Monday, November 14, 2016

Second viewing thoughts and grades: FSU

After the game Addazio explained away the blowouts by saying that the best teams bring their best games against us. I don't think that is a very accurate assessment. I think it is more that our defense is high-risk, high-reward and this year the better teams are punishing us. It is not just because Don Brown is not around anymore (although that is a factor). I think that the consistent theme of all the blowouts is the offensive ineptitude. We can't score and we can't control the clock, so that just enables the other teams to get more possessions and score more points. Last year, both are offense and defense were better. This year's record is better, but that doesn't always tell the whole story.

Offense: F

I don't know what promises were made, but we need to put Towles on the bench. Even just to try something new. He didn't get great protection, but once again the decisions and accuracy were not good. I know this might not make sense, but I think his INT numbers are telling too. He's not throwing many against good defenses. I think that is because he's so hesitant to throw into any coverage that we don't take any chances and pass on reasonably open WRs. That was the case Friday night. Wade was fine in mop up duty. He is more decisive. The game was over when he got in, so I don't know if we can take anything from it.

Hilliman is another square peg, round hole piece in this offense. We are not good enough to be a power running team so he's left to run into traffic and try to power through. I don't know if we are wasting as Andre Williams level talent, but he is being wasted. Willis played hard and is at least fighting. Jones didn't get enough touches this week,

Jeff Smith did get touches, but not in the right way. I know that they are using him in Wildcat to make something happen, but it reeks of desperation. He had too many drops Friday. Callinan, Sweeney and Walker all had nice catches. We just didn't get them enough catchable passes.

You can't win with two bad tackles. Montiero and Lowry both struggled. Baker was fine. Lindstrom was fine. Johnson wasn't great but he does seem to be getting better.

It seems like Loefler realizes the things he wants to do don't work (running between the tackles, play action, etc). Because he adds in misdirection and Wildcat packages and plenty of other quirks. But we still go back to those runs into the line and bad passes that we kill drive after drive. It is a gameplan issue and an execution issue. BC needs to find out what we can execute at a high level and build gameplans from there.

Defense: C

I can't imagine how things would be without Landry. He brought pressure and looked good against a good line. Kavelec played well too. Even though Smith was missing Gutapfel held his own in the interior. Merritt looked lost and overmatched. Allen was okay. So was Ray.

Strachan had a strong game. Schwab looked good. Milano needs to make more plays. Richardson had some nice tackles.

Although he was picked on during the game, I don't think Denis was bad. If we had more pass rush, those passes would't have been so on the mark. For a young guy in that situation, he held his own. Yiadom played well. Johnson was very active. Harris was ok.

The first TD was too easy. Yet the D adjusted only to see Special Teams give FSU new life. Then some more stops and more stops. Things didn't really fall apart until the second half. I think it remains hard to be on the field out there like that with no hope. My only real critique is that BC needs to show different looks up front like they did under Brown. If only to keep the other team guessing.

Special Teams: C


The biggest problem with Special Teams was roughing the kicker. It didn't decide the game, but it certainly killed momentum. For a team like BC that is struggling, we can't have plays like that. Those are self inflicted wounds.

The punt coverage was fine. The kick coverage was fine.

Neither Walker nor Willis did anything special on their return opportunities. Rouse kept calling for fair catches.

Overall:  F

I referenced it up above, but I think the Wildcat Packages with Jeff Smith should have every BC fan wondering what the hell Addazio has been doing the past two years. Smith might not be the next Lamar Jackson, but he is a talent on a team lacking talent. If we had committed to running a Tyler Murphy style offense with him from Day 1 last year, we would not have gone winless last year in the ACC and would probably be in better shape now. What is so ironic is that Addazio did well in Year 1 and Year 2 in adapting his scheme to the roster he inherited. But in Year 3 and Year 4, once he finally had his own players, he made a mess of the whole thing. That shows a lack of vision, a lack of leadership and the inability to assess your own roster honestly. It is easy to take Spaz's players -- who you haven't been assessing and grooming for years -- and say this is what the guys can do. When it is your own -- your blinded by your own bias and wanting to be right.

Addazio still has a chance to save his job and the team still has enough guys playing hard, but I don't trust him to put two wins together.

