Offense: A-
Shinskie didn’t look as sharp as he did against FSU, but was certainly better than last week. Because so many balls are thrown to Larmond and Gunnell, my fear is he’s still not working through all his progressions. But he is showing great pocket presence and good touch. He also is using the pump fakes better. I also liked his decision to tuck and run. His WRs didn’t do him any favors with a few drops throughout the game.
There’s not much else to say about Harris’ record-setting day. He was patient, found the holes, ran through tackles, dodged guys, showed good vision and speed. What’s not to like? I also appreciated his blocking for Shinskie. Haden didn’t get to do much prior to going down with his injury. Finch looked good and showed good burst, but it was during garbage time.
You can’t put up numbers like Harris did without great line play. What’s most encouraging and a credit to the coaches is the line’s ability to pull and trap. The unit that looked lost against Clemson, looked very good yesterday. Watching it back, it was encouraging to see Castonzo and Claiborne busting open holes for Harris five and seven yards down field. The pass blocking was consistent too. Collectively this was the best this group has played this year. The only sack allowed was not their fault. Lapham is also playing much better.
For those wondering why the offense didn’t get an “A” it was due to the drops of the WRs. Gunnell also ran out of bounds early in the game on a would have been first down. At different points Larmond, Gunnell and Lee all dropped catchable balls. They do deserve credit for their blocking on the WildCat/Bazooka. Without them, Harris doesn’t touch the records.
Lars Anderson made some nice grabs. Pantale did a good job of catching the ball and getting out of bounds.
Tranq put together a great gameplan. As the announcers mentioned, no one has been running at NC State. Instead of us following the path laid out by Wake and Duke, we caught them off guard and ran it down their throats. He deserves credit for the Wildcat looking as good as it did. I also appreciate that he remained aggressive with Shinskie after last week’s disaster. And finally, he effectively used play action. Let’s hope he’s turned a corner and knows what works with these guys.
Defnese: B
The defensive line gets graded on a curve as they were playing extremely shorthanded. Giles had his best game of the season. He made some good tackles and heads up plays on batted balls. Albright also played well and was very effective when dropping into coverage. Newman looked good inside. Rossi was away from the action for much of the night but still looked good. Dan Williams played well as a down lineman.
Kuechly was excellent again. McLaughlin was better than last week and solid around the line. He still seems a step slow when in the zone coverage. Morrissey is getting starters snaps and played well. He seems to have a good feel for pass coverage. LeGrande was good. The second teamers played well including DiSanzo and Bagan.
When I mentioned some of the guys having their best game of the year, Wes Davis was someone I had in mind. Aside from the pick, he was also very active in supporting the run and made some big hits and a few tackles on Special Teams. Gause was ok. After struggling early, Fletcher looked good. Bowman had a solid day with his tackling and had one of his better days in defending the pass. Noel is getting more playing time. Johnson made some nice plays.
The defensive scheme looked much better this week. Maybe the light, quick front four is the right idea. The blitzes worked better and I liked the mix of zone and dropping into coverage. We also did a good job of containing Wilson. Although he eluded some sacks he was still under pressure throughout.
One other note that interested me and I am not sure if I heard it correctly, but right before the sack/fumble on Wilson you could hear someone scream something and it only got louder as the play developed. Based on what happened, I think it was Spaz or McGovern recognizing a play and tipping the defense. Or it could have been some jerk who the mic picked up, but still, I think I am right and if I am right it was one of the occasions where knowing Bible played to our advantage.
Special Teams: B
Jeff Smith busted one to give us good field position and did a good job without Fox.
Quigley’s punts were good. His kickoffs were fine, but our kick coverage was inconsistent.
Aponavicius was fine.
Overall: A-
I don’t know why we are such a different team at home. Spaz deserves credit for having his team ready and using a fresh plan to attack the Wolfpack. The defense also seemed back on track and more effective in their use of blitz. Everyone said that Spaz put extra emphasis on this game. If so, it paid off. With our destiny is practically in our own hands let’s hope he pushes the right buttons down the stretch.
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24 comments:
36,000 fans in attendance last Saturday. And they say BC does not travel well for bowl games. Hell, we don't even stay at home well.
