Watch Meter talk to Troy Flutie

Programming note: Friday morning at 10 AM NESN debuts "Life is Great New England." Meter is hosting and interviewing future Eagle Troy Flutie. I am sure it will focus on Flutie's record breaking high school career but I bet they will get into his plans for BC.

Basketball loses ACC opener

The final score of BC-Maryland doesn't indicate how the game played out. The team showed some heart and overcame an early Terps run. The second half was back and forth. But late in the game, just when BC needed stops, the defense fell apart. BC couldn't close the gap and lost again.

If you're looking for bright spots, Owens had a solid game. The team also keeps converting on their FTs. But the whole effort still remains incredibly frustrating to watch.

The team is now 3-7 and 0-1 in the ACC. That's a huge hole. I am going to hold out as long as possible before I give up on the season. Maybe the Philadelphia game this weekend will spark something.

National media criticizing hoops and other links

Tonight's game against Maryland represents BC's chance to turn things around. For now though, criticism is building. Yahoo called us the most disappointing team of the season. 

Heisman campaigns are not just about what happens on the field. The Sports Information Department ran with the project as soon as Andre started putting up his ridiculous stats.

Williams awards circuit begins tonight in Florida. He's expected to win the Doak Walker.

Building on the Heisman hype

When he came out of the Syracuse game with his shoulder injury, most of us realized that Andre would not win the Heisman. However, it was still very important to get him to ceremony in New York. Getting Andre to New York wasn't just a chance to recognize his great performance, it was also an unmatched opportunity for Addazio to sell the program. Just watch his interview this interview with CBS Sports. It starts with Andre but gets into the first year, BC's offense, the bowl and playing Florida State. Even their hosts say this is all an infomercial for BC.

Mistaken mistakes

There are going to be a lot of articles like this in the coming weeks. But using Donahue's struggles to rehash the Skinner firing is not fair to anyone involved. Was it a "mistake" to fire Skinner as Donaldson writes? Probably. But you cannot judge it as a mistake purely based on where BC is now. And connecting the two issues is pointless since the man responsible for firing Skinner and hiring Donahue is no longer in charge of BC Sports.

Attacking Donahue as it relates to Skinner is obvious and pointless. His record will be BC's and our gauge. What another coach did 13 years ago, shouldn't really mean much. Donahue should be judged on what he's done and where the program is going. The mistakes Bates should be focusing on is how Donahue misjudged his roster, schedule and ability to adapt.

Donahue's last chance to save his job begins tomorrow. He not only needs the win. He needs to show potential recruits and BC's leadership that he has has fixed and has learned from his mistakes.

Bowl gifts and other links

One of the reasons players love bowls, it that they are given free gifts legally under NCAA rules. Typically bowls hand out the hot electronic items of the season. The latest trend which the Independence Bowl is following is allowing the players access to a "Gift Suite." That way the player can pick his own gift(s) instead of getting whatever gadget the bowl wanted to give to everyone. Should be fun for the guys.

ESPN and the Local High School coaches named future Eagle Troy Flutie "Mr. Football."

SBNation poked a hole in the Carey vs Williams matchup. Don't take offense, BC fans. He's mocking the narrative, not Andre.

Here is a 20 year old scouting report of Arizona Football from Keanu Reeves.

I'm an idiot, Example 8,743: my prediction about Andre Williams

In general, I don't like to spend too much time commenting on my own writing. That sort of navel gazing doesn't make for good blogging. But every once in a while I write something that is so far off, that I feel compelled to explain or apologize. The most recent example was my prediction for Andre Williams' 2013 season. Instead of 500 yards, he put together the best single season rushing performance in BC history! Once again this proves, I am wrong, wrong, wrong an awful lot.

If you read back what I wrote in the summer, it wasn't a negative commentary on Williams. It was more about what our offense would look like. I never thought the line would come together and I never thought they would give Williams the ball so often. Credit to the players I misjudged and the coaches for coaching them up.

I want to congratulate Williams on his spectacular season once more. It has never been so fun to be so wrong.

