As for the actual game...those who went trick-or-treating didn't miss much. After a slow start, BC put in a solid effort.
I'll have my second viewing thoughts and grades up late Sunday.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Nothing scary
As people know, I am not for lowering the bar when it comes to BC sports. But I do want to congratulate Spaz for getting this team to a bowl. Few outside the program thought we would be in this position come November and even in the watered down postseason, going to a bowl is still an accomplishment. Now let's finish strong.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
36 comments:
Does it seem to you that Shinskie is missing to many wide open receivers at this point in the season? Given his age, i would expect him to be playing more like a second year player and not a Freshman anymore.
Any word on the extent of Montel's injury?
I think we cannot lose sight of the fact that Baseball and Football are two very different games. Shinskie's 7 years in the Minors really only amounts to leadership in the locker room and maybe some mental toughness in football. I do not think the learning curve is any less steep whether you're 18 or 25. Now, obviously a smart guy will climb that curve faster, but there is no FF button on game experience, and that's what he needs after 7 years off.
just returning home from the game and not having viewed it a 2nd time , my first impression is that shinskie has turned the corner ... for the first time this season i watched him go through his progressions today ... e.g. hitting harris out of the backfield over the middle for a great gain after looking off 2 receivers ... i have a feeling this 'kid' shinskie is going to be something special , his instincts are good ... a little aside , it was great to see jimmy o'brien et al from the class of 1959 being honored today , they very much deserve our gratitude for the foundation that they and those before them laid for the program we have today ...
BCPhiily -- good post.
When I saw the Harris over the middle pass play I thought of ATL's little tutorial.. It was almost an identical situaltion (except Shinskie now saw Harris and threw it to him).
Made me wonder if Tranq and/or Shinskie had studied ATL tutorial! Good work ATL!!
It was great to see Shin actually playing a little QB today and not just doing his Brett Favre impression. That dump-pass to Harris was a great play, but he had some other plays where he clearly went through his progressions. He also has a great arm and can really sling it.
I'm still worried about a couple things with him. He really relies on Gunnell. Gunnell had 8 catches, Harris had 2 and no one else had more than 1. Also, he still really struggles with his accuracy, especially on deep passes and early in the game. Hopefully those will improve with experience. That said, he is a very promising QB who looks to have a bright future.
Pardon me, I had bad stats. Jarvis, Pantale and Flutie all had two catches, in addition to Gunnell.
I was at Alummi today. This game really surprised me as I expected the Chips to give BC a tougher game. A lot of the credit goes to the defense. This is a very, very good defense at this stage of the season. They forced Le Fever into being one-dimensional, basically taking away his ability to pass with the zone coverage. Kuechley in person is unbelievable. He is in on almost every single play. It was great to see him score the TD. Scafe back in the lineup is huge. This Chip team normally has about 500 yards of offense and I think they had half that today.
Offense took a long time to get warmed up, but they finally figured out the underneath routes across the middle. Shinskie missed 3 wide, I mean wide open receivers deep in the first half. Harris looked great. I hope he is alright.
Crowd was sparse. I have been going to 1 game each year at Alumni for years and I have never seen it this bad. It was maybe two-thirds full. I was ashamed. Something needs to change or we will never get top players to go there. Big time players want a stage and a supportive audience and that does not exist at Alumni.
But, great victory and BC is going bowling yet again!!!
As for attendance (34,000 per ESPN), while low, it is understandable: it was a MAC team we were playing and it was Halloween. I would not sound the alarm just yet. We had pretty close to a full house (41,000 or so) for both FSU and Wake.
mod, I'm less worried about a half full Alumni on Halloween against a MAC team than I am failing to sell-out in the Wake and FSU games. Those are the two that seem more indicative of trouble than this one.
Don't sweat the attendance, guys. Remember the "trickle down" theory! We've got a lot of Alumni in CT,NY and NJ who might have said "pass" this year on gas prices, increased tailgating fees and tickets. Throw in some bad weather, not the greatest marquee home games (although we got an undeserved GameDay hosting), and you have not the greatest attendance. If you or your wife took a pay cut, lost some stock or worse, a quick and painless way to save a few grand is watching games in your living room this year.
Nice game today. A few things that would be great to focus on during th bye week.
1. Get Healthy
2. Get Healthy
3. Figure our 1-2 plays that Jeff Smith can handle and practice the crap out of them to help take a little of the load off of Harris (maybe some Bazooka).
4. Shinskie and Larmond should be handcuffed together for the two weeks so they get on the same page. The 2-3 near miss home runs per game are really giving me heartburn. Not to take anything away from Shinskie but can you imagine what Matt Ryan coulda done with a deep threat like Larmond? Would have actually been unfair to other teams.
