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BC lost their final regular season basketball game Saturday. That's not really the story. The bigger issue is that the lost completed a winless ACC slate for BC Football and BC basketball this year. Like Football, there is plenty of bad luck and inherited problems to explain the season. But there was also bad coaching.

I don't think we are doomed forever, but I do think that this has exposed Christian. Do elite coaches go winless in conference play? Probably not. He may get us back to respectability, but he's not special. He's not winning it all and probably not winning the ACC. I can say that because a great coach would not have let things get this bad.

The losses are on Christian but having Addazio and Christian fail like this in the same year is on Brad Bates. He hired two mediocre coaches. You can give them friendly schedules, good assistant budgets and more recruiting resources, but you can't coach the game for them. Both of Bates' picks have shown major limitations in how they run their teams and the ACC records echo those limitations.

Bates can't get these teams out of their respective holes. It is too late for that. Both coaches need (and will get) time. And if they don't improve, Bates won't be hiring their replacements.

I think things will get better and will spend the offseason writing about it. I hope the embarrassment of this year creates a stir within BC's Board and Senior leadership. We cannot fire Bates, Addazio and Christian tomorrow, but we can address how we can improve BC sports and what our plan should be if the coaches don't improve.

Second viewing thoughts and grades: Syracuse

Saturday was a mixed bag. Some players finished the season strong and played like they cared. Others didn't. It happens when there is little at stake. What's frustrating is that like so many other games this year, BC could have and probably should have won this game.

Offense: C-

Jeff Smith wasn't as bad as his passing stats indicated. He wasn't good through the air, but the INTs were not bad decisions...just somewhat unlucky. Wofford and Robinson dropped catchable balls. And a few were purposely thrown away. His running was his best of the year. He finally kept the ball on more options and it led to a few longer drives. If Daz follows through on his plan to change the offense, then this was probably Smith's last start. I still think the kid has potential. He and BC didn't find it this year.

Tyler Rouse ran hard and made some nice cuts. Willis only played sparingly. Wofford blocked well enough and missed a pass that came his way. Wilson got one touch.

Robinson looked bad. I know he's new to the position, but there is no excuse for so many drops. Smith caught the only pass that counted. Callinan blocked well but also got called for a penalty. So did Dudeck. The Tight Ends didn't catch anything either, but the Burke, Sweeney combo blocked better than Tight Ends have all season.

The Offensive Line was really inconsistent. One play they would look good. The next it looked like they would get Smith killed. Monteiro looked good on the run plays. He missed on a few pass plays. Harris Williams had his best game of the season. Bowen struggled. Baker had some good moments. It was his assignment that tipped the second INT.

The passing game was a mess, the blocking, the catching and Smith's throws. But I feel like if we had used this offense -- Pistol with heavy read option -- all year, we win six games. That may sound silly in a loss, but I feel that sort of commitment would have sprung bigger plays from Smith and might have opened other things. How fitting that Fitch called his best game in our season finale and we still lost.

Defense: C+

Landry and Abdesmad had great games. Wujciak and Gutapfel did not. Those two guys have been huge difference makers all year. Saturday Wujciak looked a step slow and got pushed around. Gutapfel made some mistakes and missed tackles. Kavalec was okay. Moore missed a tackle. Ray got in some action.

Milano was very good. Yet if he makes the INT late, we go to OT. Daniels played well enough. Strachan had a few issues in coverage but was fine.

Simmons played well. Yiadom looked back to his preinjury form. Johnson was just ok. McClary was fine. Harris was ok.

Because Syracuse does a lot of funky stuff (lots of old school options and pitches), you have to play back. Brown didn't get super aggressive and I feel like it cost us. We should have put more pressure on. That was not a good offense and we allowed them to move the ball too freely.

Special Teams: C+

Walker was one of the bright spots of the season. I look forward to him returning kicks next year. We've also been very good in our blocking on returns.

I was glad to see Lichtenberg make a field goal. What was up with the kicks out of bounds? Both were costly.

Howell was fine. As was the punt coverage. We didn't return any punts, but Smith handled them without issue.

Overall: D

Some might wonder, why the lower overall grade when each unit rated higher. No one unit played all that well on Saturday, but all playing poorly leads to another bad grade for Addazio. Most frustrating was his willingness to eat yet another possession before the half. I was also frustrated he didn't use his timeouts earlier on the final drive, but the way Cuse moved the ball meant it didn't matter.

Losing another close game is bad luck but also bad coaching.

Bad

During the offseason Steve Addazio will surely talk about injuries and bad luck. This team was also young. And next year things will get better. More games close games will break BC's way. Young players will improve. New players will emerge. But none of that excuses how bad this season went, including Saturday. Total offensive ineptitude, haphazard execution, questionable 3rd decisions, stupid penalties, and wasting huge opportunities.

This was BC's first winless conference season. The longest losing streak since 1978. The W-L record is masked by two wins that BC bought against FCS cupcakes.

Addazio has a lot to fix this year. When the offense is this bad, it is not purely a talent or age issue. The whole approach and the coaching shares the blame.

I will have my grades and second viewing thoughts up late Sunday.

All coaches should rent

A few days ago I was exchanging emails with a long-time and frustrated BC fan. I had to remind the fan that all of this is fluid. Every once in a while a school locks onto a Beamer type, but very few coaches end up being lifers. Just look at the ACC landscape. 

