win [said the man who can't win]. But what we like to do is establish some consistency on offense, and we've been throwing the ball more this year [and have really sucked at that] than we have in the past with more balance. We'd like to continue that. Obviously the goal is to keep our defense off [ gee, steve, really??] the field and stay on the field and score some points because if you don't it could be a long night for you [Ya think Daz?]. However we can create some time of possession, I think that's the operative word right there. We'd like to create time of possession [no, steve, create f'ing points for Pete's Sake]."
It's a sign the end should come for a coach when ATL can't gin up the confidence to predict a W.
@EL MIZ: Wade is 5 ft 11, 190 or so and Towles is 6 ft 5, 250. There's your answer. Wade already broke his leg running away from a sack. Towles gets hit and "keeps on tickin'".
JBQ - Wade didn't even get the chance to run away, I don't think. He got completely bulldozed in my recollection, but I get your point.
If Towles can't do it early, I'd like to see Wade.
In my memory, Penn State has put 50 up on us twice at Alumni Stadium. Once in my senior year (50 to 28) Flutie's sophomore year (52 to 17) when he threw for 520 yards, but we couldn't get it into the end zone. Obviously we ouldn't stop Penn State that day.
Will Clemson surpass 52?
Syracuse and VT have put up 40+ points at Alumni, and I'm sure others may have as well. But 50?
I'm hoping it doesn't happen tonight.
Go BC - shock us all and give the defense something to work with.
I believe Wade can throw it marginally better than Towles (mainly talkin accuracy), but Towles size and sneaky speed that let him make some plays with his feet outweigh Wade's strengths. Wade was billed as a dual threat but I don't think he's a runner at all IMO
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