I'll have second viewing thoughts and grades up late Sunday.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Seniors go out in style
Play calling can be a lot like Rock, Paper, Scissors. Today I felt we executed pretty well but UVA often just had the right call against what we were trying to do. That made things frustrating and I was upset we didn't counter much, but a win is a win. I am happy for the guys and especially the seniors. I don't know if the bowl streak is that important to them, but at least they get some free stuff and a cool trip. Let's end on a high note next week against Syracuse!
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The announcers made the point that once Harris was out, we had a true freshmen QB, two true Freshmen receivers, and a true freshman RB (who went over 100 yds). Not to get ahead of ourselves, but is anyone excited about the future?
The good sign is that all these guys are playing pretty well. Besides Momah, Amidon and Swigart have been it. Williams had some great runs today, and Rettig is showing good development. Who knows how they will progress, but there is some reason for hope.
Very excited to be at the game next week. If Harris plays, he'll need 126 yards to become the school's all-time leading rusher.
Go Eagles, Run the Table!
Hats off to the team and the coaching staff for holding things together after the 5 game losing streak. There are a lot of schools that would die to have a "down" year mean 6 wins. And when you consider the youth as well as the injuries on defense, the record is all that more impressive. The future definitely looks bright and if next year's freshmen perform as well as this year's youngsters, look out.
Now let's get revenge on Syracuse for '04 and get that 7th win!
Playcalling seems to be getting progressively better. Still not enough to be impressed but I wonder how much of it is Tranquill slowly (very) changing or if some other hands are getting involved.
Ditto on the freshmen looking promising. We've still got another year from Harris and two from Larmond and Pantale. Future looks bright.
Reeeaallly want a win against Syracuse.
And not to get ahead of ourselves, but a lot of people have been saying we might get Boise State if we end up in San Fran. That would be pretty sick. Not a lot of downside on that game. You lose bad - oh well, people expected it. You lose close, looks very good for us. We win - MegaWin for us given all the press BSU has been getting this year.
Who actually is saying we could play Boise in SF?
If Boise State ended up in San Francisco, it would be an insult of epic proportions.
If Boise gets screwed by the BCS --a very real possibility -- Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl has their pick of the WAC.
It would absolutely be an epic insult for BSU as detailed on this BSU blog in which they refer to it as the "End of Days" scenario. BUT, insult or not, it is a distinct possibility.
http://www.obnug.com/2010/11/15/1813860/boise-state-bowl-possibilities-kraft-fight-hunger-sugar-bowl-rose
The good part about it for us is the game is not til January 9th. This would allow the freshmen 6 weeks of practice, 6 weeks for Herzy to rest up and a chance for Albright and Gause to maybe play one last time.
The last team to beat Boise State in a bowl game (and @ home on their own blue turf, simultaneously...) was Boston College. I agree completely that it would be a massive insult to them to be paired w/ BC in their bowl game, though. We've got to think more realistically about 'Cuse than the bowl prospect, really. A win against the Orangemen now would really be a big thing for us, after such a nonplus, inertia season. The team could really bounce with a W.
Try to imagine how 'Cuse would prepare for a meeting against their old Big Least rivals, the Eagles. Their fans love this game, home or away, and always feel they can beat us (and often have done so.) How do we match up with these guys? Will their coaches fall asleep watching our predictable game films. Will we lull them to sleep and then make this last game a series of surprise moves, wherein Tranq goes nuts w/ double reverses, and lets Rettig throw screens to Montel, and we blitz a ton and Herzy gets to score a pick-6? Sure would be fun...a win on the road with some style. Yeah.
Go Eagles! Spike the Finish!
To watch Highlights go here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAL-0rvqHwQ
or log on to www.bceagles.com
Even though it was ridiculous that again it came down to the last minute, it felt like UVA just got all the breaks today - except for the replay officials icing their FG kicker in the 4Q - with the fumbles and miscues, so it didn;t seem as futile.
shocked the Nyquilizer had Rettig throw from the 2 yd line. Good call.
I am kinda warming up to the Kraft bowl.. BSU. Would be great,. Would the great "Dis" bowl. I've seen mention of Nevada too. But could also be Fresno or Idaho, and then things get really sort of depressing. Idaho!!!
But still maybe better than Shreveport.
Can we get shut out of a bowl? Say we lose to Syr and are 6-6, what could happen that would leave us without a bowl? Dan, any idea?