Williams invited to Heisman ceremony in NYC

Andre Williams is a Heisman Finalist. Who would have ever thought of that before the season? Williams remains a long shot to win the award over FSU Quarterback Jameis Winston, but this is truly a case of being honored by the nomination. Williams is one of two running backs at the ceremony and the only one to break 2,000 yards. The Finalists are SEC heavy and QB heavy, so maybe there is an outside chance that a split vote favors Andre.

The presentation will be on ESPN this Saturday night. Addazio and Williams will both be there. It will be just one more opportunity to promote and represent BC to a national audience. I know it will be the first time I've watched the show in years.

Congratulations obviously go to Williams and his Offensive Line. Credit should also go the the Fullbacks, Tight Ends and WRs who also blocked for him. And to Rettig too for taking a back seat this season. The Football Staff deserve thanks for putting together an effective offense around Wiliams and Sports Information deserve credit for putting together a late season Heisman campaign.

I am prepared for Winston to win, but I will dream that Andre pulls the upset right up to when they open the envelope.

This is not fun

The basketball team lost to USC Sunday. It didn't follow the established script for this BC season (shooting was the big issue today as opposed to just defense) but the feel is still the same. I hate using a subjective concept like "feel" to explain what's wrong but I don't know what else to do. Donahue is throwing anything he can up against the wall and it is not working. We have our moments, but once the other team goes on an extended run, we give up. The defense is primarily an issue of coaching and roster, but the guys don't seem to have any fight. 

Barring a miracle turnaround, Donahue is done. Does he have any answers and will the players fight for their coach? I don't know.

BC headed to Shreveport to face Arizona

Boston College will play Arizona in AdvoCare V100 Bowl in Shreveport, source said
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) December 8, 2013

The Independence Bowl -- currently known as the AdvoCare V100 Bowl -- selected BC for their 2013 edition. We will play Pac 12 at large team Arizona. Despite all my bemoaning of the date and location, this is still a good thing. I will have a lot more on the bowl and Arizona in the coming weeks, but let me share the best aspect of this arrangement: ESPN and Shreveport wanted BC in this game.

For years we've been told how undesirable we are for bowls. How this played out proves otherwise. Even though this is not a major bowl, this is the oldest bowl we've played in since the Cotton. Shreveport has good local support and wants the best possible match-up. It is not just a exhibition by the local CVB to bilk teams into buying tickets and guaranteeing hotel rooms. They wanted BC and they wanted an Andre Williams-Ka'Deem Carey face off. ESPN wanted us in this game too. While Brad Bates and I were loving the idea of BC on New Year's Day, ESPN just looked at it as a wasted opportunity. The Heart of Dallas Bowl gets low, low ratings because of its timeslot and ESPN U. The Independence Bowl kicks off a relatively busy bowl day and the first half of the game will be unopposed. It will get a big rating. We will hear "Williams vs Carey" over and over, especially when ESPN promotes the game during the earlier bowls.

This is good news and should be a good game. Remember if you do go, buy your tickets directly from BC.

Northern Illinois's loss helps BC

Northern Illinois lost in the MAC Championship Friday night. Prior to the game, everyone had them penciled into a BCS game. With the loss neither Norther Illinois or the team that beat them -- Bowling Green -- will be in one of the elite bowls. That's good news for BC but not in the obvious way. We're not suddenly going to a BCS bowl in their place. But another team from a major conference will and that will open yet another lower level bowl.

Right now BC is still in the mix for Shreveport and obviously Dallas. But the TV folks would rather have BC in one of the random bowls instead of Dallas. The Heart of Dallas Bowl is carried on ESPN U and on New Year's Day. For someone like me, that's no big deal. But ESPN the best ratings and audience numbers. Relegating a team from a big market with a decent regional following to a bowl on a channel without great national reach like ESPN U doesn't make sense for ESPN. They would rather have us in a pre New Year's Bowl on one of their main networks. Then the casual BC fans are more likely to watch.

We will know all the bowl news Sunday night. Right now it is a game of Musical Chairs. Odds say we are still going to Dallas, but if that is not where ESPN wants us, things can change.

