More college football dominoes: strange Big XII expansion news

Long story short, the Big XII Expansion is a big mess. Oklahoma doesn't want it and that may be enough to kill the whole effort. That's great news for the ACC and BC.

No promotion of UConn and UMass
Our nearest football neighbors, UConn and UMass, are both hoping to improve their football standings. If there is no Big XII expansion, UConn remains a mid-major in football in the American Athletic Conference. UMass wants to join the AAC, but if a UConn or Cincinnati doesn't join the Big XII, there is less likely to be a backfill slot for the Minutemen in the AAC. It is petty of me to want to keep those schools in their respective places, but I do think it helps BC. We already battle elite schools for the best prospects in New England. We don't need added local competition from the two state universities. Remaining the only Power 5 program in the area is one of our slight advantages.

The ACC is okay
As long as the Big XII continues flip flopping and infighting, the ACC looks better. We are less likely to get poached and remain a good landing spot for Texas (due to their shared deal with ESPN). That position means we will get more slots in the playoff and have more bargaining power in the playoff discussion. If the Power 5 ever becomes the Power 4, the ACC is in a good position.

BC has a host of challenges and needs to decide many things related to athletics, but for now it is nice to know that conferences issues are not one of our challenges.

Who should the basketball team play out of conference?

One of the minor controversies to come out of the Basketball team's media day was the break in our series with UMass. As Donahue explained, there is only so much room on our schedule and there wasn't much demand. I actually agree with him and would place UMass relatively low on our non-conference slate. The NCAA limits basketball teams to 27 to 29 regular season games (depending on the number of games in their preseason tournaments). With the preseason tournaments, schedules are designed to max out at 31 games. The ACC has 18 regular season games. We also will play in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge most years. A preseason tournament also account for three games. That leaves BC with between five and seven non-conference games a year. There is not that much room. With those factors, this is how I would rank in importance our non-conference foes.

1. Providence. Long running rival. Close game. Playing a Big East team helps our RPI.
2. Holy Cross. Another long-time rival. Our athletic history is so muddled at this point, I think it is important to play Holy Cross in at least one sport that means a lot to both schools.
3. One game against a team from a BCS conference. Even with the Big Ten game and the Providence game, we will always need a game against a major program to help our ratings. This year's example is Auburn. In most years I would prefer a West Coast team so that our fans in California could see the team in person.
4. Harvard, BU or Northeastern. I think a Basketball Beanpot is a little premature, but we should play at least one of these teams annually. Ideally we would rotate through them on a three year basis. Proximity and travel cost alone justify these teams. In most years we will win.
5. One game in the New York area. As you saw from the Army game, our fans in the Tri-State area will come out to support the team if they are close. Ideally this would be a Big East team, but I understand if playing two Big East teams annually would be too much. Fordham, Army, Fairfield, Manhattan, and Hofstra all jump out as good targets for short series.
6. UMass. There is history and in most years they will be a respectable opponent. But now that we are playing them in football, I don't think it is as important to play them in hoops annually.
7. Other New England schools. On years where we have openings, we should look regionally. It makes sense financially and athletically. Byrant, UNH and Dartmouth are perfect examples from this year's schedule.

Second viewing thoughts and grade report: UMass

Usually the second viewing makes me feel better after losses. Saturday was sort of the opposite. For a few weeks now, I've said repeatedly that this team is close. Yet in the win I saw some of the recurring issues that have cost us games. This week those issues didn't cost us, but they were still glaring. But we have a win and a chance to build on things. Let's hope this season is actually in turnaround.

Offense: B

Rettig was aggressive, which was good. But I feel like some of his passes would have been INTs against better defenses. I don't know if it was his timing or what, but the off target throws were of the longer variety. I did like when he tucked and ran. He needs to do that more often. He also showed decent pocket awareness, but like the slightly off throws, I don't know if he could have gotten away with it against a better team. Shinskie got some mopup duty. I don't know what that means for the backup role.

