1995
What happened? Mark Hartsell returned as the starter but regressed badly. He was making terrible in-game decisions and just looked lost in Dan Henning's offense. Uber recruit Scott Mutryn was redshirting after playing as a true freshman in 1994. Hartsell's backup was the less heralded, but very poised Matt Hasselbeck.
Rock bottom: Hartsell had a full meltdown in a game against Michigan State. Like the Georgia Tech loss, the rest of the team did everything they could and should have won the game.
How did it play out: Hartsell's poor play and nagging injuries opened the door for Hasselbeck to start. He showed a spark that was lacking yet BC continued to pile up losses. Henning gave a healthy Hartsell the nod later in the year.
Final record: 4-8
1996
What happened? Scott Mutryn won the starting job over the more popular and experienced Hasselbeck.
Rock bottom: BC had trouble early as Mutryn struggled in the opener at Hawaii.
How did it play out: The team never gelled. Hasselbeck became the starter yet Mutryn was still getting playing time. The team was split along the two QB clicks. While that wasn't the reason for the later gambling scandal, the atmosphere and lack of direction from Henning certainly contributed to the program floundering.
Final record: 5-7
2003
What happened? Quinton Porter won the starting job over JUCO transfer Paul Peterson.
Rock bottom: Losing three out of four including three straight Big East games. At this point Peterson was getting a series or two and always looked much better than Porter.
How did it play out: Porter hurt his hand against West Virginia. Peterson entered the game and nearly rallied BC to victory. He started the next week and never looked back. Peterson finished 2003 3-0 as a starter and went onto to an impressive 12-2 run when starting.
Final record: 8-5
2005
What happened? After redshirting the 2004 season, Porter was reinserted as the starter over Matt Ryan.
Rock bottom: A midseason Porter slump left everyone wondering why TOB was sticking with the Maine product when Ryan had showed so much promise during Porter's absence. The rock bottom came during a game in North Carolina. Porter struggled against a bad UNC team and during the game Tar Heels coach John Bunting even told a sideline reporter he was surprised that TOB hadn't gone with Ryan.
How did it play out: Ryan got the call the following week against NC State. The offense showed a spark and aggressiveness that would become the trademark of the Ryan era.
Final record: 9-3
Unless Chris Crane suddenly flips a switch and becomes a great QB, I think we are headed towards another controversy. The coaches will hopefully find a solution that leads to a winning season, but the looming controversy almost guarantees and under achieving record.
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16 comments:
I'd throw 1998 on that list too. Tim Hasselbeck and Scott Putrid - notice a theme here?
Hasselbeck subbed for Mutryn during the opener against GT and led the team to victory - BC's first career win over the Wreck. They continued to split time the rest of the season - Hasselbeck playing effectively and Mutryn making a habit of completing passes to opposing DBs.
I think that was the genesis for the 2nd Quarter series with the back-up that TOB employed the next few years with Haselbeck, St. Pierre, et. al.
Speaking of which - I wouldn't be surprised if Davis starts seeing some time. I heard earlier in the year that Jags wants to work Davis in on occassion - much like TOB used to do. I wouldn't take that as a sign that they're giving up on Crane just yet.
I don't expect a controvery unless Crane is REALLY bad for many games. The main reason is we don't know anything about Davis/Johnson/Boek.
We've never seen them play.
They weren't household name recruits like local products St Pierre & Tim Hasselbeck.
I hate that QP shortened the careers of two great BC quarterbacks.
In the WVU game you mentioned, didn't QP come back in.
QP in - we stink
QP hurt
PP in - we rally
QP comes back in - we choke & lose
Did I remember that right? Wasn't that the game where Porter missed a shotgun snap, ran back 10 mre yards to retrieve it but some how bobbled it even deeper so WVU recovered a fumble 30 yards deeper than the line of scrimmage?
I would rather have a bad year this year seeing whether or not Boek/Davis/Johnson can handle this offense than have a mediocre to bad year this year under Crane and have to endure the same questions next year while Boek/Davis/Johnson/??? get their feet wet as a starter. I give Crane 2 more ACC losses or a embarrassing game to UCF (which would be really bad because my brother goes there)
mmb 1980...you are wrong about 1998...Mutryn was very good in that G-Tech game - T. Hass only came in for two plays in the 2nd Q in that one - Mutryn actually had an okay season that year. He played excellent against ND and Navy...both games we lost by inches. If BC wins those games, that 98 team goes to a bowl and people look at Mutryn's legacy much differently. He wasn't as horrible as people make him out to be. You might be thinking about the 96 Hawaii game where he WAS awful and Matt Hass came in and saved the day, winning the starting job in the process
ast modified at 2:26 a.m. on Sunday, September 6, 1998
Versatile Mutryn, Boston College outlast Yellow Jackets
Associated Press
ATLANTA - Quarterback Scott Mutryn ran for two touchdowns and passed for another and Mike Cloud ran for 200 yards and two touchdowns to lead Boston College to a 41-31 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Mutryn shredded Tech's defense, hitting 16-of-26 for 220 yards. Tech, which finished 7-5 and 25th in the final AP poll last year, never led.
Quarterback Joe Hamilton passed six yards to fullback Ed Wilder to tie the game at 31 with 7:06 left, but Boston College scored on its next two possessions to pull away in the season opener for both teams.
