Thursday, November 22, 2018

BC-Syracuse preview

I know this is not unique to BC Football, but in college football every game now feels like a referendum on the state of the program. This game shouldn't determine our whole view of Addazio, but winning is critical. Beyond the 7-win ceiling, it would also stop the bleeding and give the team a little momentum going into the bowl game. I don't even want to think about what losing means.

What's on my mind (not totally related to this game)
Babers' name is getting floated for job openings. If he leaves it will be interesting to see where Syracuse looks. Babers was an unconventional hire -- no regional or school ties -- and seems to have worked. Maybe it  would encourage BC to be unconventional during our next major search.

Three Simple Keys
1.  Get points off of turnovers. I trust our DBs to force some INTs, but BC can't come away from those possessions without points.
2. Punish any nine-man boxes. This has been one of the most frustrating things of the losses. We've gotten a few big plays when teams load the box, but too often we either fail to get the pass off or run right into the crowd. Brown and Loeffler need to be smart and the O needs to execute
3. If Devitto plays, blitz like crazy. Let him show that he can handle the pressure in his face.

Gambling Notes
-- Syracuse leads the series 31-20
-- Addazio is 2-3 vs the Orange
-- Addazio is 4-1 on Senior Day
The current line is BC-7

Factoid
This is the seventh time BC has ended its regular season with a game against Syracuse.

Scoreboard Watching
Pay attention to all the middle of the pack ACC teams and borderline bowl teams like Wake, FSU, Duke, Miami, and VT. How all do will help determine our bowl slots.

I hope to see...
Bailey, Glines and Levy get touches in the run game. Regardless of health, Dillon shouldn't be running it 30+ times in a game.

BC is in trouble if...
If Brown struggles early. We missed lots of scoring opportunities. Syracuse is coming off a tough loss too. We need to put them away early.

Overall
In general, I don't love the Syracuse matchup. I don't like their explosiveness vs our inconsistency. But I think our D is good enough and they are beaten down enough that BC should be okay keeping it on the ground and winning by more than a touchdown.
Final Score: BC 31, Syracuse 21

25 comments:

mod34b said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
CT said...

I’m no fan of the $200 million Red Sox. Must be a tough GM job there. I guess society thinks cheating is okay if Belicheck is the greatest. Wake me when the Celtics lose in the Conference Semi-Finals to Milwaukee.

But “Golden Dome wannabes?” I draw the line right there.

Tim said...

Syracuse is ranked.

Addazio is 1-15 against AP ranked teams.

(Sad trombone).

Joseph said...

Do i read a hint of jealousy about Boston Sports?

Heights said...

Boston sports have obviously been successful, but the Boston people are pretty lame, in general.

They have no culture and are just obsessive about their sports teams.

They’re often pretty miserable and mean-spirited. Maybe because they lack education? Not sure.

All in all, pretty lame people. And they don’t even like BC!

Heights said...

For the record, I’m from Virginia so I’m not biased. Just a casual observer.

Joseph said...

Funny that so many attended BC. Go figure. I heard that about Viginians too. Never biased. Highly educated and cultured and don't care much for sports teams like VT etc. But, we still love them anyway. I hope that your day went well.

SU worries me and many others. I hope they open it up and stop running into a 9 man box.

Heights said...

Joseph, I like your diplomacy. Very impressive.

If only your fellow Bostonians could take a page out of your book.

JBQ said...

So, where has Bailey been? He is a slower version of Dillon and should have played last week since Dillon is a slower version of himself.

BCEagle said...

He played 4 games. Playing another will burn the redshirt they want to save for when Dillon likely goes pro after next year.

JBQ said...

@BCEagle: Thanks for the good information. I knew about the new rule but did not know about its relation to Bailey.

CT said...

Jealous? About sports? About multi-millionaires who give two shits whether u care or not? They have mortgages. They don’t care. I’ve known a few. Literally, They. Do. Not. Care.

Not jealous. Just amused about narratives.

More importantly, I am looking forward to watching Dillon run on first down this week. Again. And again. And again.

