ALJ wasn't the only bad news and other links

Losing Louis-Jean wasn't the only rough news of the day. BC's highest rated commitment was Tight End Andrew Isaacs. The Connecticut native switched to Maryland. None of this came as a real surprise as Isaacs had hinted at flipping for months. Let's hope Spaz uses the open scholarship to bring in a high impact players.

Matt Ryan is still mentoring Dominique Davis.

CBS named the following guys as potential X Factors.

Baseball sweeps Wake and other links

BC Baseball has struggled in a variety of ways this season. But a sweep of an ACC rival makes everything seem a little better. Over the weekend, BC beat Wake Forest 2-1, 6-1 and 9-5. It was the first sweep of Mike Gambino's tenure and the first since 2010. There hasn't been much to cheer about this year, but maybe the team can finish strong.

Chris Kreider's amazing run continued on Saturday. (Thanks to all for the links.) If the Rangers win the Stanley Cup, this will become a big BC story.

Lacrosse beat Yale 16-5.

The Softball team lost to Maryland to fall to 2-16 in conference play.

For those who missed it last week, the Army football game will be at noon and shown nationally on CBS Sports Network.

Also from last week (but important), O'Neill Plaza will have added green space.

Former Eagle Dominique Davis signed with the Falcons, where he will reunite with Matt Ryan.

A BC student was found dead in Walsh over the weekend. The cause of death remains unknown, although foul play is not suspected. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

First Eagle Insider story and other links

My position previews will be over and Eagle Insider and they will be free. For those of you tepid about Scout.com, the first one on the Offensive Line is just a click away. [I promise the formatting will improve as I get the hang of it and will have pictures once a few other things come through.]

Herzy and Castonzo will represent BC at its Annual Media Days. If any aspiring writers/bloggers will be in Greensboro, drop me an email.

Former BC QB is ready for his third chance at college football and is the likely starter at ECU.

USC news and other links

One of USC's top players, RB Joe McKnight gained the attention of the NCAA for allegedly using a booster's car. We will see how it impacts the bowl game.

Reggie Jackson is working to become a better shooter.

Dominique Davis made his commitment to East Carolina official.

Dominique Davis update and other links

Dominique Davis' JUCO career is picking up momentum (second item in this article). It will be interesting to see where he lands and in what sort of offense.

Dr. Saturday took a deeper dive into our box score from the Wake Forest game.

Soccer lost to Siena and continues to slog through the early part of their season.

The sky is not falling

Chicken Little is not worried. Why are you?

I don’t need to rehash what has happened to our football program since the eve of the ACC Championship Game. Now I sense the fans have split into two groups. One that thinks we are headed into a long dark period that will have us longing for the bowl streak days. The other thinks we will struggle in the near term yet bounce back quickly. The opinion everyone seems to share is that this season is a lost cause. I have to disagree. Despite all the things we’ve been through, I still have hope for this year.

I was excited to see that our new coach is an optimist too. Let me state right now, there is no reason to write off this season. Even without Herzy and McLaughlin, the defense should be good. Look at Spaz’s record of consistency with much lessor talent. This defensive unit is not as talented as last year's, but it is much better than some of the Ds from earlier in the decade. We have more speed and big play ability in the defensive backfield than we’ve ever had. The Defensive Line will miss Raji and Brace but should see an upgrade from the Ends with the return of Albright and the maturity of some of the younger players. Now Spaz as Head Coach and McGovern as DC is not a tested combo. But neither has given us any inclination that there will be wholesales changes in style, scheme or play calling.

Offense is more unknown. But I will say again, losing Davis is not a major loss. He had his moments, but nothing to give you any more confidence than you should have now in Boek or Tuggle. QB is important. Very important. But not everything. BC was still a .500 program with the maddening play of Quinton Porter. Our QB with the best winning percentage in the program history was a 5’10 JUCO transfer. For all his moxie and smarts, Matt Hasselbeck had a losing record while at BC. Football is the ultimate team sport and you can work with and around a limited QB. Two guys who were well aware of our QB situation (Bicknell Jr. and Logan) wanted this job. If they had confidence they could win, why are we giving Spaz an excuse? There is plenty of talent in the backfield, the offensive line and among the WRs. Give us a true game manager and we can be competitive.

We have yet to play a down and people are already assigning blame to TOB and Jags. That’s wrong and sounds like ND fans blaming Willingham for Weis’ struggles or TOB blaming the gambling scandal five seasons later. Spaz doesn’t need our pity. He needs our belief and support and to be held to a high standard. I am glad he views this as an opportunity. It fits well with the “Ever to Excel.”

Artwork courtesy of BCMike

Davis media coverage and other links

It's the offseason so the media jumped on the Davis story. Here are some of the reactions and reports.

The Globe puts Boek ahead of Tuggle on the depth chart and also mentions Flutie moving back to QB.

Tuggle spoke with the AJC and although he feels for Davis he is ready to compete for the job.

Dr. Saturday recaps our slide from the Maryland game to today. Have we reached the bottom? I'll give my two cents soon.

Jerry York is being inducted into the Boston Sports Museum.

Here is the second part of Jayme Parker's interview with Herzy.

Spaz picked up a new recruit over the weekend.

There was a small contingent awaiting the baseball team when they arrived back on campus.

Bleacher Report puts Spaz at the bottom of the ACC Coaches rankings.

All Access is wondering about or QB situation.