I'd guess we're hurt a little by the perception it's hard to park and Newton is going to give you a hassle. Plus, the team isn't generating a lot of excitement, at least like it did under Jags. Perception is a big ship to turn around-- I remember when the Islanders hockey team was still good but not winning stanley cups (A long time ago now), people wouldn't go to the games b/c of the perception it was hard to get tickets, even though they were plenty. With the Yankees, before they started winning world series again in the late '90s, had a real tough time drawing people from Manhattan because of the perception it was a hassle getting to the Bronx. Perceptions are hard to change, but once you do it keeps momentum. I'd like to see BC do more to publicize that it is possible to go to a game if you don't have season tickets. I'm local now and had no idea tickets were available (not that my schedule would have allowed me to go)
Heavy freezing rain was forcast for game time. While it turned out to be a better afternoon weather-wise and other-wise than expected, it is reasonable that there were a lot of no-shows. I was one of them.
Did you happen to notice to crowd at the Pat's game yesterday. there were tons of empty seats. again -- rational chices made by fans
I think it has something to do with New England not really being a football region. People in the Midwest would drive through a blizzard to see a college football game. New Englanders would drive through a blizzard to see Bruins and Red Sox games. It's a cultural deal. What is frustrating though is that when I went to BC in the late 80's, the stadium was always full and the team was lousy.
I just hate to see these kids bust their asses and not get any support. It really is going to harm us in recruiting and it definitely moves us to lower-level bowls.
I will add this though: the students are far and away better and more supportive than we were back in the 80's. The student section is lively and pumped for each and every game. Gotta give the current students tons of credit.
Eagleboston is right on.
I don't buy the weather excuse. And while it is a huge hassle with the parking and limited tailgating, I don't buy the those as excuses to not come out to the stadium.
The student section and the Superfan movement have been huge. If it weren't for the student section and band on Saturday, Alumni would have seemed like a tomb.
There is truth to the cultural component. The fact is, we have a weak fan base. Period. We can make all the excuses we want, but our teams have outperformed our recruiting quite consistently for several years now. Alumni is rarely full, and with a few fine exceptions, is often pretty quiet (except for the students). With so many other local sports options, people just aren't that interested unless the team is always winning, or playing some other "big name" program.
Of course, a mediocre gameday experience hampers recruiting, which makes winning more challenging, and the cycle continues.
"New England not really being a football region"
ahem....did you notice the Pats seems to well. In fact they have a 25 year waiting list. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_season_ticket_waiting_lists
maybe what you meant to say, is that Boston is "pro" town, and colleges take back seat. But there is plenty of love for football in New england and the north east in general (Giants, Jets, etc).
Mod34B,
Football is plain and simple not as big in the northeast as it is in the midwest and the south. Have you ever been to Texas? They get as many fans at some high school games as BC does.
what eagleboston and albanyeagle said.
if people use weather as an excuse in boston, um, when exactly does that leave alumni filled? early september? there are other places with worse weather and probably a worse gameday experience and they fill up.
the cultural thing...true true. bc will never win this argument b/c in order for the pro vs. college, it's cultural crowd gets quieted, bc will have to become a generational experience--and for a myriad of reasons we're not close to that. dads and sons go to giants games, etc. but anyway, yeah, what eagleboston and albanyeagle said. and blist. perception probably does play a part. maybe we need a lane kiffin-type to come in and say all the wrong things, realizing that there is no such thing as bad publicity. nah, maybe not.
bottom line: there always seems to be an excuse. don't complain about boise.
as for the game, it's so nice to have speed at the wr position. harris and oline look great at home. defensively, i think we were pretty fortunate that wilson was a bit off--throwing behind guys, for example. our pass rush, or lack thereof, is hugely disconcerting, esp. in light of claussen and tate coming up.
and, again, most importantly, we still have road games on the schedule.
i don't remember ever seeing a more schizo team than this one.
won't some west coast team hire bud foster, please?
the fact of the matter is that the bigger midwestern and southern schools have a fan base that goes beyond alumni and their families. everyone i have ever met from ohio loves ohio state no matter what...same for michigan. we don't have a built in critical mass that give two shits about BC Football except for the people who actually went here. as we have become a more nationally recognized school, our alumni fan base has been spread out across the country. there was a time when the out-of-state BC student was a minority and that is now far from the case. we are better off comparing ourselves with duke football, regardless of the outcomes on the field, because the truth of the matter there is the same: they are an elite private school that the majority of people in the area could give a shit less about.
of the schools in the top 25 at the moment, only four are private:
BYU - might as well be a state school with the locals (mormons) coming out in droves
Miami - has a pedigree that we do not
USC - see miami
Cincy - averaging 31k butts in the seats this year so far
throw in Notre Dame who has the same thing going as Miami and USC (and then some) and i would argue that we are probably doing as well as we can expect to be.