I know he didn't have any explosive plays, but it was nice to see Harris back. You could see what we've been missing. It was reassuring to see Montel make the first tackler miss. Williams was good and seems to be doing better reading the holes. Kimble had one big play and that was it. Finch made the most of his mopup duty. Maybe he can break into the regular offense. Dan Williams continues to play well at FB.

The offensive line was still an issue. I was disappointed to see the number of breakdowns and lost one-on-one battles. White had a few mistakes. Spinney got penalized as did Cleary. Wetzel probably looked the best. Gallik was pretty good.

Larmond had the big day. What was most impressive was his ability to adjust his routs and his ability to win one on one battles. Swigert made some nice plays. Everyone else was fine. I was glad to see Anderson get a TD. He does a good job blocking s it was nice to see him rewarded.

I liked the play calling. I am sure part of it was based on the talent disparity, but I appreciated the downfield passing. If we are ever going to get the offense moving again, it will be with big plays.

Defense: B+

What was disappointing is that the DL didn't dominate against UMass. Neither Holloway nor Edebali put consistent pressure on the QB. Quinn drew some double teams, but didn't do as much. Like Quinn, O'Neal was on the field a lot without making big plays. Williams looked good. Rudolph was okay.

Some of the LBs aside from Kuechly forced their way into the spotlight. Devitto and KPL obviously had the biggest plays with their respective turnovers. Clancy had a good day too. Kuechly did his usual. What was unusual was how often he was chasing the QB on blitzes and delays. Maybe that will be a new wrinkle.

Well at least we adjusted to the bubble screen. I think it shows what a difference Noel and Fletcher can make. Both looked good. Both did a good job supporting the run. And they made some good takles. Hughes had his best game yet. Rositano was fine.

I don't think the scheme was all that unique from what we've been doing for the past few weeks. I guess the adjustment was having the corners play a little closer to the line, and as I mentioned, having the linebackers blitz a bit more. It was successful. But as a whole, there isn't much to take away from the game.

Special Teams: D
How can we have decent kick coverage all year and then allow a touchdown by UMass? I think it was in part because the team had a lead. But we are not good enough to lose our edge. It was also in part because the team got out of place and -- no one could catch the Levengood. Amidon tried but where was the rest of the team?

Glad to see Freese boucne back. Quigley had an uneventful day.

Kimble looked good on his returns.

Overall: B-

These sorts of games are the ultimate "no win." If the game had been close, I would have killed Spaz. Yet I don't give him a ton of credit for the big win. I guess what concerns me is that both lines are still issues. When is the head man going to get improvement out of each?

BC had its most uneventful week of the year and it resulted in a win. Now let's hope Spaz builds on this.

In-game comments post: UMass

The big news of the game is Montel Harris' return. Let's hope he stays healthy, looks good, and adds a bright spot to the season. The game is online so that should keep the comments section hoping. As always, leave your thoughts below.

I will probably have the occasional tweet during the game.

BC-UMass preview

The worst part about a free fall is you don't know when you will hit rock bottom. Would a win this weekend signal a turnaround? I guess. But we still have eight more games against BCS teams. My biggest hope -- other than a win -- is that the guys actually have fun. That sounds cliche, but I've seen bad BC seasons before. No one -- especially the players -- enjoy it.

Overlooked storyline for the game: Tempo
UMass -- while not Auburn or Oregon yet -- does play at a high tempo. For example they ran 77 plays last week against URI. We are still very thin on defense and fast-paced game could create some other issues.

Three Simple Keys
1. Stop Jonathan Hernandez. He's really their whole offense. For a smaller back, he has shown pretty good durability. BC needs to contain him, especially in the passing game. I could see him killing us on late releases out of the backfield.
2. Run after the catch. You can question our playmakers against the teams we've played so far, but you cannot question that we have more explosive talent than the Minutemen. If our guys cannot make plays in space and cannot run away from UMass, we will have problems.
3. Avoid sacks. Blame the line. Blame Rettig. Regardless, we've allowed some drive killing sacks. Can't let that happen this week.

Gambling Notes
-- UMass's last two FBS games have been decided by less than a touchdown
-- BC hasn't lost to a FCS team in the conference play era
-- BC hasn't lost three-consecutive home games in back to back years since '97-'98
The current line is BC-10.5

Factoid
Even though they have made regular appearances on our schedule lately, we have only played UMass 23 times. For comparison sake, we've played Villanova 45 times.