Obviously Syracuse game comes first and those of us who still shudder when they think of the '04 game will talk about it all week but it's still fun to BS a little about a bowl game against Boise State for a few minutes.
I think it would be particularly interesting because they were another team we could have played this year instead of Weber when the Hofstra game fell through.
In retrospect even the optimists, myself included, can see they would have cleaned the floor with us on the 1st weekend. Probably still would, but with another game and then 6 weeks of practice we could at least maybe put up a fight. Rettig is getting better and better and now our backfield, which I will now be referring to as "Montel Williams", is looking more and more dangerous.
Mod, if we only have 6 wins, the only way we get the invite is if EVERY other 7 win team gets an invite first.
Eligibility is nice and all, but doesn't mean anything. We need the 7th win to guarantee an invite.
Great win for the seniors and the team.
No energy in the stadium until the touchdown pass. The seniors were introduced to a crowd of about 5,000 before the game - embarrassing.
The players themselves really wanted this game and played very hard in the second half especially.
Prevent defense to give UVA a field goal at the end of the first half was awful.
Benjamin - Speaking of true freshmen, when Fletcher got his bell rung , #18 C.J. Jones came in and played pretty well. Don't know if we burned his redshirt right there, but it had to be done if so.
We are a banged up football team going up to Syracuse - but I wouldn't count these guys out. I just hope the coaches will give them a good game plan.
Quinn an Scafe really had to do yeoman work - and I believe they played more downs than they normally would have. Quinn began to come of age in this game.
It was wonderful to see Herzlich make some timely plays - such a fitting end to his days at Alumni Stadium.
Momah playing defensive end at the end of the game was interesting.
He was blatantly held on several plays - really frustrating that there were no flags. He still almost got to the QB. He looked a little bit like Mathias Kiwanuka. Momah goes all out on kick coverage as well.
Boston is mobbed this weekend - and we're part of it - good womens soccer, hockey and football; BU Hockey lost their first to UNH, Celtics, Bruins, Patriots, Harvard-Yale, Christmas Tree lightings, Downtown is mobbed, etc. The Green line was packed with young people who had nothing to do with sports as well as those who did. The other kids were going to shows, the new improved theater district, night clubs, libraries, concerts - any number of things - Nothing against Clemson,but when the game is over there, you get to drive 40 miles through the countryside to find a major highway.
Boston is a great city for college football - because we have many options at the completion of the game. Quincy Market and North End absolutely packed to the gills.
ACC has an agreement with the bowl that if no PAC 10 team is eligible then an ACC team slots in.
The 7-5 record then does not apply, and given that there are places for 70 bowl teams this year 6-6 will do the trick.
With the score UVA 13 and BC 10 in the 3rs Quarter, I turned to my wife and said "This guy is playing for a 4 point win".
It's not that I'm really smart - it's just very obvious that the philosophy of our coaches this year is ultra conservatism. We probably have 25% of the offensive playbook of most teams.
BJK - As to our offensive playbook, it's definitely been expanded over the season, and I wonder if it's because we're finally getting the personnel necessary to open it up some.
Rettig is becoming more comfortable in the backfield and in the pocket, and building a repertoire with his receivers more. While the number of pass plays haven't really changed, Rettig is taking more shots down field, as a opposed to quick outs only good for a few yards. The receivers are also doing a better job at catching balls.
Essentially, we're no longer having to rely on the ground game to grind out yards.
We are 6-5. We could finish 6-7, 7-6, or 8-5. I think we can beat Syracuse, even if its on the road. We can go to a winnable bowl game.
If we go 6-6 or 7-5 or whatever in a "down" year, that's truly remarkable. Don't get me wrong ... this was a down year. With Rettig and Montel back next season, we should be better on offense.
The biggest bummer is that this team just isn't that exciting to watch, other than Kuechly. He is BEAST. We need a Matt Ryan back on the team and a guy like Jags who gets people fired up (I'm not saying I like Jags ... but his personality was way better than the drab TOB or Spaz). Those days were money.
Agreed EagleLA
This years team seems passionless - except Claiborne - and very boring to watch.