There are plenty of football fans in NE and probably based on sheer population size more football fans in NE than Iowa, Nebraska, Georgia, West Virginia, etc ...
In other words, there is a potentially huge (enough) fan base here for BC to mine if it figures out how to do so...
You are right that attendance should be better at football and basketball, but 75% full on a awful weather day ain't bad. We had full houses for other home games. Better tailing gating rules (easier) and lower prices for tailgating fees might make BC a better game day destination. For most games i've been to lately, it is kind of dull tailgate wise, especially if you go to the Fanfest in the plex. So I agree there is tons on room for improvement
But yes, HS football is bigger in Texas (than Mass.) and so are their hats. But who cares?
Yes, Budd foster be gone...maybe to a Texas team ..He semms to have the perfect Texas name too
Clausen has never thrown a TD against BC and has a combined QB rating against BC of 23! Fear not, its all ND hype!!
From HD's weekly chat..
Brody (Miami)
What would be your ideal (plausible) matchup in the ACCCG?
Heather Dinich (1:06 PM)
Miami and anyone besides Boston College.
Love you too, HD!!
The game was repeated on ESPNU on sunday night at 7:30. Is is standard practice for an ABC regional game to be repeated on ESPNU the following night? Thanks.
1. Giving a "B" to special teams is far too generous. Smith had one notable runback, and he is not the player he used to be. Our own kickoffs are woefully short, and we routinely spot our opponent at around their 30-35 yard line. That's totally unacceptable.
2. What happened to McLaughlin towards the end of the game when he almost went ape-shit on one of NC's lineman? Did the guy grab McLaughlin's package in the pile?
3. All of these theories on why BC doesn't fill the stands every game are crap. There are three and only three main issues:
a. Average Team
I am a BC fruitcake. I'll go to any BC game regardless of how the team is doing. Regardless of our record, the Clemson and VTech games made us look average, if not worse. The non-die-hards will not get off their couches to see an average (or worse) BC team at home.
b. Weather
It has sucked this year. Rain all but one home game.
c. Non-Game Experience
BC must do things beyond fielding a good team to draw a crowd.
(1) Tailgating Sucks
I have a pass for Shea Field. Parking lots open a paltry three hours before kickoff. By the time you've parked and unloaded your crap, you've lost 45 minutes. Then, you need another 30 minutes to pack up your stuff and get to your seat. That really leaves only 1:30 - 1:45 minutes of pre-game tailgating. BC needs to give the neighbors the big middle finger and allow tailgating as early as people want to come to the school. I hope that when the Brighton property opens up, this grand offense to legitimate tailgating is remedied. The current situation almost is not worth it.
(2) Other
In my opinion, BC really does little to generate excitement about the gameday experience. Bands are boring. Color guard is boring. Even our cheerleaders' outfits are boring. It's time for some creative minds to submit ideas to make the non-football aspects of coming to a game a letigimate draw.
This seems like the kind of ass-backwards season where we might end up actually winning the ACCCG. Couldn't do it with Ryan. Couldn't do it with Raji, Brace, Herzy, et al. Dominate home games, get trampled on the road. Just seems like the next most logical step...
Bizarre that BC doesn't play another ACC game for a month. At least it keeps us in the divisional race for the next several weeks!
Eagle1, appreciate your enthusiasm, it's awesome, you're great...but...
Three reasons for poor attendance should translate to: a) excuse b) excuse and c) excuse
If it was important enough, people would go. If people are looking for a reason not to go, well, then, enunciate whatever it is you think people are thinking.
Were it so simple, sunny days would see Alumni always filled. Not so. Besides, I thought NE'ders were hearty folks. Like hobbits. Guess not. Plenty of average teams get better support. Regardless of how good or bad I think this team is, it's still in contention. The tailgating experience sucks. Okay.