Schedule filled and other links

According to an ESPN report, BC filled its open 2014 date with Colorado State. That might not fire up the casual fan, but it is a solid way to fill out the season. Next year will be filled with growing pains as we replace a QB and adjust the offense. Colorado State is the type of opponent that should be an underdog but will give us some credibility.

Boston College adds Sept. 27, 2014 home game with Colorado State
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) December 6, 2013

BC dominated UNH Friday. Six different Eagles scored.

The Women's Basketball team lost to Wisconsin on Thursday.

Tweets of the Week

I believe Charlie Pierce makes this point, but do NOT fuck with the Jesuits. They are smarter than you. They're God's Marines. OORAH, mother

— Jeb Lund (@Mobute) December 6, 2013

IMPORTANT: @RonBurgundy calling the Doug Flutie Hail Mary pass - http://t.co/1PFbGITaQ8 (@bcinterruption @bcatleagle #WeAreBC #Anchorman

— Red Fabbri (@redfabbri) December 5, 2013

A BC football player is talking about "the human conscience" on sportscenter. My life is complete #Andre44Heisman

— ATR (@AroundTheRes) December 5, 2013

Just saw the BC-Purdue score. Is BC the most disappointing team in the country? I lean toward UNLV but still....

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) December 5, 2013

Andre at ESPN

As part of his Heisman campaign, Andre Williams spent most of Thursday on various ESPN platforms. He took part in shows, SportsCenter, podcasts and radio. These sort of things are not as easy as they look, but Williams handled himself very well. Given his humble nature, I don't know if Williams will ever be a media star, but he's clearly got a good head on his shoulders. We are very lucky to have him representing BC.

Purdue blows out Hoops in predictable fashion

I could write a recap of the Purdue loss but it would be a waste of time. BC got run off the court by a more physical team. BC again looked lost and disinterested on defense. The offensive numbers will look okay in a boxscore but won't reflect the feel or flow of the game. We are now getting to the point where the conversation will shift from "what can Donahue do?" to "what is Brad Bates going to do?"

I know the staff thinks they are close to a breakthrough. The players said all the right things in MSG last week. Someone needs to give this whole group a wake-up call. If they don't go on a huge run shortly they are all out.

The fake Cotton Bowl is better than the real Independence Bowl

The news of the day is that Bates is working the back channels to get BC into the Heart of Dallas Bowl instead of the ACC-affiliated Independence Bowl. This makes sense on so many level that I expect something to happen this weekend to screw it up.

Although the game is played in the actual Cotton Bowl, the actual Cotton Bowl game is now played in Jerry's World in Arlington. This game was created to keep the building full and justify its recent renovations. But the bowl has a lot going for it. First it is played in a major city with a decent BC Alumni population. Second it is played on January 1. While it may be the least important January 1 game, it would still allow BC to be part of the biggest day in college football. And 99% of our fans would have the day off and be able to watch it live.

Other than its confusing history and identity, the only real drawback to Dallas game would be the opponent. Due to the Conference USA affiliation, the other team is likely to be Rice or North Texas. However, there is no guarantee that the Independence Bowl will find a better opponent.

In theory the Independence Bowl could pair up its ACC rep with an at large Pac 12 team. That would be ideal, but I don't see it happening. The Independence Bowl needs to sell some tickets and BC vs Oregon State will bring no one to Shreveport. The more likely outcome it that the Independence Bowl backfills with another regional mid-major team that might sell tickets. That would leave BC in an undesirable location in an undesirable timeslot vs an unappealing opponent. Do you think we'd sell any tickets for that? Let Pitt or Syracuse bear the brunt of triple whammy.

Nitpicking aspects of bowls is a nice problem to have again. But if BC is playing Rice on New Year's Day in the Cotton Bowl, I won't complain.

Dude, Where's My Defense?