After his defense yielded 429 yards a game last year, Tech coach George O'Leary brought in Randy Edsall, secondary coach for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, to take over as defensive coordinator. However, Tech's defense barely slowed Boston College, whose 4-7 record last year included a 42-14 loss to Tech.
Boston College totaled 491 yards of offense.
Cloud, sidelined by a rib injury for last year's Tech game, carried 34 times and also caught a 9-yard pass.
Hamilton passed for two touchdowns, hitting 15-of-29 for 227 yards, and Charlie Rogers led Tech's running with 81 yards on six carries.
I don't think we have a quarterback "controversy" this year. Controversies occur when there's some reason to think that the backup is better than the starter-- based on game experience, practice experience, or reputation.
This year we have none of those. Have we ever seen Davis play well in a game? No. Did Davis outperform Crane in practice? No, and certainly not in the spring game. In fact, there was no competition between the two players for the starting job. And did Davis come in with a reputation as a heralded recruit? No way. He was headed to Middle Tennessee (or Buffalo-- I get him and Johnson mixed up) before we picked him up.
Davis's sole criteria for playing is that Crane monumentally sucked in the GT game. Granted, if we get an average game from our QB (i.e., no turnovers), we win that game, so if the staff supposes that Davis can accomplish that meager feat, then play him. But I fear that our alternatives to Crane this season are even worse than CC himself.
Um, Mike Powers/Mark Kamphouse, anyonebody?
How bout Willie Hicks/Glenn Foley.
Two of the biggest QB controversies in the history of BC football.
OK here's my thing - I feel really bad for Crane because he waited for so long for his chance, and I am sure he is a great kid - but the simple fact is that his ceiling is so much lower than anyone else. You cannot be a slave to seniority and play a guy merely because of age (e.g. Porter playing over Ryan). Therefore, I say we give him UCF. If he plays well, good for him and he remains the starter for RI, against whom he will surely play well. However, if he blows it against UCF, it is time to accept that it failed and look to the future, where all the other guys have time to learn and grow and benefit us down the line.
Also, just because someone had a better spring training or doesn't have game experience doesn't mean alot. Porter beat out both Ryan and Peterson in spring practice, but we all know the story there. Porter had way more game experience than Ryan, and again we know the story there. If Crane doesn't pick it up against UCF, I hope we have a controversy, or it means the backups are truly HOPELESS
Crane is our leader - let's stay behind him at this early stage. I know that Matt Ryan was younger when thrown in against Syracuse, but he didn't exactly inspire us with a lot of confidence in his first start. I know that the circumstances were different, but still........ One thing is for sure, Ryan learned from that experience - let's see what Crane does.
What the coaches need to do is work on Crane's vision of the field, decision-making and his throwing motion. Much like a baseball pitcher, he needs a coach to straighten out some motion quirks - he throws too high obviously.
I agree that UCF will be a big game for him , Coach Jags, Coach Logan and our entire coaching staff. When the pressure is mounting, it's better to offer support rather than criticism. As I said in an earlier post, we have lost to 4 out of our last 6 ACC opponents. Let's not drive ourselves crazy. We're under the radar now, must work our way back - and this can be a good thing. We have many young players who are filling critical roles. Let's go BC - let's go Chris - let's get this straightened out. Nothing against the backup QBs - all good guys. But when you come right down to it, we may see Tuggle emerge next year and hold the job for 4 years - who knows? If that were to be the case, switching from Crane too soon would not necessarily be a good move.
erik,
i'm pretty sure the horrible Q Porter play you described happened against Wake Forest in 2003. This is from the game recap:
Starting at the 50 after the kickoff, they moved to a second-and-2 at the Wake Forest 24. But Quinton Porter fumbled the snap, picked the ball up and threw a pass that was batted back at him.
Rather than knock the ball down for an incompletion, he caught it, and it was jarred loose for a fumble that was recovered by Quintin Williams, ending BC's chances.
That Wake game in 2003 was perhaps the only time I was glad a BC game wasn't televised. That play would've been all over the blooper reels.
haha very true Downtown Res
A lot of comments/posts lately have said something to the effect that "lets hope Crane is more like Ryan and less like Porter". You know what - at this point, I'd be more than happy with having him play like Porter.
Porter could make most of the throws and showed some flashes of being really good. I feel like his mistakes (such as the horrible WF play previously mentioned) and the fact that Matt Ryan became THE MAN, really have people remembering him in too harsh a light.
I know 2008 is only 2 games old, but I think everyone will agree that Crane has shown NO signs of being able to complete anything more than a dump-off pass. Basically, I'd take Porter in a heartbeat over Crane right now!
I felt that during his senior year, the light started to go on for QP. And then he got knocked out of the FSU game. The beginning of that game he was shredding the 'Noles D w/ short passes and looked very efficient. After he got hurt, he never showed the same decisiveness and poise. However, he was never very good to begin with. Games like the previously mentioned WVU game and the Pitt game the same year were just awful.
By the way, that famous 1998 BC-GT game had Coach Jags as BC's offensive coordinator.
Well, maybe not the *beginning* of that game, NorCal. The beginning of that game went like this:
Boston College at 14:53
1st and 10 at BC 20
Quinton Porter pass intercepted by AJ Nicholson at the BC 20, returned for 20 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Extra Point Good, FSU 7-0.
(4:45 later)
2nd and 11 at FSU 35
Quinton Porter pass intercepted by AJ Nicholson at the FSU 27, returned for 35 yards to the BC 38.
(three plays later: TOUCHDOWN, extra point good, FSU 14-0)
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