21 comments:

ToTheHeights said...

Count UConn as a win. Given he was born in CT, played at CCSU, coached at Chesire HS, this is Addazio's Super Bowl. The rest of our schedule was ACC 'noise'.

I only ask the bloggers to not mistake a UConn win for turning the corner. The body of work is complete my friends.

Sad state of affairs, but I am not watching another season of this garbage.

FakeShalomTfree said...

bill- I thinks it's time you start blogging about head coaching and AD candidates. This team and athletic dept are garbage #draintheswamp

Bravesbill said...

#Trumptheestablishment

EL MIZ said...

"When it is your own -- your blinded by your own bias and wanting to be right." - DAZ announced today that Towles will continue to be the starter. discounting the cupcakes since anyone could have won those games, Towles is 1-6 as a starter. for the season against the ACC hs is 69/146 (47% completion, worse than freshman walkon Fadule last year) for 740 yards, 2 TD/5 INT. his average ACC game is 10 for 21 for 105 yards and 1 INT, this as a 5th year starter. simply not getting it done. yet the only reason that he continues to play is Daz's bias and wanting to be right. Daz's job is on the line but he still can't make the right call. Sad!

Big Jack Krack said...

Towles should not play, unless Wade gets hurt. And maybe not even then.

Re: Special Teams rating of C. Punting was bad and didn't the punter kick one into the back of one of his own blockers?

You can't make this up. We blocked our own punt.

BCballer said...

Re-watching that performance was akin to smelling your own fart...so kudos to Atl.

Big Jack Krack said...

We had 48 plays total in that game, at a time when college teams routinely get 70.

Count the 10 punts and it was still atrocious at 58.

Pitiful

FakeShalomTfree said...

I'd rather smell my own farts...it's arguably worse

bceagle91 said...

BCballer, if there's an award for analogy of the day, you win, hands down!

JBQ said...

Jeff Smith couldn't hit the side of a barn from five feet away. If he started, then he would face ten man lines. Towles has unbelievable talent. He is 6 ft 5, 250, and runs a 4.5 40. He started for two years in the SEC at Kentucky. Actually, he is too good for the team and has absolutely no coaching, maybe a little bit. His grandfather was Jim Bunning of the Detroit Tigers. He has the build of Tim Tebow, only he can throw. He will play in the pros. You have to live in a dream world to blame Towles.

EL MIZ said...

JBQ - did Observer College hack into your account? Towles stinks, plain and simple. don't you routinely post about how the SEC isn't as good as its cracked up to be? why, then, is Towles playing for a perennial door mat worth mentioning? he's garbage and should've been at least alternating time with Wade.

i said last year after Wade went down the team should go with Willis at Option QB and run the Murphy offense. i didn't know what we had with Smith but that would've worked as well. why we completely abandoned an offense that at least knew what it was trying to do i guess we'll never know - daz probably doesn't know either.

BTW daz tonight in his horrid weekly radio spot blamed "negative bloggers" for his inability to recruit. you hear that Mod 34b - coach thin skin is coming after you!

counting down the days until Daz and Bates are let go in a joint announcement. i'll take Tuesday, November 29 as the day it happens.

Knucklehead said...

The analysis in this post that the line or individuals on it played well is a sick fucking joke.

It is the lines fault that the QB has not had a "pocket" all season. It the lines fault that the RB's haven't had more that 3-4 runs for more than 25 yards all season(against GT, LVILLE, FSU, CLEMSON, Syracuse - not counting Umass etc).

The defense cannot get off the field(and ends up giving up 40-50 points) because the offense is incapable of sustaining a drive. When they do they turn the ball over or worse commit bunches of penalties. I don't recall a team that commits 2, 3 or 4 in a row to crush a drive seemingly every game.

The entire problem with this team is the offensive line.

Addazio has not bagged Towles because he knows next season, his last chance at BC, he will be using a 5th year transfer. If he had another QB Towles would have been decimated personally by Addazio. He won't get a 5th year QB to sign here if he mistreats Towles(who is far from the problem with the offense).

Knucklehead said...

This person needs to be removed from campus immediately.
http://www.bceagles.com/coaches.aspx?rc=163&path=football

baldysheehan said...

