It may not be over, but it might as well be

Fire Steve Addazio. I know it won't be done tonight or this weekend, but like so many other mediocre or bad BC coaches of the past, we are now clearly in the "wasting time" portion of the tenure. He might rebound and grind his way to seven wins again, but he will never, ever be anything more than that. Every game is just more confirmation. He can't find a kicker. His team will come out completely flat at least once a year (if not more often). And seven years in, he still has not developed a QB. (He inherited Rettig and Murphy was a grad transfer.)

The Kansas game was an embarrassment. The execution was terrible. The game plan was terrible. The adjustments were terrible. Worst of all, this team gave up. Flat out gave up when punched in the mouth. They took the lead right before half, got caught sleeping on D to lose the lead before half and waived the white flag thereafter.

I know there is always the risk with a coaching change of taking a step back but what are we holding on to? A .500 coach? The ever shrinking fanbase needs to believe that once in a while BC will put together a great season. That won't ever happen with Addazio.

Game Day: Kansas

No comments this year. 

What you need to know 

Weather: Mid 60s. Have we ever had three straight games with better weather?

TV: The ACC Network. I guess the Youtube TV thing is proving to be a good workaround if you haven't already tried it.

Radio: XM 81

BC-Kansas preview

I know I've called our scheduling cynical, but I do like the idea of playing Kansas. They haven't been a good team for a decade, but they're still a P5 team and this year they have a well known coach. I don't expect Kansas fans to travel en masse, nor do the Jayhawks get the locals out, but I could spend days writing about worse opponents we've hosted at Alumni. The biggest issue is avoiding a trap. Let's hope the team knows enough not to take anyone lightly.

What's on my mind (not totally related to this game)
We are only two weeks in but our schedule doesn't seem so daunting now. Cuse looks terrible. Pitt hasn't shown much. Florida State is lucky not to be 0-2. If BC can take care of business early, exceeding seven wins seems more likely.

Three Simple Keys
1. Bring lots and lots of pressure on Stanley. The KU QB might be the worst we see this year. If we put him under the gun, he is going to make a lot of mistakes.
2. Keep using Dillon in the passing game. Doing it against Richmond was one thing. Now do it against a FBS team. All so that he is more comfortable and a real threat. It will help the running game too.
3. Put up a big number. I don't think Kansas will hang around, but I don't want BC to let up. Our schedule is such that a big offensive output would get attention nationally. Plus I would like to show a killer instinct.

Gambling Notes
-- Addazio is 2-7 in non-conference P5 games
-- Miles is 20-8 in non-conference P5 games
-- Miles is 36-12 coming off a loss
The current line is BC-21

Factoid
BC recruited Miles' son Ben. He committed to Nebraska and later transferred to Texas A&M.

Scoreboard Watching
Syracuse has played Clemson tough lately. Plus they are looking to bounce back after last week's embarrassment. This game will tell us a lot about both teams.

I hope to see...
A huge game from AJ Dillon. The Heisman was always a long shot, but ACC Player of the Year wasn't and isn't. If he can start putting up big numbers this week, he can get the right sort of hype and attention.

BC is in trouble if...
The Oline can't dominate. Kansas is respectable on D and will sell out to stop the run. We need to prove we can control the line of scrimmage.

Bottom Line
There is so much to like about this game. It's home. They are coming off an awful performance. We are basically healthy. There is no reason not to win and win big. I think BC comes out early with some big plays and never looks back.
Final Score: BC 35, Kansas 9

The value of the Red Bandanna game

As you may have seen, BC moved the game against Kansas from Saturday to Friday, September 13. Long story short, this was always BC and ESPN's intention, but Kansas only agreed to it this week, hence it was changed just after the official ACC schedule announcement earlier this month. Friday games can be inconvenient for fans attending the game, but BC and ESPN wanted a BC Friday home game because the "Red Bandanna" game has become important to both the school and the company.

By having a locked in date and time, BC can prepare uniforms, special merchandise and work closely with the Crowther family. ESPN can use a whole week of shows -- especially close to the anniversary of September 11 -- to promote their own award winning feature and pump the ratings for an otherwise ho-hum matchup. It also helps fulfill the ACC's Friday night contractual commitment.

Every year the Red Bandanna game has been a great showcase for BC. I always worry about it feeling exploitative, but clearly the Crowther Family embraces it. Ideally it would have been better to tie things up before the ACC released schedules, but these things happen. The Kansas game was going to be an iffy ticket driver on a Saturday. Moving it to Friday alone wouldn't help, but making it a special game might.

UPDATE: BC wants to make it clear that nothing has been decided about the Red Bandanna game. ESPN and other BC folks strongly feel it will be this game.

BC adds Kansas to Football schedule (seriously)

I've called most of BC's recent Football scheduling short-sighted but justifiable. I am having a hard time rationalizing the new series with Kansas. BC will host the Jayhawks in 2019 and go to Lawrence in 2020. This means that after it became clear that the ACC would not add a ninth conference game, BC has locked in games with Kansas, Purdue, Rutgers, Mizzou and Stanford. If you take each team's current state and their historical performance, that is some cynical, borderline cowardly scheduling. We have no idea how good any of them will be when we take the field, but past performance tells us mediocre at best, with a good chance of being terrible.

The only commendable aspect to this current set up is BC is scheduled to play three non-conference Power 5 games in 2019. My guess is that will be more than any team in the country.

Aside from providing an opponent, Kansas Football doesn't do much else for BC. We don't recruit the area. While we have some Alumni in the Kansas/Missouri, those folks are already getting the Mizzou game in their neck of the woods. I doubt Kansas fans will travel en masse to Boston. If they are good in those years, we will get some respect. If they are not, no one will care.

I understand Addazio's cautious scheduling in the near future. He might actually have to coach those games! But I hope that Bates and BC use any game five or more years out as a chance to do something exciting. Why be scared? The odds say none of them will be around when BC plays those games.