Davis gone

Official word is out. Dominique Davis is now transferring due to academic reasons. His destination is not known.

So now BC will start a QB this fall who has never thrown a pass at this level.

BC's official statement:

BC MEDIA RELATIONS

June 2, 2009





BC QUARTERBACK DAVIS TO TRANSFER



Boston College sophomore quarterback Dominique Davis has announced he will transfer after being suspended by the university for academic reasons. Davis is undecided at this time as to where he will transfer.



Davis completed 63-of-138 passes for 741 yards and six touchdowns with four interceptions last season as a redshirt freshman. He started the final three games of the season for the Eagles following an injury to senior Chris Crane.

QB picture just got messier (or clearer)

Well it looks like there is one less QB in our mix. Dominique Davis has some academic issues. Official word from BC is likely to come later this afternoon. I still don't know the extent of Davis' issues or his status as a student. I will post more when I know more.

Dominique Davis: Present and Future?

Dominique Davis will enter rare company with the start in the Music City Bowl. He will become the first BC freshmen to start at least three games at QB since Glenn Foley. Think about that. With all the talent that has come through, none either had the maturity or circumstances to get on the field as often as Davis. Think of the multiple rebuilding eras. Since Foley, Coughlin, Henning, TOB and Jags have all come to BC and gone with veteran QBs instead of rolling the dice with their own new guy. Despite the ups and downs, QB has been a relatively deep position for the Eagles.

Yet, even with this sort of on the job training Davis is assured of nothing next year. Close observers and the media expect Justin Tuggle to fight for the job this spring. BC also continues to woo QB prospects with the promise of early playing time.

This bowl game could be the launching point for Dominique Davis or the end of his time at the center of the BC offense. Just remember what Steve Logan said earlier in the season

"...after the third game you are going to get what you get."

If Davis struggles in Nashville there might not be much upside. But if he looks good, it could also mean that he has a nice long BC career ahead of him.

Talking through the QB situation Part 2

There are a couple different arguments and counter arguments regarding the QB situation and the need for a change. I'll try to address them in separate posts this week. I don't think anything will change, but I am firmly in the give Davis at least one, first-half series camp. I don't know what the staff is thinking or debating. So based on pure speculation, this is part 2 of the issue.

"Crane can't be bad every game. Look at the NC State performance. He's not going to throw three interceptions every week. He's due for a good game. He's got great upside."

When teaching statistics, instructors often use the example of a coin flip to explain independent events. The lesson usually goes something like this:

"If I flip a coin and get heads, what are the odds that I get tails on the next flip?"

The newbies try to work it out or wonder if it is a trick question. Eventually someone answers correctly "50/50."

The instructor then asks "what if I flip a coin 99 times and get heads each time. What are the odds I will get tails on the 100th flip?"

The smarties answer "50/50."

The point is that even if the results defy odds and averages (in this case if you flipped a coin twice you would expect one head and one tails or in the larger sample 50 heads and 50 tails) the odds don't not change on the next flip. It is independent of the previous flips. Now sporting events are not as truly independent as a simple coin flip. There are numerous variables from proceeding games that impact results (injuries, adjustments, etc.) But if you have come down to it, previous results don't change the probability of a good or bad performance.

Bringing this tangent back to Chris Crane...you cannot start him on the idea that he is "due" or that he has gotten the turnovers out of his system or that he is highly unlikely to cough up the ball that many times again. He not due. No one is truly due. If due were probability, then he is just as due for another three INT day.

Think of Crane as a coin flip. One side is multiple turnovers. The other is an NC State performance. Sure the upside is there, but the downside isn't going away.

Now every player has their highs and lows. If we increase his sample of snaps Dominique Davis's stats could be loaded with problems or bad indicators. But we are at the point where we know what Crane's statistical range is. Hedging on him to avoid pitfalls or betting that it will all be great from here on out ignores his stats and the rules of statistics. Taking a few baby steps with Davis at least changes all they dynamics a bit and allows BC to explore alternatives. To close with a clumsy analogy, mixing in Davis is like BC going from its risky Crane coin flip to rolling a six-sided die. It mixes things up. Let's roll.

Later in the week I'll get into the offensive limitations argument.

Talking through the QB situation Part 1

There are a couple different arguments and counter arguments regarding QB situation and the need for a change. I'll try to address them in separate posts this week. I don't think anything will change, but I am firmly in the give Davis at least one, first-half series camp. I don't know what the staff is thinking or debating. So based on pure speculation, this is part 1 of the issue.

"Davis is not playing well in practice and is not ready for the toughest part of the schedule."

Ultimately it could be as simple as this. None of us are in practice. Davis might be hitting guys in their shoelaces or floating passes ten feet over their heads. He may have poor practice habits. He might not be learning. He might be a disaster ten times worse than Crane. But, he's all we have. The staff has deemed him the next best option after Crane. They want to keep Tuggle's redshirt. Crane's play dictates that you try something else.

Even if Davis is the worst practice player ever with a thin understanding of the offense, you take a shot. Some players perform differently when it is game time. Some rise to the occasion. Plus getting him out there forces the other team to adjust and prepare for two QBs. Even if the staff thinks he is terrible, Clemson, Notre Dame and Maryland don't know that. They just see another tall athletic QB across the line.

If Davis gets out there and looks terrible or turns the ball over, you put him back on the bench. One turnover is not going to be anything worse than the mistakes that Crane has made.

Later in the week I'll get into the Crane upside argument.