Sunday, October 01, 2017

Second viewing thoughts and grades: Central Michigan

[UPDATE: Sorry for the chopped copy and typos. I wrote it late Sunday and pushed out a draft instead of the final.]

Addazio thinks his issues are injuries. The reality is that it is offense. This game reinforced that. Addazio waste scoring opportunities and that is a primary reason why these games can be frustrating live and rewatching. This week the place to point was the FG attempts. But there was more than that. Fumbles on potential scoring drives. Bad execution on a few critical plays. If anything, Addazio's recruiting (i.e. superior talent) is what won this game. Not some sort of brilliant game plan or great adjustment.

Offense: B-

They kept it simple for Brown and he was fine. Mostly short passes. He is still not as accurate as we need. There were times when he threw behind guys and they had to stop or adjust. I did appreciate that he was more willing to tuck and run as needed.

Dillon was over 100 yards for the first time. Much of that was behind good holes from the line but he did make a few reads and cuts that were good. Hilliman was productive too. The TDs are a big deal, although it felt like it was less about him making a big play. More like it was his turn on the drive. 

The OLine was good. The only big mistake -- the safety -- seemed more like an unaccounted for corner rushing in. I don't think that was a missed assignment on Montiero. Petrula had a snap issue, but in general played well. There were lots of big holes on the right side.

I don't know why our WRs can't break bigger plays. I guess, I am glad they are showing solid hands and pulling things in, but where are the big runs after the catch? The three main targets -- Sweeney, White and Smith -- were fine but we didn't open things up nor break anything open. Thadd Smith got swallowed up on his one sweep. Sometimes he might need to read and cut up field. 

It seemed like BC wanted to run the ball and given the field position, it made sense. BC never really put Brown at risk and did what it needed to do. But that doesn't mean the Loeffler didn't have some issues. There were some slow developing plays -- the first 4th down, the safety -- that are so frustrating given the time and place of the game. In those moments, execution is primary and we continue to look sloppy. 

Defense: A-

Landry is basically our defensive decoy. I understand moving him around. I don't love the idea of him getting snaps at LB. Anyway, while he is getting all the attention, it enabled the rest of the DL to have their best games. Ray looked good. Allen had some big plays. Ray Smith was solid.

Bletzer keeps playing better than I thought he would. He's blown up that quick pass to the flat multiple times. He's making tackles. Lamont is very active too. New LBs sometimes seem a step behind the play, but Lamont is pursuing with authority. Schwab was good. 

Denis is having a great year. I know many of his INTs are just bad throws that he is waiting on as sort of a center fielder. But he is still tackling well. Still doing well in coverage. Harris was fine. He's active but I still feel like he is also missing some guys too. Yiadom and Moore were both good. 

One thing that bothered me -- and I feel like it is becoming an issue -- was the continued missed tackling. How many times did Central Michigan extend a play when the initial tackler didn't make a stip and no one helped? Reid and Addazio need to fix that issue. Reid didn't need to do much creatively. Central Michigan played that poorly.

Special Teams: B+

The only reason for the lower Special Teams grade was due to the missed field goals. I hope they don't become an issue.

Walker really shined. I know CMU screwed up the punts and coverage, but Walker still made good decisions on fielding them and was very aggressive on the returns. Those returns calmed the O and changed the game.

Knoll was good. The kickoffs were fine. It didn't make a difference but I thought it was interesting that BC elected to kick after the safety instead of punt.

Overall: B-

I hope he learned his lesson on 4th down, but my fear is Addazio did not learn anything. I think he still views game plans as those reserved for powers and those used against weaklings. What he should see on 4th is that good things happened on one of the drives, leading to a score. And on failed attempt, it did not lead to CMU points directly. 

If Dillon is really banged up than keeping him on the field late will be viewed as another mistake. I actually have no quibble with Dillon getting caries late. He's young and the idea is to help him grow and develop. More snaps does that.

Beyond strategy and player usage, the one thing that I do give Addazio credit for is not doing a full panic when Central Michigan got the safety early. When things are going poorly, a moment like that can seem like "here we go again." But it wasn't. Instead the team stuck with the game plan and overpowered Central Michigan.