Clemson -- Dabo Swinney, 8th season

Duke -- David Cutcliffe, 8th season

Georgia Tech -- Paul Johnson, 8th season

Florida State -- Jimbo Fisher, 6th season

Virginia -- Mike London, 6th season

North Carolina -- Larry Fedora, 4th season

NC State -- Dave Doeren, 3rd season

Boston College -- Steve Addazio, 3rd season

Louisville -- Bobby Petrino, 2nd season

Wake Forest -- Dave Clawson, 2nd season

Pitt -- Pat Narduzzi, 1st season

Miami  -- will hire a new coach

Virginia Tech  -- will hire a new coach

Syracuse  -- will hire a new coach

Assuming Virginia fires Mike London soon, Addazio will have been around longer than half the coaches in the conference. And that is after just three years. Of the coaches with more seniority, who has the potential for real staying power? Maybe Swinney. Johnson is rubbing a lot of Georgia Tech fans the wrong way. Age and health will catch up with Cutcliffe. Fisher flirts with enough SEC and NFL jobs to know that he's looking beyond Tallahassee. Fedora could also be in the mix for the LSU job.

If you lost faith in Addazio this year, take the long term view. He will either bounce back next year, or he is probably not long for BC. And even if his ceiling is low, he's not going to be here in much beyond five or six years anyway. That's just the nature of the sport. 

Syracuse is a must win

Steve Addazio is not on the hot seat, but he must win this weekend. Syracuse just fired their head coach and is a bad, bad team. They have no reason to play. We have the best defense in the country. There is no reason we cannot overcome their emotion and win. 

Winning just one game won't change the course of this season, but it will avoid a complete rock bottom. If Addazio loses, he will have led BC through its first winless conference season, and only one win over a FBS team. It would be arguably as bad as Spaz's worst season and arguably BC's worst year since the '70s.

Plus the inability to scrap together or even luck into a win would speak to a bigger problem. BC is young. BC is flawed. BC will be better next year. But if Addazio can't even do enough schematically to fall into a win -- with the best BC defense in decades -- then he has bigger issues than QB and Offensive line.

This season is lost. We all understand that. But give us some hope. Give the people (fans, recruits, current players) something to look forward to. Addazio must win this weekend or else the offseason will be that much longer.

Second viewing thoughts and grades: Notre Dame

That didn't feel like a three-point loss. Did any BC fan trust us to comeback once the Irish got up? Watching the game back just reinforced the point. The energy, the playcalling and even Notre Dame's reaction never turned. As frustrated as we are, I can only guess what some players are thinking.

Offense: C-

Fadule was ok. He's a fighter and looks good at times, but this was the first game where he seemed confused. There were clearly some runs (Williams was downfield blocking, as was Callinan) where Fadule dropped back to pass. He also had clock issues and timing the snap on the jet sweep. Addazio also got on him for some run pass/decisions. His passing wasn't particularly crisp and had trouble with blitzes. Smith looked good and ran with more purpose. His passing was good too. My only real issue was that he screwed up a snap again.

Rouse was fine but better receiving than rushing. Willis ran hard but did not break anything big. Same sort of feel from Wilson. What they all did though was help the play action and the Smith runs later.

This is a different game without the drop from Thadd Smith and less so with the Robinson drop. Those mistakes are killers, but also lead me to wonder why we didn't throw more. I know the QBs are not great passers, but there were open plays out there. Callinan had some really nice catches, including the TD. Sweeney's one grab was nice. Dudeck was fine as the emergency outlet, but when is he ever going to break a tackle? Addazio struggled blocking again.

Although Flutie got on them, the OLine wasn't their worst. Bowen did not play well and Williams struggled a bit, but I thought Baker looked good and moved well. Monteiro played well.

Put aside who is making the QB call for a moment and just look at some of the unintended byproducts. Snap issues. Wasted timeouts. General execution issues with regards to blocking and catching. Timing issues on timing plays (the sweep). This is happening in Week 11. I also don't understand why there wasn't more passing. Plenty of big plays were there. But Notre Dame knew if they stopped the run, they would stop BC. But even with a focus on stopping the run, BC got good run productivity from the QBs.

Defense: B

One of the reasons ND was able to move the ball was the Defensive Line. Each guy had some big plays, but in general they weren't at their best. Abdesmad made the most plays. Wujciak was contained for the most part. Landry missed big on an option. Kavalec was ok. Gutapel helped tip on of the INTs.

If the DLine was not their best, the LBs were. The most impressive play was Strachan and Milano blowing up ND's read option. Daniels also made some nice plays. He was very disruptive in the backfield. Strachan also did well when forced into coverage.

Simmons had a heck of a game. He made heads up plays all over the field. He tackled well too. McClary was tested the most and did ok -- despite the penalty. Johnson played well. Harris looked okay, but he missed a few tackles.

I thought we would blitz more against ND. But we didn't and that allowed them to pass a lot. We were fortunate that we turned the ball over so often. So Brown doesn't get a thumbs up for the scheme, but the players stripping the ball is all part of the package.

Special Teams: C

Lots of Special Teams mistakes to ruin the good stuff. Alston muffed a critical punt and we were lucky the D got the ball back. The penalty on the blocked kick was also bad. Sailing a kick off out of bounds was also bad.

Walker looked good. The punt coverage was good. And we made a field goal!!!

I didn't mind the fake punt. I just wish it had been executed better.

Overall: C+

Addazio said the plan was to play both Quarterbacks. That's fine, but the timing and the in and out still seemed so haphazard. As mentioned above, the rotation seemed to impact execution again. Addazio also deserves a little scorn for the unsportsmanlike penalty. This is a guy who preaches smart football and avoiding mistakes. Yet here he goes getting a 15-yard penalty when we are behind? If a player did that, he would be livid. Beyond the game, this is dumb because it was an ACC crew. Do you think Addazio is getting a reputation among officials? How is that going to pay off in the future?