There just don't seem to be many non-BC people who root for the team. Who are local. Most or many of us come from out of state and leave after school. Boston has no passion for BC. Pro teams? Of course, b/c they're generally pretty good.
One thing non-southerners fail to understand, or maybe they do, I don't know, is how UGA, for example, has more fans who didn't go to the school than did. Rural Georgia is all about UGA football. The entire state. It's a battle Ga. Tech loses in hearts and minds 100x over.
I'd agree that the gameday experience could use some ingenuity. But I get the feeling that even if U2 sang the national anthem and the fight song, and it was sunny, and Newton fell into the river, that I'd look up and see empty seats in both end zones.
44,000...a high school state championship game in Ga. gets that.
CT -- you need to check your facts
here is the site for NCAA 2008 attendance.
http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/football_records/Attendance/2008.pdfbc
BC's attendance - ~ 41 k per game -was better than the following well kmown programs:
louisville
vandy
stanford
boise
syracuse
cinci
wake
duke
indiana
tcu
north western
rice
Our attendance is close to the following schools:
rutgers 44k
miami 46k
marylamd 47k
gtech 47k
pitt 49k
And hey 36 k in hte rain, just 5 k below normal, is pretty good.
You guys are just going to have to find something else to rag on.
Lot of great schools with so-so attendance. Lot of so-so school with great attendance. Where do you want to be?
mod34b, with all due respect, you're providing THAT list with which to compare BC? um, yeah, ok, you're right and i'm wrong. bc is great. we're right there with duke, indiana, northwestern, stanford, vandy, wake, syracuse, etc., and on and on...look at all those "well-known programs."
programs in what? chemistry?
rice? really? you're throwing rice in there?
wow. um, by the way, in that scientific analysis--i can't believe you just brought out that list as a rah-rah point--bc played in the acccg last season. look at how awful all save maybe three of those teams were last year. i mean, come on.
and umd, miami, and rutgers were doing what last year? ga. tech is arguable, only b/c half their student population is asian and in the library and taking their education back to their home countries to build a better bomb.
you're not actually arguing that bc has a passionate fanbase, are you? minus us, who sit here and have to refute the idea that even as we're winning we have people comparing us to rice and indiana?
wow. that's beyond optimistic mod 34b. i'm not even sure there's a word for that. delusional?
where do i want to be? not having to state the obvious.
sadly, no.
are attendance figures based on tickets sold or through the gate?
your point is moot, anyway. half of those teams have stadiums with a capacity of less than 44,500 seat Alumni.
louisville, boise, duke, vandy, cinci, and wake have considerably smaller stadiums. you can't cite them in comparison.
tcu is the same.
stanford, indiana, nw and syr. have 50,000. rice 70,000.
fwiw, and it's not much at this point, undergrad. enrollment at nw is 8000, tcu 9000, syr 13000, indiana 38000.
36k is 8.5k short of a sell-out. why compare to the "average?"
ok, i'm done. 36k is great. 41k is terrific. all i'm gonna say is i'm thankful that college tv contracts don't work like the nfl, cuz then i'd only get to see one game a year.
rah.
Mod34B, you are comparing BC to some extremely mediocre programs. Lets take a look at the win percentage for the list you provided (win/loss records reflect 2003-2008):
Louisville .702
Vanderbilt: .352
Stanford: .333
Boise Stae: .872
syracuse: 310
Cinci: .600
Wake Forest: .554
duke: .171
Iindiana: .338
TCU: .748
Northwestern: .514
BC came in with .718 over the same time period. The only schools on your list with a better win percentage was Boise State and TCU. The Boise State stadium only holds 33k, of course they will average lower attendance. TCU has to compete with at least 3 other MAJOR texas schools for fandom, I'm not surprised they lose out to the likes of UT, A&M, and Tech.
I am already embarassed by the turnout to BC games (weather is not an excuse, its not like rainy and cold surprises anyone living in Boston). If we were drawing smaller crowds than the schools on your list, I'd be downright ashamed. If you want to claim that our attendance is acceptable amongst our peers, then please, by all means measure us against our peers, not the group that you put together.
Then what do you think is a fair or good comparator?
Just for future reference - ESPN GamePlan on DirecTV carried the NC State game from the opening kickoff, unlike ABC affiliates.
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