Scoreboard Watching
The game to make note of is Clemson-Florida State. Both look like they are worlds better than us. It will be interesting to see if Clemson can build off of their big win or if FSU will bounce back from their tough loss. At this point, our only hope is that one of them takes us lightly.

I hope to see...
A healthy Montel Harris break off 200 yards. Montel has never been some sort of highlight real player. What he lacks in Barry Sanders moves though, he makes up for in tough runs. Those, in their own way, are also fun to watch. If he plays well, it could be a silver lining to the season.

BC is in trouble if…
UMass dinks and dunks us down the field. At some point the guys are going to have to step up and stop more drives.

Bottom Line
There are a few fans out there hoping we lose this weekend. The thought is that a BC loss would be enough to force a coaching change. I can't do that. I am not optimistic that a change would be made and I never want to see BC lose. I think this weekend we get a reprieve from our pain. BC looks more explosive on offense and wins by more than one score.
Final Score: BC 30, Duke 20

BC-UMass Preview

When I was a student in the mid-90s BC didn’t play DIAA teams. New bowl eligibility rules and the expanded season opened the door for these opponents to get back on the schedule. I was never in favor, but now accept it as a fact of life. Even the big boys soften things up with DIAA fodder. USC and Notre Dame seem to be the lone marquee holdouts. As much as I’d love to see BC go exclusively DIA, there is no sense in taking on the extra challenge if all the other ACC teams have at least one game against a lower-level team. And to Gene’s credit, if you we’re going to play a Playoff Subdivision Team (what an awkward designation), you might as well play the one in your backyard. Thanks to Appalachia State, our team and fans are not taking this game lightly.


Theme that won’t be discussed on television ESPN 360. UMass head coach Don Brown indirectly played a role in the BC coaching search. As most of us remember, former UMass head coach Mark Whipple was the leading candidate to replace TOB. Supposedly Whipple hit some sour notes in his interview, including how he envisioned his coaching staff. Brown was on the Whipple’s staff list as a probable defensive coordinator. Gene will never go on record (or even off record with me) as to why Brown and Whipple’s other cronies were unappealing, but his instincts paid off. I doubt our D would be playing as well or our team would be 4-0 if we had revamped our Defense and our Offense.

Three simple keys
1. Blitz pick up. As UMass74 explained, the Minutemen will come after the Ryan. Against Georgia Tech Callender and the offensive line did a good job but were whistled for plenty of holding calls. The effort on Saturday needs to be cleaner.
2. Protect the ball. A fumble and two picks made the Army game much more interesting than it needed to be. Let's avoid that this week.
3. Get to Coen. We have proven we can stop the run. Yet, we still haven’t put much pressure on any of the opposing QBs. If this team wants to win a championship it needs to start rattling some of these passers.

Gambling notes
-- The last three DIAA games BC has played have not had betting lines
-- BC has won 14 straight at home
-- BC is 17-5 all time vs UMass
There is no line on the game

What would be a pleasant surprise? After last week’s struggles and other teams losing to DIAA teams, I would be surprised with a one-sided game. I think UMass will make it interesting for a half.

What would be a letdown? Not getting Chris Crane out there for more than one drive. I expected Crane to see more action last week. If he doesn’t play more this week, he might not see significant time all year.

What would be a shocker? A loss. I don’t even want to think about it.

Bottom line
UMass is a good team and could beat some DIA foes. I don’t think it will be us. Their strengths (running on offense, blitzing on defense) play too much into our strengths. I think they will play hard and move the ball a little, but ultimately BC will pull away.
Final score: BC 38, Umass 13

Guest Blogger: UMass74

Although BC enters this Saturday's game as a strong favorite, we know better than to take the Minutemen lightly. In order to get a better perspective on the team down the Pike, I've asked UMass blogger UMass74 to answer a few questions about our latest opponent.

1. Appalachia State-Michigan is in the back of every BC fan's mind. UMass runs a more conventional offense than App. St. What can BC fans expect from the Minutemen have the ball?