We lost a close game against a top team. That is not the end of the world. But he gets a C+ because he's ineffective at fixing our issues in-season and keeps making the same mistakes.

More frustration in Fenway

Let's run through the 2015 BC Football checklist. QB rotation? Check. Ineffective Offense for long stretches? Check. Clock management issues? Check. Special Teams' mistakes? Check. Wasting a great defensive performance? Check. So, this was a complete copy of most of our loses this year, yet Addazio has the gall to lose it with the refs? This loss was on Addazio and his staff. This season is almost over and they still are just throwing stuff out there hoping it works.

Fortunately for Addazio, he built up plenty of goodwill in his first two seasons, because this is using most of it.

I will have grades and second viewing thoughts late Sunday night.

Second viewing thoughts and grades: NC State

That was a frustrating re-watch. Not just because of the losing or the lack of energy. I am concerned because Fadule made things look better than they were or are. That's disconcerting when you only score eight points.

Offense: D

I don't want to predict or project too much on Fadule. I don't know if he can be a star or even lead us to a win. All I know is he's playing well for now. He made things happen and many of our best plays came when plays broke down and he found someone downfield. He showed good touch on his passes. The first INT wasn't really his fault. The second two he was just forcing things while trying to get BC on the scoreboard. I don't think he makes the best decisions on the reads or when to run. I also think he's got to be more careful when the pocket is collapsing.

The running backs didn't do much but that was because they weren't given much in the way of good blocking. Rouse had a few big runs up the middle, but nothing where he made a great play. Outlow had a nice catch and I was reminded that we should throw to him more often. Willis was bottled up. Wilson was fine in limited touches. Wofford was fine.

Thadd Smith played well. He made some nice catches and showed the ability to win one on one battles. Robinson looked good after the catch. I was frustrated by Dudeck being short of the first down multiple times, but he was really trying to bail Fadule out. Callinan had a few nice plays. As a whole this group's blocking was bad and kept a few plays from breaking. (Louie had a terrible block on one of Smith's sweeps.)

The Offensive Line did not play well. I've been praising Baker for weeks, but this game was not his best. He was overpowered repeatedly. Lindstrom also has some issues. Bowen played a bit better. Williams was not good again. I get so frustrated when he is literally blocking no one and standing there as a play breaks down around him.

Aside from criticizing the development of the Offensive line, I feel like Fitch and Addazio are failing the team in how they prepare and plan. Take all the options and read plays we have. By design these plays leave a man unblocked. In theory the unblocked player is far enough from the action or such a weakness on the other team that he won't impact the play. That didn't happen against NC State. Over and over, the unblocked man burst into the backfield to blow up the play. How does that happen? It is either bad design or bad scouting. But it is a coaching issue. I also get frustrated as we run sweeps or flanker screens and the downfield blocking is embarrassing. Why are we running these plays? Are they executing in practice? I don't know, but they've been drive killers. I also wonder why we have so many slow developing plays with an offensive line that cannot sustain blocks. Keep it simple. All of it. Good OCs tailor their schemes to their roster's strengths or create such a simple and consistent system, that they can plug in any player and still move the ball. We have neither.

Defense: B-

After a few slow weeks Landry bounced back and played well. Kavalec also looked better. NC State contained Wujciak and it impacted everything. Gutapfel was fine.

Strachan played very well and was forced into coverage often. He acquitted himself there too. Milano played well and was very active. Even before he got dinged up Daniels wasn't his normal disruptive self.

NC State went after Torres and McClary and came out ahead. That's not meant to bury those guys -- who were okay -- but to point out how dependent we were on Yiadom and Moore. Simmons played well and so did Johnson. There was a little confusion on the first TD, but all of the big plays were in part because we didn't get enough pressure up front. Harris got lots of playing time and looked good.

I feel the big plays and the score were a bit misleading to what Don Brown did. He puts his corners on an island and at times we will pay for it. My bigger complaint is that he didn't bring more pressure early as it would have helped the young corners. I still don't know what happened on their third TD. I don't know if it was a mistake or design that that box was full and there was no safety back.


Special Teams: B

The consistency of the Special Teams is encouraging. Walker keeps getting better on Kick Returns. The punts and punt coverage was good. We didn't have much to judge in the place kicking department. Alston made decent decisions on his fair catches.

Overall: D

Addazio is selling the future of this team hard to the media. Either he has extreme confidence in his own abilities or he full of bluster (and some other stuff). He points to gaps on the depth chart and roster and talks about the 27 upper classmen who aren't around. He is also sure to mention it wasn't his fault. I consider Spaz the worst BC coach in my lifetime and felt he gloriously mismanaged the team and recruiting, but Addazio just got smacked around by a third year coach who inherited TOB's NC State roster. It is not like the Old Marine left behind a stocked cupboard. The team who beat us were made up a a Florida transfer (sound familiar) and a bunch of young Doeren recruits. This is not just youth and bad luck. They're are preparation issues and coaching issues too and not filling gaps fast enough.

The other aspect that Addazio seems to overlook or under appreciate in his talks to the media are the Duke and Wake losses. Win both of those and this team is 5-5. Not bowl bound and not winning anything big, but there would be a better feeling about all aspect of the program. Instead we are 3-7 and looking at a potentially an 0-8 ACC season.

This loss wasn't unexpected but still disappointed. The team seemed flat from the beginning and scoring late felt more like we were avoiding complete embarrassment rather than making a comeback. The off week couldn't come at a better time.