When Addazio started filling out his staff, I thought Don Brown was his best hire. Brown represented so many pluses in one coach: a veteran of the region, a known commodity to local high schools, a former head coach and best of all, an aggressive Defensive Coordinator who would change BC's whole mentality. Goodbye to 16 years of "bend but don't break." Hello to blitz anytime from anywhere. I also thought Don would be key to the inevitably rocky transition from Spaz to Addazio. With a relatively untested Offensive Coordinator in Ryan Day, I thought Brown would be able to "make lemonade" out of Spaz's leftovers and keep us in games this year. Like many of my predictions and expectations for this season, the opposite occurred.

While there was plenty to be excited about with the new BC Defense, the results in the first year weren't great: Here are the prime statistics:

• 86th Nationally in Total Defense
• 72nd Nationally in Scoring Defense
• 81st Nationally in 3rd Down Conversion Defense
• 103rd Nationally in Team Passing Efficiency Defense
• 51st Nationally in Rushing Defense 
• 14th in the ACC in Total Defense
• 12th in the ACC Scoring Defense
• 9th in the ACC in Rushing Defense
• 14th in the ACC in Team Passing Efficiency Defense
• 14th in the ACC in Team Passing Defense
• 3rd in the ACC in Red Zone Defense

When you are last in the conference in Total Defense something is wrong. But I haven't lost hope in Brown. There are some explanations as to why BC struggled this year and some history that things will get better.


What happened?

In my opinion, at the most basic level, BC didn't have the talent or depth to run the defense Brown implemented. There wasn't a lot of speed up front and the DBs weren't recruited or coached to play aggressive single coverage under Spaz. The best part of the defensive roster -- the linebackers -- carried the team and created the most big plays.

I also think the group lacked an institutional knowledge to play the defense. One of the huge positives about running the same scheme year after year, is that it becomes second nature to everyone. Every DE knows where every Safety should be on each play and in each coverage. If a blitz is called off presnap, instinctively everyone knows his assignment. That is hard to create in just one year. Think of how lost even our smartest players looked against Villanova. If you look at a lot of the mistakes from Syracuse it is because guys are not where they are supposed to be. As the players get used to the system every year, we will rebuild the institutional knowledge.

Finally the tackling toward the end of the season was not great. That is not just a Don Brown issue. With something like tackling blame goes from Addazio to the position coaches to the S&C staff to the players themselves. I don't expect that to be an issue in the bowl game or next year.

Concerns

Aside from the usual issues faced during a transition like confusion or the wrong type of players, I did have concerns about the results of our defense. We saw a welcome spike in sacks. But there weren't as many turnovers as you would expect. Why weren't opposing teams more confused? When you present that many different looks, a QB should end up making mistakes (think Logan Thomas). But too often we allowed QBs to complete a majority of their passes.

I also don't know or understand how Brown calls a game yet. I am sure things will become more familiar as we watch them more, but I could never see a pattern or consistent logic to the blitzes. That randomness may be intentional as to confuse the other team, but the results were iffy. And frustratingly there were plenty of games -- like Syracuse -- when constant pressure would work yet we stopped. I know it is old school, but I love the philosophy of keep doing something until the opponent proves they can stop it.


The Good News

Things will get better. Or at least they should if Brown's squads follow his pattern at previous FBS stops. While at UConn, his Defense went from 6th in the Big East in Total Defense in 2011 to 3rd in 2012. At Maryland Brown implemented this same scheme. In 2009 the Terps were 12th in the ACC in Total Defense. The next season they improved to 7th.

The other thing that gives me hope for the future was the dramatic improvement from a few select players. Edabali became a different player in this scheme. He made plays and wasn't just waiting for the action to come to him. Sylvia always had a good Football IQ but would often get exposed by the opposing offense. This year, before he got hurt, he was making big plays yet not allowing the killer deep passes as he did under Spaz.

Finally I think the overall talent will get better. When Spaz's defenses were at their best, it wasn't solely because of him. They were filled with all conference players and future NFLers. If BC brings in the right guys and coaches them up, Don Brown's defense won't be last in the conference.

I think keeping your coordinators is very important in college sports. Spaz showed that a revolving door only makes things worse. I still believe in Brown and hope that we eventually have the most aggressive and successful defense in the ACC.