I agree with Eagle in exile. Add in the rainy days that shut Shea field a few times plus rock bottom expectations and I think the numbers aren't terribly surprising. It's something to be concerned about but not a sky is falling scenario yet. Next year will be a bigger test. If next years better home schedule, more than likely higher expectations and god willing a healthier economy don't yield better numbers then I would be nervous.
Kuechly now leads the ACC in tackles.
KUECHLY FOR 2009 ACC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
BCDoubleEagle, I'm with you. If you've gone to the games live on a regular basis you can see how he anticipates far before the play develops. He has an eye for where the play is going, and somehow manages to weave through blocks to get there untouched. I'm looking forward to the Herzlich/Kuchley combo next year!
i'm with bostonfoodie, herzy(God-willing he returns to full strength and form) and kuechly on the same field is going to be SCARY for opposing offenses to gameplan for.
Kuechly has to eat at McElroy... shame...
I'm hoping for a sellout for the UNC game - a huge game for several reasons.
If we can take Virginia, we're still in the hunt when UNC comes to town, and it's a must win for us. Secondly - REVENGE - I was at the game in Chapel Hill last year and the Tar heels were laughing at us. Not so this year.
Let's go Tranq - open up the playbook even more!
UNC is the only ACC team we haven't beaten since joining the conference.
I think it's pretty bad when "almost full" and "it's okay, look at the weather/ opponent" are used to rationalize poor attendance. Other schools seem to do just fine in inclement weather or when challenging an inferior opponent.
Oh really? Other schools are fine, no problem! How bad does the weather get in Gainesville or Clemson for that matter. Anyone get a good look at the stands for Florida v Citadel? or Clemson v Coastal Carolina?
BC does have an attendance problem, and that problem stems from the fact that the local populace are not necessarily "BC people". If I was a successful BU, NU, Brandeis, Tufts or god forbid Harvard grad, would I be going to BC football games? Probably not, unless it was a free ticket, a marquee match-up and certainly not high wind or rain. Have you ever been to Clemson, S.C. ? The weather is better, there are no other colleges nearby competing for interest (or loyalty really) and there are no Pro teams, in any sport, in sight. So, what competes for things to do in Clemson on Saturdays in the fall? Not much, picnics, bike rides, hunting, and those things can be fit around the game. This is not to knock on Clemson or S.C. I love that part of the country, and I have been there, and I wish that our campus and fans were as alive on Gameday as that place is, but there are many factors as why we are not, and don't get me started on our ridiculous tailgating rules. Clemson fans showed up at BC 4 years ago expecting to set up camp on Friday and were turned away in disbelief. Even ND is more lenient about tailgating (and alcohol). Until we address these problems, the tailgating ones mostly, our atmosphere will never be what it is at the bigger schools.
I'm a Jersey alum who has consistently come up for 4-5 games each year, this year included. This year for the first time in a long time I didn't get seasons tickets for a variety of reasons. I have to say that the game day experience has become worse and worse each year, and is a real downer when considering to take the 4 hr.(one way) trip to Chestnut Hill or not. Over the last two/ three years when walking down Reservoir Ave. from Hammond St. (I luckily park at a friends house in Chestnut Hill) I am amazed at the lack of noise coming from the stadium/ Shea Field prior to a game. You would never know that 40 thousand or so people were about to get together. And of all insults, those folks coming on or waiting for those school buses to take them back to far off lands... What local would put up with that and the lack of atmosphere if you could just watch at home in your living room. And those "come to the Eagle walk infomercials" make me want to throw something at the jumbotron when they are asking folks to watch the team when they haven't even been able to get to the stadium yet. So either some brave folks decide to address this madness, or the situation will deteriorate. The alternative as I see it if we want "atmosphere" is to move all league games to Foxboro. Finally we need to serously consider who and how we schedule. We need to schedule a Holy Cross, or a Villanova, maybe even a Fordham in order to get folks excited, these MAC match ups dont do much, maybe Midwest recruiting but that is about it. On a positive note, attendance at games is down everywhere, only 37k showed up at the UConn/ Rutgers game. However, the UNC game needs to be a loud sell out, anything other will send a sad message to our football team.
Is that post a joke? Did I just see "Foxboro" and "atmosphere" in the same sentence? Schedule Fordham to get people excited? That has to be a joke. Yes, the game day atmosphere could use some work, but lets stay rational people. Plenty of BCS programs don't sell out every game.
Schedule Holy Cross? Why don't we drop down to D3 and join NESCAC? Games with Tufts, Colby and Amherst would really pull in the crowds.
is Foxboro bad for pre-game atmosphere (haven't been)? Tailgating allowed?
I've been to nearly every football home game since 1998 and I can say with confidence that this has been the worst weather we've had in a season in my memory. I can only remember one pooring rain game in the last few years (against Buffalo) and this year there have been two. On top of the two games where it actually rained, rain was heavily forecasted for another but it held off.