Addazio sticking with Fadule

John Fadule's story is not over. The walk-on who played most of the game Saturday will be getting the primary practices snaps this week and will play against NC State. This is some of what Addazio said:

"I think we'll keep developing all of our quarterbacks. But as we go into the week, John Fadule will be getting his share of the reps with the ones. That's going to happen. I'm not into just straight anointing people given how quickly this has come about. But certainly his performance is one that we're excited about. Exactly how we'll divvy up [the quarterback reps]? I can't tell you that yet. But we're excited about his performance and looking for him to build on that. What I think he brought into that game was real toughness, real energy and he moved the team. That's really important. There's some stuff that needs to be cleaned up but nothing that you wouldn't expect from someone who hasn't taken too many reps in running the offense."

At this point Addazio has watched back the game film and talked to his coaches. They clearly like what they saw. Addazio spent most of his Monday press conference praising Fadule. While I see the issues going all in on Fadule, I think Addazio is making the right call. We need to win and Fadule provides a more aggressive and crisp option than Flutie. While I still think Smith has more game breaking potential, as long as he is not at 100% and as long as the Offensive Line remains so inconsistent, Fadule seems like the best option.

The issue long-term is what do you do with Fadule and the other QBs. Right now all are young and all are dealing with a limited sample size. Who is going to be the best and how do you tell? In my mind, this comes back to philosophy and what Addazio truly wants to run. Was the Tyler Murphy power game his preference? If so Smith would seem like the guy to get reps. Does he want some sort of prep-school Tebow deal? Then Fadule. If he wants a better passer like Rettig, then you would think Wade would be the guy once he's healthy.

Addazio can buy a little time with Fadule but eventually he will have to pick a direction. Or maybe Fadule will play so well that Addazio lucks into a consistent, effective QB.

Addazio on bowl eligibility

[EDS. Note: Grades are running late...real life stuff. Sorry. Should have it up Monday]

During the game, the ACC announcers said BC was not eligible for a bowl because of the two FCS games. And based on how they explained it, it sounded like Addazio conceded the point during their game prep conversations. It surprised me that Addazio would vocalize something like that. It is just not his personality. It obviously surprised others, because one media member did bring it up during Addazio's post game conference. Here is how BC captured the exchange:

On the TV broadcast, an analyst said something to the effect that Steve Addazio knows a bowl game isn't in the cards this year. Do you still believe this team can make a bowl this season?


"I'm glad he's speaking for me. I'm just worried about getting a first down right now. I'm worried about winning. I don't really sit there and go through all that stuff, when you're in the middle of this right now, playing a bunch of young guys and you have a bunch of injuries like we do right now you're trying to find the right pieces to win. That's where I'm at right now. As Mike just said it right there, he said that to me, I'm sure were up against it right now, no question; because we need seven this year we don't need six we need seven; but right now, my total focus is, trying to shore up where all the leaks are right now and they keep coming.

This is what Addazio should be saying. Getting a first down should be a primary concern. Most BC fans know that there is a path to a bowl game with just 6 wins. But Addazio is smart enough to know not to over explain it to the media. Let's hope he pulls things together and explaining BC's bowl challenges becomes a necessary conversation.

BC-Louisville preview

We tend to get so focused on our frustrations and issues, that sometimes we don't realize other teams are struggling too. Louisville is one of them. They're young and have also had injuries. But the biggest difference between our 3-4 and their 2-4 is that they scheduled better opponents. But regardless if you are losing to an SEC power or an ACC underdog, losing takes a toll on the team. The key this week will be which team can recover from their struggles.

What's on my mind (not totally related to this game)
Some people are viewing the youth movement as Addazio throwing in the towel on the season. I don't. But if BC stops competing in games and losses all the games the rest of the way, Addazio and Bates are in big trouble. I don't think BC fan expectations are too high, but we are not a "lovable loser" fanbase. People (myself included) will be outraged by 3-9. Fundraising will be an issue as will ticket sales in 2016. You can preach patience and development but you better compete and win on occasion.

Three Simple Keys
1. More designed runs for Smith. I am not sure why they are not doing this. Maybe they fear injury. I don't know. But we need him to run the ball more. Even if it is not successful, the threat of him running will open up other things.
2. QB pressure. The defense is dependent on it. Last week the front four couldn't do it on their own. We need them to step up this week.
3. Don't play field position. Addazio's inclination to punt in the opponent's territory is comical at this point. We need to be more aggressive. I would rather see Hail Mary's into the endzone than a punt.

Gambling Notes
-- Addazio is 6-7 on the road as BC's coach
-- Petrino is 27-4 at Papa John's
-- Petrino is 6-5 in ACC games
The current line is BC+7.5

Factoid
Other than Louisville, BC has played two other Kentucky-based teams (Centre and Kentucky). Yet Louisville is the only program we've played in the state of Kentucky.

Scoreboard Watching
Duke goes to Virginia Tech this weekend. We're about to face the Hokies. They've been a hit or miss team this year. Will they show up next week at Alumni? I don't know. Let's see how they do against Duke.

I hope to see...
a long rushing TD. How has this not happened yet against a real team? Teams are still crowding the line. We still have some speed backs there. What we need is one guy to plow through.

BC is in trouble if...
We cannot control the clock. I don't like Addazio's mindset of always controlling the clock, but I think it is needed this week. It would also imply one or two long productive drives.