Spaz is not a motivator, at least not the game-time variety
Whoah! Did I just wake up when someone said this year's foot
ball season was boring? Uh, did anyone watch that PR ND extravaganza on network TV that tried ONCE AGAIN to resurrect every friggen' ghost from the ND past? Is it clear that NBC & ND have a campaign in place to ultra-hype The Domer Legend so we all believe that a 5-5 team in Green Jerseys (Those duds will never go away, like bell-bottoms and Sarah Palin's red suit), a reborn ND that just trounced Army in Yankee Stadium, is the really true & grand progeny of every dude who ever won a Heisman in South Bend? Wow! I thought our win over Virginia was a Qualude, but this thing at the House that Ruth Didn't Build was so scary ironic and blatantly Suck-o-lishish that I now believe that there will be a separate Bowl Game one day for Notre Dame to play anyone who remembers the Galloping Ghost and Eddie Cantor. They'll call it the "The Old Alzheimers Bowl" or the WTF Bowl...
"A Man's reach should exceed his grasp--or what's a heaven for?"
Go Eagles! Beat The'Cuse!--
Have a great Thanksgiving, Everybody! Bye,now. Let's always win with class. Ever To X!
--Mace
Mace -- I saw most of the Northwestern game at Wrigley ... that game looked pretty exciting. I saw the national anthem and a couple plays at Yankee Stadium ... BORING. It probably helps that Wrigley Field is a WAY more exciting and fun atmosphere than Yankee Stadium.
Notre Dame is a joke of a football program. Where are they in their conference race? Oh yeah ... forgot for a second. They don't wanna play with any big boys. Tulsa? Army? Navy?
Eagle in LA, while I pretty much agree with all of your sentiments, I still do cringe, because yes, while ND may be a joke program, they did beat us. I think it's almost better they reach bowl eligibility, because it helps our claims. I still think we win that game had Rettig not gone down, but wishful thinking doesn't change the W-L.
On the plus VaTech continues to dominate and roll. Our losses seem slightly more bearable when considering that FSU, NC State, and MD were all competing for first in the Atlantic, and VaTech has won 8 straight starting with us. I'm not excusing our losses, but it helps put things in perspective when the other teams continue to do well after beating us (with the exception of ND).
Just doodling and thinking that the Harvard Stadium is on the Boston side of the river.
I wonder if any taqilgating was allowed outside the stadium proper?
Unrelated to the topic, but worth sharing: the hockey team had a tremendous weekend sweeping Maine 4-0 Friday and 4-1 today. Muse was outstanding. His positioning was just impeccable. He stonewalled a Maine penalty shot Friday night. The Maine shooter, Nyquist, was so utterly stymied by Muse that, after several dekes, he ended up at a standstill just cramming the puck into Muse's right pad. It was pretty pathetic, but Muse was that good.
Also, a nice moment in today's game when, on a two-on-one breakaway towards an empty net, freshman Bill Arnold passed up the shot and fed Barry Almeida, who tallied his first goal of the season. At least, that's what it looked like to me.
And, women's soccer advanced to the Elite 8!
Let's go BC - beat Syracuse.
At 7 and 5 some of us can say that it could have been worse.
It also could have been better with victories possible - attainable over FSU and Maryland (not to mention ND). Before the season started, 9 and 3 or even 10 and 2 seemed possible to some of us.
Tranquill is expanding the playbook slightly and we see the possibilities. Too bad he didn't give it the old college try much sooner.
Anyway - let's hope the team gets focused on Syracuse and what this really means. After all of the turmoil this year, I'll be very happy with a victory in the Carrier Dome. ACC versus Big East. We were chosen, Syracuse wasn't. Old grudge matches - pretty close to a real rivalry IMO, etc. In my BC experience, the road to success had to go through Syracuse.
Let's do it team - let's go coaches - give these guys a good scheme to win on both sides of the ball - and make sure they are ready and prepared from the openinjg kickoff.
Bowl projection: BC v Nevada.
Nevada is the home of the pistol offense and #4 in country in rush per game. Might be an interesting matchup. We also could get walloped.
false, syracuse was chosen for the ACC, Virginia tech was not. Syracuse said no and then some politics led to VA tech getting invited, hence UVA vs. Va Tech game called the governor's cup
Kevin,
With the VaTech politicking, the ACC then invited VT and Miami and tabled BC (supposedly b/c one of the ACC presidents was an ND grad and wanted to get ND). The next year the ACC chose BC leaving 'Cuse stranded, so BJK is correct.
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