I got it. Here's what BC needs. Get rid of those inexperienced players. Bring in a team of guys like Towles who have as much connection to the school as Snowflake Shaughnessy and play with them.

Do away with freshman through senior players and load up with fifth year students who have already graduated from other schools. Look at all the classroom space you will fill up with scholars and not kicks.

I look at other schools and see they have quarterbacks starting as freshman or who have been on the team for years. It is a pleasure to watch them play and develope. We don't have that. You might as well bring in Park League players as fifth year seniors. First of all they aren't that good not having been drafted, secondly they take the heart out of s team by putting strangers above guys that have been around for years. What a sucky idea bringing them in. Only a desperate coach would lower himself to doing that. Would you send your kid to play for a coach that does that? Time for a breath of fresh air.

Unknown said...

I think you missed the mark suggesting starting Smith at QB was the lost answer. It's all about the OL, stupid.Running Smith all season akin to Murphy style offense would have him killed before game 5.He simply ain't big enough to carry that load, and throwing the ball ain't in his repertoire.

What has become as painfully obvious as anything these past 4 seasons is that Addazio is incapable of developing talent. He supposedly was an OL guy. Beyond the QB position, is there any greater example of his ineptitude than the OL?

He has been given way to much credit for the incredible good fortune that was Tyler Murphy. He hoped he would catch lightening in a bottle with Towles. How's that working for you, Sarge.

This guy is a fraud as a D1 HC, plain and simple. But he is our loveable fraud, reminds us the good Rev. Leahy.

BCAlum2000 said...

The OL is the key to all the problems. They can not protect the QB nor run block ... meaning they are basically useless. This is so much more appalling because BC was rightfully known as OLine U. BC could never attract the out-of-this world athlete, but could always get a huge, blue-collar OL, who with proper coaching and experience, could develop into an NFL caliber player. Teams hated playing us because by the third and fourth quarter, these guys had simply beaten the opposition into submission. This all started to change under Jags and his emphasis on zone blocking and smaller, "quicker" linemen. Now Adazzio, a guy who claims to be an OL coach at heart, has taken the ineptitude to a whole new level with players who would never have been back-ups in the TOB OLine U days.

Also, do not overlook the significance of Sgt Slaughter's idiotic initial decision to try to run a spread, running QB style offense when he first arrived here. Any novice with even the slightest knowledge of BC football, or college football for that matter, could have told you that would fail at BC as we will never be able to attract the type of athletes required to run that offense (geography, academics). He then abandons that after last years disaster despite having recruited 3 classes of kids who he thought would fit that system. The result is this hodge-podge of shit known as our offense. To top it all off, we collectively have the worst group of receivers in the country for about the fifth year running.

BCAlum2000 said...

And ultimately this is all Bates' fault as he interviewed Adazzio and presumably asked him about his philosophy, etc.

mod34b said...

BCAlum2000... I agree. The OL is the core, especially for the Daz game, and they are not good.

Interestingly, when Daz was hired he was touted as an OL guy, a Offesnvie specialist and a great recruiter. Turns out he is none of the above.

In his first 2 years, he knew he had a need for many more OL (the so-called Spaz OL deficit). Daz tried very hard to fix the problem but failed miserably. Offering upwards of a 100 OL prospects over 2 years. He only got 3 or so, and one quit the team. So, for the core of his program - an OL - he badly mismanaged recruiting. Then once the group got to the Height, he failed to coached them into a solid OL unit. Again, Daz is known as an OL recruiter and an OL coach but look at the results.

And look at Rivals (and other recruiting sites) now. Daz is last in the ACC for 2017 recruits and was last in recruits in ACC for 2016 class. Very low among P5 teams for quality of recruits too. The recruits know he sucks and are staying away.

BC need a new coach to change the perceptions of BC football ASAP.

****** Daz last beat an ACC team with a winning record over 4 years ago and none since. He can't compete ******

El Miz - funny! I laughed reading your comment. I am to blame! Man Up Daz. Don't be a Hillary.

mod34b said...

defense a "C"???

I'd go with "F", or, if being charitable, maybe a "D-"

Geezer eagle said...

Mod clearly articulates the core problems and issues. Well written my friend.

mod34b said...

thanks GE