Bottom Line
I don't feel great about this game. While I think Smith will get the offense moving, I do think Petrino will find ways to attack this defense. I think it will be like Clemson with plenty of deep passes connecting, but with BC forcing even more turnovers. I think a late pick seals the must win for BC.
Final Score: BC 21, Louisville 17

Youth movement

While in Clemson, I heard that some of the older players are unhappy with playing time. Then there was some grumbling on the message boards and in BC fan chatter that the older players are being told to make way for the young guys. Coincidentally, Addazio focused on the young players in his Monday media press conference. Of note:

You saw that Saturday night when we played Aaron Monteiro, for example, at left tackle. He came out. He's a true freshman tackle. Sam Schmal, he redshirted last year, he played; James Hendren, who was redshirted last year, played; Chris Lindstrom, who is a true freshman, has played and has been playing since the beginning. Jon Baker is a sophomore who has played a handful of snaps last year who has really come into his own right now. I just rattled off four or five guys that are freshmen or redshirt freshmen or who are true sophomores with limited experience who we think have great upside. Not to mention some of the guys we haven't broken out yet on the offensive line that we are very excited about. In addition, we have other guys like Ben Glines, who we haven't taken him off yet. I'm not going to say that yet. It's getting late: it's game eight. But you've seen Thaddeus [Smith] play very few snaps last year. He is a sophomore, but he really played very minimally last year and you are seeing him emerge. Elijah [Robinson] is a true freshman. You are starting to see what is happening with him. These are the things that are going on in the flank. You are seeing [Michael] Walker. You saw him on the kickoff return. He is very dynamic guy. Then you saw [us] throw one ball to him down the sidelines and he got behind [the defense]. He has real speed. He is legitimately a fast guy. And you've seen him now. He is playing a dozen offensive snaps plus 10 special teams. He is probably playing 25 snaps per game. Then of course, Jeff [Smith] and of course, you saw Jordan Gowins. I don't remember his exact tally of snaps but he probably touched the ball 10 times or whatever in there. So there are a lot of guys I'm talking about right now. There are an awful lot of guys that are either true freshmen or redshirt freshmen [or] sophomores. Those guys are pretty much the same because almost every sophomore we have out there had almost no snaps last year. And Jake Burt now, the freshman tight end. He has played anywhere between five and 12 snaps a game. Tom Sweeney, who is a redshirt freshman, is playing 60 snaps per game. He is a guy who is really starting to come into his own right now. He is playing a ton of football right now. Those guys are all out there. On defense, you're seeing a lot of [Wyatt] Ray and Ray Smith. Zach Allen. Will Harris. Those are guys that you are seeing. Then you have that sophomore brigade that played last year. Isaac [Yiadom] and Kam [Moore] and Connor [Strachan] and Ty [Schwab].

That is why I am so excited. We're very talented. We are very young, but we are very talented.

Addazio earned a lot of criticism this year, but I have no problem with playing the young players. Contrary to how the older players might feel, I don't view this as throwing in the towel on the season. In fact with regards to the Offensive Line, I think the young guys are looking better each week. The older group we started the year with weren't all that great when they got their shot. If the performance of the young players equals the old, then play the young.

Even with the skill players, I have no problem with guys like Thadd Smith or Robinson being targeted more than some players with more experience.

Who knows? Some of these young guys might provide a spark. If the older players are upset, there is one solution: play better. At this point, I want BC to get three more wins. I don't care if it a a fifth year senior or a kid who just got there leading the way.

Life after Death Valley?

I am back from Clemson. Before I get into my thoughts on the game, let me once again recommend that every BC fan make the trip to Death Valley at some point. Their fans couldn't be nicer. The game day atmosphere is great and the stadium experience is what you want college football to be. There's noise, pageantry, quirky gimmicks (like the running down the hill), but it is all worth it.

As for this game...I am frustrated but not down. There was offensive progress from last week. Enough to have me believe the season is not over. The defense let up a lot of yards, a lot of points and got called for a lot of penalties, but in person it didn't feel like a terrible performance. It felt more like they ran into a very talented team that played very well.

I will watch the broadcast back Sunday and have my grades and second viewing thoughts up late Sunday night.

Addazio will pick one QB

Nothing is settled, but it will be. Addazio promises.

I am going to settle on one quarterback. I will announce that later in the week. - Addazio

— BC Football (@BCFootballNews) October 12, 2015

Picking a guy is the right first step. Building a gameplan around that one guy is the second step. Scoring a point is the final step.


The bigger question is will Addazio really ride with one guy if things go wrong?

BC-Wake Forest preview

Addazio says he is waiting for one of the QBs to step up. He wants one guy to show him something more...something different from the other guy. BC fans want a sign too. We want to see that Addazio can adapt and can handle rough patches and can win the games he is supposed to win. Despite our offensive struggles, BC is favorite this week. If Addazio is a very good coach, he takes care of business at home. If we lose, we will have more questions than just who should be the next QB.

What's on my mind (not totally related to this game)
I don't want to keep going back to the Duke game, but there was a little wrinkle that I failed to mention that shows their coaches are doing a good job. If you recall after every questionable catch that went their way, Duke quickly ran to the line to start the next play. We see something similar with every NFL team. You don't see that urgency as often in college. Maybe because tempo is already part of most team's game plans. Maybe because the NFL has had replay longer. But I found it interesting that Duke reacted how they did. It showed that their players have good situational awareness and good sideline communications.