Wake me when we fire the staff. Until then...this is mental masturbation.

Heights said...

CT, I agree with everything you just said.

John said...

I had this game circled before the seaons started as a huge game.

Now I don't even want to watch it.

Thank you Steve "we're going to pound the rock" Addazio.

Geezer eagle said...

I feel the same way.

Big Ern said...

Yep. Will not be watching. I love BC and I love college football but this is just so monotonous.

Gonna watch Washington State play Washington tonight. Wazzu is so much fun to watch play. I know BC would never have the courage to hire a Mike Leach but he is the AntiDaz. Fun exciting and understands you win games by scoring more points not to keep it close.

janebc said...

As someone who has been following BC football for more than 35 years this is my prediction. I admit I could be wrong; this is largely based on intuition and I am still sick at heart from watching Daz hand the game to FSU last weekend. I was in the BC section of the stands in Tallahassee and all of us knew the minute Daz punted on 4th and 1 that the game was lost.
Daz has been exposed-again. Tomorrow, he will open up his post - 1970 playbook and shockingly, we win. Many will optimistically think Daz is over the learning curve (much like many of us believed last year) and now realizes that playing not to lose, i.e., having the defense on the field at the end of the game, does not work in the modern age. But no- the real Daz will still be there - the one who thinks you win games by running up the middle for 1 with your injured star running back, then running up the middle for 2, and then throwing a 3 yard pass when we need 7 or 8 yards. That Daz will back back for whatever bowl game we play in. Because the learning curve just isn't there.

John said...

Right on, Jane - sad as it is.

Shoulda, could, wouldas make one look bad, but I will risk that by saying this shoulda, could have been a 10 and 2 year.

Will we limp into our 8th win, so Addazio can claim major upward trajectory?

He's not known for beating ranked teams and Syracuse knows how to beat Addazio when they are at full strength. Heck, even if Dungey doesn't play, they have a chance because of our Head Coach.

Go BC - go players - overcome your offensive coordinator and beat Syracuse for and with the full help of our Seniors. Thank you, Seniors.

Geezer eagle said...

Janbc, you summed it up perfectly. Dazoshit is one of the worse, if not thee worse on field coach in FBS football. His predictable, drab, uninmaginative game plan consistently cost us at least two victories a year. Yet Jarmond the tailgater won't dump him. Simply outrageous.

John said...

I was just thinking during the FSU fiasco, what if Addazio didn't switch Smith from QB to WR?

Perhaps a seasoned, experienced, veteran dual-threat QB could have come off the bench and won that game.

What did bringing in Patrick Towles really do for us anyway?

We only saw Smith at QB as a true Freshman who was unprepared. We'll never know if he was better than Wade or whether he would have won a few more games for us as a dual threat pass/option QB.

Instead, Addazio changed him to WR and never gave other receivers a chance to show they could be counted on to catch a pass

It really vexes me that we have receivers who never see the field because Addazio has his favorites.

Go BC - let Jeff Smith throw a TD pass to someone not named Brown.

dixieagle said...

I was sitting right next to Jane at last week's FSU fiasco as we alternately screamed at Daz and cried on each other's shoulders. I have absolutely zero confidence in Daz. If by some confluence of fired-up players and occasional decent play calling we manage to win, Daz will blow it in the bowl game. As Jane says, there's no learning curve with Daz. He's just not capable of it.

Geezer eagle said...

Dixie, my fellow class of 74 Eagle. I wish we could share a hug. Dazoshit must go.

dixieagle said...

You're class of '74, too??? We are a long-suffering lot, aren't we??? Completely agree re: Daz.

Geezer eagle said...

Dixie, we have talked before and yes, we have suffered mightily over the years. Remember the year we went 9-2 and didn't get a bowl?

dixieagle said...

I knew we'd talked at some point, but had forgotten about the '74 connection. And I do remember the disappointment after 9-2. Story of our lives. I do hope they're not banished to Shreveport again. Made that trip the last time. No thanks.