On top of rain, people's reluctance to spend money because of the economy, a game scheduled late on Halloween preventing young alumni with kids from coming, the increased costs of a tailgate spot year over year, and the generally low expectations of the team's performace prior to the season aren't helping matters.
When you add it all up, from a tailgating perspective, this season has been a near perfect storm with the notable exception of Game Day coming to town. I don't think all of this could happen two years in a row and expect to see a much better turnout next year.
Nick P, thank you for that very honest and rational response. Since I am out on the "Left" coast, I have to take people's word for it about the weather. This year's crowds are a hiccup, not a trend, and I expect a return to the norm next year.
I think people are a little harsh on hsk's post and what he meant. His intent was probably that games against teams from nearby might generate more interest whereas MAC schools, which do not travel well or have a lot of fans, do not. I do believe that I saw Syracuse on some tentative schedules in the next couple years. However, UConn can go F itself. They were so ridiculous during the split from the BigEast and so out for blood (including a lot of classless remarks from Calhoun), that I do not care to play them ever.
We could play the ND game at Foxboro, but the place would probably have more of their fans than ours, which would not be good. I've tailgated at Foxboro and had a good time, but when I go to a BC game, I want to go to campus, not just a stadium.
I think the only way to solve the tailgating problem is for the stronger alumni to lead the charge, and that means approaching the administration and getting them to convince (aka bribe) the city of Newton to loosen up. Also, they should find a way to leverage Gene D. so that he thinks his job depends on making Gameday more fun. Making GameDay more fun means opening Shea and the campus at 8am and it closes at 8pm. If you give people plenty of time to party, they will be more likely to be in their seats at kickoff. When they have to cram their entire tailgate into an hour or hour and a half before kickoff, you are begging for a half full stadium.
Funny, the tailgating/attendance issue keeps coming up.
Economy? Probably. Weather? A little. BC fans? A lot.
Noticed a lot of BC folks sitting on their hands after BC TDs last Saturday. I shouldn't complain. At least they showed up.
Next year. There's always next year for attendance. What will we hear next year?
Tentative future OOC home games in the next 5 yrs include: Kent State, Hofstra, Northwestern, UMass, Buffalo, Rhode Island, Army, Syracuse, Northeastern, USC (2014), and New Hampshire.
Sort of argues for those of you keen on fostering regional matchups for whatever reason. Morale. Attendance. Weather. Tailgating. Lower property taxes.
Tentatively, of course. Still time GDF...still time to replace Buffalo or Rhode Island with someone of note...go West or South, Mr. AD. Build the name. Play Oregon. Or Auburn.
Or, just whip up on Buffalo in front of 33,000 and use it towards a bowl that picked us 5th after finishing 2nd. You know, b/c we don't travel. To see Buffalo. When it's overcast.
The 2011 home schedule bores, but maybe they'll open Shea early by 2014 for a good home slate. You might even get two or three Newtonites out for the 'SC game.
You guys making excuses for attendance don't get it. I have gone to games earlier this decade against non-marquee teams and the stadium was full. Something has changed and my main point is recruits don't give a crap about Boston being a pro town or the weather or the economy. They want to play in front of full stadiums. Period. And the attendance is getting worse year by year. You should have seen the grounds around the stadium. I have never seen it so sparse. You almost would not even know there was a game if it were not for all of the cops.
I hope BC gets this fixed because it is a problem.
Luke Kuechly is now all alone at # 1 in the nation in solo tackles. What a beast.
Why are you all getting so glumly wound up about thing over which you have zero control say or input.
Cheer up the sun will come up tomorrow.
NICK P --
I remember that Buffalo game well.... I remember moving along the bleachers as the team drove down the field (the crowd was very sparse). I also remembering continuously thinking to myself "Why am I still here?" and "Will my sneakers ever be dry again?"
BUT... you failed to mention the Wake Forest game in 2005....
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=252880103
please, please read that and reminisce!! Matty Ice replacing Porter, leading 2 late TD drives..... Awesome game, love looking back at the old players, check the box score
I remember that Wake Forest game in '05, my girlfriend came to visit and made me leave as Ryan was coming in because she was cold and wet. As we left Alumni I heard the deafening roar of the student section as Matty Ice scored the first touchdown.
To this day that was still the only game I ever left early. We broke up soon thereafter.
The best part of the Buffalo game was how the gamblers were sweating it out as the Bulls were driving late, and BC got the INT to secure the cover, and people rejoiced (louder than just a normal blowout INT). Made it worth it to sit through the rain, and I didn't even have mobney on it.
Matthew - I remember that game well. What a classic Matty Ice moment. It was a wet day, but nowhere near as wet as the Buffalo game.
The Buffalo game had the worst crowd I've seen at a BC game since I started going my Freshman year (1988). However, one of the 2 rain games this year had the exact same weather with a much better crowd (driving rain at 75 degrees is easier to deal with than at 55-60).
Post a Comment