Three Simple Keys
1. Continue to stretch the field with deep throws. Despite their tendency to hang, flutter and miss their target, I still want Smith and Flutie attempting big throws downfield. Every once in a while you'll hit a big TD and at a minimum, you will keep their Safeties honest. I don't trust Flutie or Smith enough to pull off lots of short passes in heavy traffic.
2. Turn anything between the 50 and the Wake 25 into 4-down territory. Addazio can rationalize this ten different ways, but this is one area where the statistics show he's being too conservative. We can't make long field goals. We have an outstanding D. Every possession in that area should play call as if we are going for it. Run on third down if needed.
3. Get better blocking from the Tight Ends and Wide Receivers. There has been a lot of criticism of the OLine, but the biggest drop off between the first two year and this one is between the blocking of the WRs and Tight Ends. On other teams that might not be a big deal. For us, it is. We depend on those guys to engage the Linebackers and DBs who are crashing the line when we run.

Gambling Notes
-- Addazio is 12-6 at home
-- Addazio last started 0-3 in ACC play in 2013
-- Wake if 1-4 at Alumni as a member of the ACC
The current line is BC-7.5

Factoid
BC has scored only one touchdown in ACC play.

Scoreboard Watching
On Friday night, NC State travels to Virginia Tech. Aside from watching two future opponents and potentially the last days of Beamer Ball, I am also interested to see how VT manufactures offense. It hasn't been pretty for their OC Scot Loeffler. Prior to calling plays for Beamer, Loeffler coached under Daz at Temple.

I hope to see...
Sherman Alston get back in the groove. Addazio mentioned players pressing and it looks like that is an issue with Alston. He can be so dynamic. We just need to find him the right situations.

BC is in trouble if...
We don't score at least 20 points. 20 points seems pretty arbitrary on my part, especially given how good the Defense is. But I think that barrier represents a comfortable enough margin for BC to control and win the game. If we keep slogging along in low-scoring battles, every mistake is magnified and someone will steal at game at Alumni.

Bottom Line
Neither QB pulls away from the other, but they both look much better. BC also gets its first defensive touchdown of the year and mostly keeps Wake in check all day.
Final Score: BC 24, Wake 13

Second viewing thoughts and grades:Duke

That was brutal to watch back. So much went wrong and we still could have won. So many people and units played well...really well in a losing effort. Usually I find the close calls reassuring. Now I am starting to worry. How are the players going to hold up? They feel the frustration too. You can lose teams in situations like this. We've seen it happen to BC and we've seen other teams go through it. If we just fix a few things, this team could be so, so much better.

Offense: D

Neither Flutie or Smith is a good passer. They both miss open guys and both hold on to the ball too long. Flutie's TD showed he can sit in the pocket and let one go, but the pass was still wobbly. Neither have great awareness of the clock. Flutie might be able to "run more of the offense" but he's still not making good decisions or good plays in the offense. Smith had some nice runs, but made some questionable decisions on handing the ball off in the sweeps (unless he didn't have the green light). The running game is better with Smith.

Outlow was pretty good. I am not sure why he didn't get more touches. Rouse played pretty well. Wofford made a nice catch.

I thought Smith made a nice catch on the TD they called incomplete. His real TD was nice. Alston looked good running but couldn't pull a pass in. Swigert missed one too. Callinan was fine. As a group they did not block well.

The OLine is not the problem. They actually played well this week. There is only so much you can do when the other team is that aggressive loading the box and at the line. Most of the blocking breakdowns came from the Tight Ends and WRs (Sweeney had some issues).

The time to throw stuff against the wall isn't the game. Fitch and Addazio have the luxury of practicing against an elite D. Do that in practice. I know you don't want to be installing new offense at this point in the season, but this playbook was all over the place...especially with Smith. We used basically the Wildcat with the sweeps (but it didn't seem like Smith had the green light to keep it). We used pistol with Smith. How can he be expected to learn anything when we are asking him to do all this other stuff? I think simple would be better for this kid now. And give him more one look rollouts, then he can take off if nothing is there (like the near first down on the 1st and 20). They are not doing Flutie any favors either. While this wasn't a shutout, it was another series of scoreless quarters. This is wholesale failure and not bad luck or young talent. How they are handling the QBs, their shoot from the hip rotation and the overall approach is a failure. But I fear they (Addazio and the Offensive staff) are drowning in so many issues, that they don't recognize the way out. It felt like Smith finally gave it to them as he moved the ball, but then Flutie connected on some passes. So my fear is it will be more of the same.

Defense: B+

Kavalec is back. He made some huge tackles during the goal line stand. Landry looked good and is also making some big plays stopping the run. Abdesmad played well. Gutapfel had one of his better games. Wujciak didn't cram the stat sheet, but played well.

I read a few criticisms of Daniels on the board, but watching it back, I didn't see any issues. He was good in coverage. He made a lot of tackles and had a sack. Milano was good. Strachan and Schwab weren't as productive but didn't have any glaring mistakes.

The stats for the DBs were somewhat deceiving. Most of the Duke yards came against one guy: Johnson. He's big and not as quick, so by putting some of their little guys in the slot, he got a bit exposed. He also got blown up on some tackles. Yiadom had a very good game. They rarely even threw his way and he made some nice plays. Moore was called for PI, but overall played well. Simmons was good.


I want to credit Brown for an adjustment that worked. In the first half Duke had pretty good success with passes over the middle against the safeties and linebackers and we weren't blitzing. Instead of adding more DBs to help pass coverage, Brown used the LBs for more pressure. The extra men and hint of pressure forced Duke into more rushed and in effective passes. The Defense is really the bright spot of the short season so far.

Special Teams: D

Alston is one of our most unique and potentially explosive players. But I am starting to wonder if we need to take him off punt returns. The fumble was brutal.

Lichtenberg's miss wasn't terrible. It was not a gimme. The early screw up was due to a bad snap.

Lichtenberg's kickoffs were fairly short. Was that on purpose or is leg just that short?