Cyber Monday: Vintage BC Poster Calendar

Stuck on what to buy a BC fan for Christmas? These Classic Posters in a BC Calendar make a great gift. The page for each month is a detachable poster too. The 2014 Calendar has program covers from BC vs Holy Cross, BC vs Villanova, and BC vs Marquette (football). If you buy through any of these links, you will receive a 10% discount. [Full Disclosure: I get a referral fee.]


How to buy:
1. Go to www.asgardpress.com, and use the promo code "atleagle13."


Or


2. Just click on the link below.

http://www.asgardpress.com/?promocode=atleagle13

(A heads-up, the site doesn't calculate the 10% discount until the very end, so don't worry when you don't see the discount when you put the calendar in your shopping cart.)
This offer is good now until February 1, 2013.

Don't get worked up over Bowl projections

There will be a ton of bowl projections this week. Don't read too much into any of them. BC is bowling but won't be going to a BCS game. That is the extent of what we know. Everything else is speculation at this point. Don't worry. Don't feel wronged if BC ends up in a bowl you've never heard of. None of that really matters. What matters is that we get one more game, the Seniors get a bowl trip and Addazio gets a chance to end the season on a winning note. Here is a little more about what we know.

It all depends on the Orange Bowl

The ACC is the Orange Bowl's partner. However, since Florida State seems headed for the Championship Game, the Orange Bowl can take two non-ACC teams. Speculation is mixed on if they will. Clemson's loss hurt, but there aren't that many better two-loss teams that will also travel to Miami. If the Orange Bowl passes on Clemson, that knocks down each ACC team one slot. But the offset of them picking a SEC or Pac 12 team is that it will open up another bowl slot elsewhere. BC is dealing at the lower end of bowl slots anyway, so does it really matter if we have the ninth ACC game or replace the ninth SEC team?

The Championship Games will mix everything up

All the bowl projections assume the favorites win this weekend. Do you ever want to count on that happening? BC is not in that mix, but each game has a ripple effect on us. Like the Orange Bowl scenario, the lower level bowls will backfill based on what happens with their member conferences' champions.

ESPN will take care of BC and the ACC

There is no scenario where BC is left out. ESPN owns and operates seven bowls. As of today three of them will have to replace a team. ESPN will always go with a bigger market team from the ACC over one from a midmajor. It makes sense for them to keep the ACC happy and it makes for better ratings.

Second viewing thoughts and grade report: Syracuse

If you play enough close games some are not going to break your way. At this point in his tenure and rebuild it is encouraging that we were in position to win this often. Watching back you realize how lucky we were. Syracuse moved the ball all day and would've had more yardage if not for some really short fields. I will defend Addazio's calls later in the post, but I didn't see anything in the second viewing to change my mind from the initial postgame reaction. The loss was really on the defense.

Offense: B

Rettig saved his best game for last. His passes in general were good (not sure what happened with Naples on the INT). And he had good awareness. The runs showed surprising speed and the TD was a great play. I will have more on his career in the coming weeks. It was never what it could have been, but I am glad he is ending on an upswing. I think you also saw a glimpse of what this offense might look like with a true runner at QB.

I felt for Williams. Syracuse was ready for him but I believe that if he hadn't been hurt he would have got his yards. Their D started to loosen up. His TD run was nice. Willis played well and showed good elusiveness. He did drop a catchable pass. Rouse was fine in his few carries. Sinkovec blocked well and his TD catch was nice.

Amidon had one of his better games even though he wasn't targeted as often. He made big plays and got open on critical third down conversion early. Dudeck had one pass near him and couldn't pull it in. Naples looked good and so did Parsons on their big catches.

The offensive line was really good again. Patchan moved well and got down field on Andre's TD. Vardaro was solid and did well coming out of the backfield. No mistakes from Gallik this week. Williams moved well. White was good too.

Syracuse loaded the box in probably the most aggressive approach yet and I thought we adjusted well. After we realized we weren't going to run over them with Andre, we opened things up with play action. We also used OLine in new ways (Patchan in the slot on bubble screen! Vardaro as fullback!). It was creative and had plenty of explosive plays. I will defend the goaline play calling later, but overall I thought the offensive gameplan and the adjustments during the game were good.