BC should have scored more. BC should have tackled better. But in the end, they did enough to win. I don't feel better about Addazio, but I hope this serves as a boost to the team.

12 comments:

Napolean Bonaparte said...

FYI - Endowment now at 2.4 billion. http://bcheights.com/2017/09/30/endowment-hits-2-4-billion/

Napolean Bonaparte said...

FYI - New Chair of the Board of Trustees and new trustees. http://bcheights.com/2017/10/01/peter-markell-new-chair-board-trustees/

BCAlum2000 said...

BC has no shortage of funds nor prominent alumni. It makes the current athletic and even academic situation (decade of stagnation) intolerable.

Unknown said...

BC 2000 you are so very right and the leader of this decline is Father L

Napolean Bonaparte said...

No reason - financial or otherwise - to tolerate extended mediocrity. Not a "win at all costs" mentality or the inability to cut some slack to allow appropriate time to develop and improve. More of a results oriented accountability towards excellence after being given a reasonable opportunity. The hardest thing to do is to know when to cut your losses and do it.

knucklehead said...

The premise here is off with regards to this game. I predicted a 31-13 with Dillion going for 125 and 2TD'S.

The score was 28-8 with Dillon going for 120 and 1 TD. He got injured on the goal-line going in for his second TD.

Lichtenstien missed a FG(not Addazios fault) and Dillion was incapacitated going in for a TD in the last 2 minutes of a game we had won clearly.

Maybe in general terms Dazzler doesn't take every opportunity to score. He did against Central Michigan.

knucklehead said...

Someone got the message and fixed the board. The goal should be to quickly get back to improving rankings in the primary sports(mm bb,football) and academics(undergrad has been stagnant, business and law has been trending down).

Freaking Northeastern is ranked #40 in undergrad.

BCAlum2000 said...

Someone got the message and fixed the board. The goal should be to quickly get back to improving rankings in the primary sports(mm bb,football) and academics(undergrad has been stagnant, business and law has been trending down).

Freaking Northeastern is ranked #40 in undergrad.


Exactly. Kudos to them for them move up. Shame on BC for 20 years of stagnation. And you are 100% right, graduate law and business are actually falling back. New leadership is needed badly.

Napolean Bonaparte said...

Undergrad rankings definitely falling over past few years - which is definitely not good even though the slippage has not been more than a few spots. I think the law school has actually moved up about 4 spots over the same period - now 26 but behind BU. The CSOM MBA I think has also moved up to #44 but at a slower pace over a longer period. Think the MBA program needs to focus more on these rankings especially as it's a decent program deserving more attention. Aspects of the rankings are unfair - but, unfortunately, they are still hugely important and warrant a focused effort by the schools. Nobody likes them when they aren't moving up or not in the select top 25.

mod34b said...

BC drops to #32 in USNWR, and BU RISES to #37 -- so much for yelling "Safety School" at Hockey games. FREAKIN' BU

Thanks Fr. Lahey. You're bringing BC down across the board. Please let this be the impetus for you to enjoy your golden years reading books and not ruining, err, running BC.

I do not know how they rank schools, but USNWR does provide a 'score.'

BC score 70.
UNC score 71
Wake Score 75
ND score 85
Tufts 72
BU 67
Harvard 98
Princeton 100

BU is pretty darn close to BC's score and that is most foul.

bceagle91 said...

BU's management school got $50 million from Allen Questrom a few years back. I hate to give them their due, but they do seem to be investing heavily in the school. Meanwhile, we'll be paying off Daz and Christian probably for 3 years each to do nothing. On top of the nothing they've done while coaching. It really is a shame to see the overall ranking flat-lining. I don't know what gets Fr. Leahy's attention beyond grass and trees.

BCAlum2000 said...

BC MBA and Law have fallen back over the past one to two decades. Regarding the the MBA, the new Dean (now 10+ years I think), has completely de-emphasized the graduate program and focused almost entirely on undergrad business. I bad idea in my opinion as these things are linked. We need new leadership across the board.