Howell's punts were good and so was the punt coverage.

Overall: C-

I am so frustrated with the Offense, the same game issues reoccurring (use of timeouts, clock management, etc) and Special Teams, that I want to give it all an "F," but I can't. We lost, on the road, to a pretty good Duke team by two points. Was there bad coaching? Plenty. Was there some bad luck? Yes. But luck tends to even out and bad coaching is usually punished with a L. I don't think Addazio is a bad coach. But what we are going through now and how he is dealing with it, has me questioning his upside again. It is the first time since he started coaching actual games that I am starting to believe that his challenges will limit what he can do at BC. The good news is that there is still plenty of time and plenty of big games to work this out. Let's hope he starts with Wake Forest.

BC-Northern Illinois preview

This is going to go one of two ways. Either both QBs are going to be terrible and we come away very frustrated (and probably lose) or one guy stands out early and we roll with him to victory. This game was always going to be a turning point in the season and now with Wade out, it becomes even more critical.

What's on my mind (not totally related to this game)
Most coaches hate being second guessed and generally have thin skin. That sensitivity usually serves as a great motivator and provides some of the drive needed to coach at this level. Addazio clearly heard the critics on his decision to kill the clock on the last drive before the half. At the Gridiron Club dinner, he addressed it over and over again. He can justify it ten ways to Sunday, but we know he knows enough about statistics and Urban Meyer's game management strategies, to know that killing clock there is a wrong move. It became a wasted possession in a game with minimal scoring. I hope this overly conservative decision doesn't influence the remainder of the season. In college football you need to go for it whenever you get the chance.

Three Simple Keys
1. Explosive plays. As much as we are perceived as a plodding, three yards and a cloud of dust team, we are really haven't been that efficient or consistent under Addazio. The reality is we plod, plod and then explode. Last week lacked explosion. This week we need a few big plays if we want to score.
2. Avoid Turnovers. The reason NIU almost upset Ohio State was due to turnovers. We cannot be as careless.
3. Close on Hare. Think of how different Florida State would have been without those few Golson escapes. Hare is not that elusive. We need to hit him for a loss, over and over.

Gambling Notes
-- Addazio is 6-4 after a loss while coaching BC
-- BC has won 16 straight against MAC teams
-- NIU coach Rob Carey is 3-3 vs Power 5 teams
The current line is BC-4.5

Factoid
TOB is part of the ESPN3 team covering this game. Being that he's predictable, I expect him to reference his years at BC early in the game but then declare that he will call it down the middle. And then I expect him to do just that. I know he's done some other ESPN3 games, but I can't imagine he's much fun on the broadcast. He let glimpses of his sense of humor escape over the years, but I don't think now -- in semi-retirement -- he's going to become a laugh a minute.

Scoreboard Watching
We are not a triple option team, but we run almost as much as your typical triple option team. That is why it will be interesting to see how Duke handles Georgia Tech. Let's hope they have a lot of trouble.

I hope to see...
A few interceptions. The DBs were great last week. The only thing missing was a game changing, run back on an INT. If they are challenged this week (which I doubt), it could happen.

BC is in trouble if...
We don't score in the first half. That will put pressure on everyone. The D will think they have to win the game themselves. The Special Teams will make risky plays. In those circumstances, mistakes are made.

Bottom Line
I believe...still. I think this is the Jeff Smith coming out party. After we putz around a bit in the first half with both QBs, Smith gets all the snaps in the second and runs for at least one long TD. The D mostly contains NIU and get some breathing room with a late field goal.
Final Score: BC 17, Northern Illinois 13

Everyone's got problems

As we head into the unknown with either Flutie or Smith (or both), there are plenty of BC fans re-calibrating expectations. But I don't know if we need to since numerous opponents are dealing with the same issue.

If you include ND, seven of 15 ACC teams have either an injured starting QB or a QB controversy over who should start right now.

— David Hale (@DavidHaleESPN) September 19, 2015

Look around at the teams on our schedule:

Notre Dame -- Lost Zaire for the year with a broken ankle. (Addazio kept compairing Wade to Zaire in the preseason since they have similar skill sets and are both lefties. They proved to have similar seasons in an unexpected way.)

Syracuse -- Lost Hunt for the year and backup Eric Dungey suffered a head injury last week. His status is unknown.

Wake Forest -- John Wofford left the Army game with an unspecified injury and remains under wraps.

Virginia Tech -- Brewer broke his collarbone in the opener against Ohio State. Even if he recovers in time to start our game on Halloween (unlikely), he will still be less than 100%.

And this is only where things stand now. Other teams will see serious injuries between now and when we play them.

Losing Wade hurts, but I am not resetting my expectations until I see what we really have in Smith and Flutie.

Addazio's QB hedge better not last long

The old football adage says that "if you have two starting quarterbacks, you don't have one." While the theory has been attributed to John Madden and Bill Parcells, this week it could just as well be Steve Addazio's mindset. Against Northern Illinois, both Jeff Smith and Troy Flutie will play. He hasn't indicated a starter, but that doesn't really matter. According to Addazio, he's not going to ride the hot hand. Each QB will have packages. So even if Flutie starts out 5 for 5 and throws two TDs, Smith will play. And same holds true if Smith runs for 80 yards on the first play. This is a fine approach for the 1st half of the NIU game, but cannot go much beyond that. If it does, BC is in big trouble.