Defense: D

This was another rough game for the Dline. Edebali got tied up by the zone read option plenty of times. He made just one big play and missed some tackles. Wujciak and Appiah got pushed around inside. The best of the DL was Mihalik.

The LBs were the bright spot on D. KPL made a ton of plays early. We should have kept blitzing him off the edge as it was effective. Daniels played tough and cleaned up a lot of mistakes. It wasn't the best game from Divitto but his INT was huge. When it happened I thought the game was over.

Where to start with the DBs? Other than Sylvia and C.J. Jones, no one looked very good. Simmons missed four critical tackles that would have killed drives. I also think he was supposed to have the Tight End on their first TD. Bryce Jones missed some tackles and was soft in coverage. He also fell down again on a big third down. ALJ got beat plenty of times. Asprilla was playing too far off throughout. I also don't know what happened on some of the coverages. Total breakdown in communication and or assignments.

I am going to write more about Don Brown in the coming weeks, but this game was bad. Putting aside the missed tackles, I don't understand our approach many times. I don't know if he is doing things by feel or what he sees or if he is just winging it in an effort to keep them off balance. We went away from what was working (KPL blitzing) and never came back to bring effective pressure again. I also don't know how when the play is so common place, our guys had such trouble with the zone read option. Even on the final drive there was no effort to mix it up or confuse. I don't know what happened.

Special Teams: C+

I found Syracuse's decision to kickoff short surprising but effective. Were they that afraid of Willis as a return man? Or maybe that confident that we would take advantage of a short field? My only complaint is that even after the first time they did it, the upmen (mainly Wolford) didn't try to return it. Willis was fine on the returns he had.

I was glad to see Spiffy back, although he wasn't able to do much on his one punt.


Freese's punts were not that great and hurt our punt coverage. On their biggest return, his punt was so low that our guys didn't have time to get down field. Obviously his kickoffs and field goal were good.

Overall: C+

There has been a lot of Armchair Quarterbacking regarding the third down pass on our final drive. I will defend the call to the hilt (the execution was a different issue). First of all, you need to pass there. We tried two runs and forced them to burn their remaining time outs. But they are still expecting and loading up for the run. They've been fairly effective at stopping it. One more run (assuming no fumbles) is unlikely to get a TD. It leaves you still kicking a short field goal and takes off an additional 40 seconds. However, the aggressive and in my opinion correct move, is throwing. The throw is more likely to lead to a touchdown. I would have liked to see Rettig put the throw in the endzone, but he said (and watching it back showed) that Naples was part of his progression. He makes the throw on the short side of the field. Naples catches it but cannot turn up field, cannot break a tackle and worst of all cannot stay in bounds. That invites the second guessing. But that doesn't mean it was the wrong call. If Naples gets the TD, Day and Addazio are geniuses. Instead they got a stoppage and gave Cuse more time. In college football time is rarely an issue. With the way our defense was playing, I think we needed the TD. Taking off another 40 seconds wouldn't have changed Syracuse's ability to get down field. Their first big completion on their final drive took all of six seconds. The play with the pass interference five seconds plus a stoppage. I know they scored with 12 seconds left, but that was only because they used all the time they had. I feel like they could've just as easily moved the ball with less time.

To give you some hindsight on why the aggressive play was the right call even though it was the wrong outcome, look at our sequence right before the half. Instead of regrouping or even playing it safe with runs, we went deep on the pass to Amidon. Addazio's been aggressive for the most part this year and it has paid off. I am glad he threw it there.

Overall I thought he managed the game well. We have a gimpy Williams and eventually lose him, yet the offense still moved the ball. We also kept our poise and gameplan after going down 14.

This was a tough one because we could have won. However, you cannot allow 480 yards and allow them to convert 66% of their third downs and still expect to win.

I am disappointed as I would be with any win, but I am not going to kill him for this. The team has come a long way and he now has another month of football to end the season on a high note.