UMass74: Appalachia State runs a spread offense. They have excellent team speed and they run that offense to perfection -- as Michigan found out. In the National Championship Game, UMass held the Mountaineers to less points and yards than did Michigan. However, we only scored seventeen points and that's not enough against an excellent team like Appalachian State.

UMass mostly does a two-back offense. We try to establish the run first and then pass. We are third in the CAA in scoring offense with 37.7 points/game. We've averaged 178.9 yards/game rushing and 4.9 yards a carry. Our best TB is Sr. Matt Lawrence 6-1 220 transfer from UConn. He averages 6.3 yards a carry and has 5 TDs. Our second back is Tony Nelson a 5-10 210 pd TB who averages 6.1 yards a carry.

Our QB Liam Coen is on track to break just about every UMass passing record. He's completed 68% of his passes for a 160.23 pass efficiency rating so far this year. He does not scramble unless he has to.

UMass' leading receivers are SR J.J. Moore 6-0 201 who currently has 25 receptions for 336 yards and 2 TDs. Moore also stands high in UMass record books. Our other wideout is Rasheed Rancher who stands 6-5 200 and has excellent speed. He has two of the top five longest receptions in UMass history.

One negative note is our First-Team All-American TE Brad Listorti 6-4 255 has a back injury and has not played a down for us. He will not be back until at least the middle of October. He would have been a help against BC.

Our special teams are excellent. Our kicker Chris Koepplin is four-for-four in field goals and is averaging 64.9 yards per kickoff. J.J. Moore is our punt returner and he has one TD. Our primary kick returner is DB Courtney Robinson 6-0 195. He has a 100 yard return for a TD.

Overall, if we get Listorti back, this offense seems to be as good, if not better than the one that took us to the National Championship Game.

2. Some bad DIAA/playoff subdivision teams have moved the ball and scored against UMass. How do you think they'll plan to attack a BC team scoring 30+ a game?

UMass74: I don't agree with the first part of that question. Holy Cross, Colgate, Towson and Maine are a combined 7-3 against their non-UMass schedule. They are 0-4 against UMass. Towson has suffered some severe injury problems and is going down hill, but they were healthy when they played us. It is true that Maine is not a good team this year compared to the squad that went toe-to-toe with Nebraska a couple years ago.

UMass plays aggressive defense. We'll blitz off the bus. Against Towson we blitzed 50+ times. UMass typically plays 17 or 18 different defensive players in a game and will run many defensive packages.

We do have six new starters this year and pass coverage has been spotty. However, as the players get more experience together things have improved. Points scored against UMass have gone 30-17-13-7. We are 1st in forced fumbles in the CAA and #2 in scoring defense (16.8), rushing defense (83.8 yards/game), and total defense.

Our defense has excellent team speed. Last year we held Navy to 289 total yards --their lowest total in two years at that time.

3. Umass is always supposedly considering a jump to DIA. Where do you stand on the idea?

UMass74: I'm an agnostic on the idea. I really like the FCS/I-AA playoff system. Bowl games are just exhibition games. The big problem with staying where we are is the instability in the program. About once a decade we have to go through a "Oh-my-god, we don't have any money, lets kill the football program!" period. That's really dismaying. University of Albany just petitioned NY for a $60 million stadium. They'll likely get it. I don't think UMass will get the any support from the state legislature. Massachusetts is "special" in that regard.

4. What's your prediction for Saturday?

UMass74: Well, Boston College has a very good club this year. The Eagles (like most BCS/I-A teams) should have a significant advantage in size and talent on the offensive and defensive lines. Also those extra 22 scholarships make a difference. They have a Heisman candidate at QB. We match up well with the Service Academies. Not so well with Boston College. Still, we have the potential to win the game if BC does not pay attention. FCS/I-AA teams have been knocking off I-A teams at a rate of one or two a week this year.

My heart says UMass wins 24-21 on a last minute field goal. My mind says BC just has too much talent this year and the Eagles win 35-17.

To read more on UMass and even see some old BC football programs, check out the UMass Football Blog.