None of us know what either QB can do under pressure. Not even Addazio. He's validated the gossiped consensus that came out of camp (Smith is a brilliant runner, Flutie more of a game manager). But the past is somewhat irrelevant now. What a guy does in a practice or scrimmage in August is very different from playing against other teams. Based on the second hand information and the garbage time against Howard, I want Smith. As Addazio said in his Monday media time, we have so few players who can truly explode, that having Smith sit is a waste of an asset. If Flutie proves that he can consistently pass against elite defenses, then by all means, let him manage the games. But I don't think we have enough talent on the line or at WR for Flutie to be any use. Smith needs to be the guy.

But the hedge and using both all season is what I fear most. If neither guy establishes himself this weekend, then just pick one and let him and the team take their lumps. Why trot out two ineffective guys when giving all the snaps to the one with more upside might be off later this season?

Second viewing thoughts and grades: FSU

I feel surprisingly better after watching the game back. I am still frustrated that we didn't win and didn't press our opportunities, but I saw enough to believe that things are fixable. Losing Wade is a major step back, but there is still more offensive potential than what was shown Friday night. And the defense might be so good that they will win some games all by themselves.

Offense: C-

Wade's stats weren't great but I thought he played well. He hesitated on a few passes early and missed open men, and his INT was a bad decision, but considering how tied his hands were and how inconsistent the blocking was, he looked serviceable. His running wasn't smooth either, but it was effective. Losing him for the season is a major blow. He showed real potential against a good opponent. Nothing can really be read into Smith or Flutie's snaps. Can we really believe that "Smith doesn't know the playbook" from his time on the field? Or that Flutie makes bad decisions on the pitches?

Hilliman did not play well. Even prior to the fumble, he was getting stuck in pileups. Some of the problems can be blamed on the OL, but not all of them. He needs to make someone miss on occasion. Willis was pretty good and certainly the most productive Friday night. Wofford played well. His blocks were good and he was effective in the passing game. But when he is the leading receiver, it speaks to bigger issues.

We only threw the ball 15 times, but there was still plenty to judge with regards to the WRs and Tight Ends. Alston is great with the ball, but he's not good trying to get the ball in traffic and he's not a good blocker. We need to get him touches (sweeps, screens, etc), but traditional ways are not playing to his strengths. Smith looked good on his sweep, but needs to improve his blocking. Nosovitch wasn't ready for his pass. Sweeney looked okay at some points but then struggled blocking at other points. Swigert was fine and made the right call on his pass option. Callinan's one catch was nice. But as a group, this unit is not as effective blocking as they were last year. I don't know if it was Florida State, going smaller or just lack of emphasis, but this has to get better. It is critical to our success on the edges.

The Offensive Line got beat as a group. Florida State is talented, but there were still too many one on one battles lost upfront and too many mistakes. Williams is not playing as well as he played two years ago. Is it rust? Let's hope it changes soon. Taylor struggled at times before he got hurt. Baker was probably the best of the group. Lindstrom got overmatched a bit.

It is always easy to second-guess play calling, but how can you justify Friday night? I will get into the overall strategy later, but I felt Fitch/Addazio didn't do the team favors with their approach. The best offensive coaches find something they do well and build from that. Day and Addazio did that well in the first two seasons. Where was that Friday? Nothing looked crisp. Everything seemed a step off. There really wasn't one play or one type of play they could perform with authority. It gave the play calling a grab bag feel. When you get shutout it is a full failure. It shows lack of execution, poor preparation and poor personnel management. There's no other way around it.

Defense: A-

This was the Landry we all hoped for. He showed speed. He showed power. He closed often. The only real tough play was the missed safety. Wujciak helped collapse the line and made many nice plays. Gutapfel didn't fill up the stat sheet, but was also good inside. Abdesmad played well.

Steven Daniels dominated too. He was a little out of place on their touchdown pass, but otherwise looked great everywhere. Milano looked good too.

Kam Moore was outstanding. He ran with everyone and made great plays on the ball. He had one of the best games I've seen a DB have without getting an INT or making tons of tackles. Simmons slipped early on a key pass play, but settled in and made some nice tackles throughout. Yiadom looked good. Johnson played very well.

Don Brown's Defense has matured. He's to the point now where he doesn't even have to blitz over and over. Just showing it or releasing guys late does the trick. Even their lone scoring drive was called well. It really came down to a few mistakes and our guys slipping or getting beat. But overall, we did nearly everything right on D.

Special Teams: B

Howell's punts were good and the punt coverage was very good.

Willis' returns were aggressive.

Alston's punt returns were a mixed bag. He was a little conservative in his fair catches and didn't break anything big.


Overall: B-

There was a beauty to Addazio's stubbornness in his first two years. Because of Andre Williams and Tyler Murphy and good offensive lines, we could pound, pound and pound some more and eventually something would break. It is old school and also unconventional, which only added to the beauty. Teams weren't ready for it and it played to our strengths. Playing that way against Florida State with Darius Wade (who is not an explosive runner), our fledgling OLine, and no RBs who matches Williams speed/power combo, and no game breaking WRs, left BC with a very narrow path to victory. My concern and complaint is that when BC struggled moving the ball, Addazio didn't adjust. In the post game, you'll hear him reference statistics to justify his actions, but most of the advance metrics show that conservative approaches and wasting possessions (like the ones before half) will not lead to victory. Addazio had one vision to win the game and even as it became statistically more unlikely, he wasn't willing to adjust. Conceding possessions regardless of time or location is one of the worst ideas in football. I thought Addazio had the team motivated and it fought hard, but that's not enough. You also need to press your advantages however small they are.

This week will be about a different style of coaching. Addazio now has to get at least one QB ready and probably two ready. He also has to fix the offense. I think he can do it. Adjusting midseason is the type of things good coaches do.