Spaz is a first-time head coach, but he is a very familiar name to BC fans. Having called the defenses for 10 years, I thought the offseason would be a good time to look back at some of his best and worst moments. Hopefully he’s learned from these events and will use that knowledge this season now that he is in charge of both sides of the ball.
Boston College 14 -- Notre Dame 7
November 2, 2002
What Happened?
I don't need to say much to remind BC and Notre Dame fans of the game. BC limped in 4-3 coming off a tough loss to Pitt. The Irish were undefeated, ranked second in the country and decided to break out the green jerseys. Although the Irish put up 357 yards in the game, the BC D saved the day. Some of their defensive accomplishments included:
-- Forcing five turnovers
-- Converting one INT into a touchdown
-- Only allowing one score despite the Irish's six trips to the redzone
-- 4 sacks which included knocking out Notre Dame's starting QB
But Spaz's biggest contribution might have been less about scheme and more about motivation. During the back and forth of the game, the NBC cameras caught Spaz admonishing the guys that the game wasn't over. The fire and mood was something BC fans rarely saw from our head coach. Seeing passion and seeing the impact it had on the players was encouraging. It showed Spaz cared. And most importantly, it was the right message.
What I hope he’s learned?
That Notre Dame team was not some sort of offensive juggernaut. It wasn't Spaz's miracle game plan that won the day. Instead it was about plugging holes due to injury, a sound attack and keeping the guys focused. The biggest take away was hopefully how to deal with the heightened expectations and emotions of a big game. Spaz has seen multiple approaches: from TOB's every game is the same approach, to Jags' rah rah stuff. There is a happy medium and there are moments to push some buttons during the game. Spaz's outburst showed that he understands that. As a head coach Spaz's words and motivational ploys are that much more important. I hope he harnesses that passion like he did against Notre Dame seven years ago.
Showing posts with label looking back at BC football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label looking back at BC football. Show all posts
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Looking back at Spaz Part 2
Spaz is a first-time head coach, but he is a very familiar name to BC fans. Having called the defenses for 10 years, I thought the offseason would be a good time to look back at some of his best and worst moments. Hopefully he’s learned from these events and will use that knowledge this season now that he is in charge of both sides of the ball.
Syracuse 43--BC 17
November 27, 2004
What happened?
BC entered its final home game of the season and final home game as a member of the Big East with its destiny in its own hand. Beat a floundering Syracuse team and it was on to the Fiesta Bowl. Playing without their starting QB, the Eagles needed a strong effort from their defense. Instead they got run over. Calling the performance flat would be generous. Five years later it is still hard to understand how such a talented defensive unit had so many problems against a undermatched opponent.
Head scratching defensive lowlights from that game included:
-- Allowing the first play of the game to go for a 69 yard TD
-- Allowing Syracuse's third string RB -- who also played on defense that day -- to run for 141 yards
-- Allowing two 'Cuse running backs to gain more than 100 yards
-- Allowing 43 points when the opponent's QB only completed 9 of 16 for 88 yards and had two INTs.
-- Allowed Syracuse to score more than they did against Buffalo, Temple, and Rutgers (when Rutgers was still bad).
TOB gets much of the blame for the emotionless effort on that day. Everything was in their hands and they blew it. But I've always felt Spaziani deserved some blame too. His guys were the ones missing tackles all day. He didn't get them fired up. He also failed to adjust as Syracuse ran up and down on BC all day. I think this game remains the most disappointing loss for BC fans of my era.
What I hope he’s learned?
For all the rah rah gimmicky stuff that gets dismissed by tacticians, I hope that Spaz remembers that these are still kids. Gimmicks and emotion have their place. As Head Coach he now stands as the leader of both sides of the ball. He needs to set the tone in preparedness, focus, and emotion. We can never take another win for granted, especially when the stakes are so high.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
A closer look at first games
Going back to Frank Leahy’s tenure, BC coaches are 6-6 in their first games. Our last three head coaches are 0-3. Not a good omen for Saturday. I’ve already looked at first years, but I thought I would take a deeper dive on the first games for the modern era (the DI split) BC coaches.
Coach: Joe Yukica
First Game: September 28, 1968 at Navy
Result: BC 49, Navy 15
Thoughts: While this game took place before the DI split, since Yukica’s reign carried into the modern era, I counted his first. Although Navy was competitive in the 1960s, ’68 was a down year for them (2-8) making this win important but less impressive. BC ended the year 6-3. This was Yukica’s first win en route to becoming the school’s all-time winningest coach. As you'll be reminded over and over during the NC State week, TOB broke Yukica’s win total last fall.
Coach: Ed Chlebek
First Game: September 16, 1978
Result: BC 7, Air Force 18
Thoughts: This was the first game of a disastrous and winless first season for Chlebek. Air Force wasn’t good in 1978 (3-8) but they had a coach who knew what he was doing (Bill Parcells). Inheriting a steady program and going winless was an ominous sign for Chlebek. Other odd losses in 1978 included getting shutout by UMass, a one-point loss to Holy Cross and flying all the way to Japan to play and lose to Temple.
Coach: Jack Bicknell
First Game: September 19, 1981
Result: BC 13, Texas A&M 12
Thoughts: This was a pretty big upset as Texas A&M was a bowl team and not much was expected of BC. Bicknell would follow this win with four straight losses. The second half of the season would get a little better when injuries forced Bicknell to use a freshman QB named Flutie. BC would finish the year 5-6.
Coach: Tom Coughlin
First Game: August 31, 1991 at Rutgers
Result: BC 13, Rutgers 20
Thoughts: While losing to Rutgers in the 1990s should have been embarrassing, this loss was to one of the Scarlett Knights’ better teams (6-5). Coughlin only won four games his first year, but his teams were competitive throughout and could have won two or three more if a few things broke his way.
Coach: Dan Henning
First Game: September 3, 1994 at Michigan
Result: BC 26, Michigan 34
Thoughts: This was my first game as a BC student and I watched it in Conte. Yes, Conte. They put it up on the scoreboard. I cannot remember the exact reason why we had to watch there (it was either not shown in Boston or it was on ESPN when the campus still didn’t have cable). BC scored early on a flea-flicker, but we couldn’t keep up with a very talented Michigan team. BC finished the season an underachieving 7-4-1. A few thrilling moments, yet ultimately coming up short would be sign of things to come in the Henning era.
Coach: Tom O’Brien
First Game: September 6, 1997 at Temple
Result: BC 21, Temple 28
Thoughts: I’ve written about this loss in the past. While expectations for TOB were low, losing like this was depressing. Temple had a few good players but were not a good team and would finish 3-8. BC would finish 4-7. After the loss, I never would have expected that TOB would become the program’s winningest coach.
Jags position probably most closely resembles Henning (taking over a winner and facing a BCS conference team). But the big differences between 1994 and now is that BC will be at home and has more talent than Wake. Let’s hope he has a different outcome than Henning.
Keep in mind that first games are important from a momentum standpoint, but not a great indicator of anything. (And I’ll be telling myself that over and over if we lose Saturday.)
Coach: Joe Yukica
First Game: September 28, 1968 at Navy
Result: BC 49, Navy 15
Thoughts: While this game took place before the DI split, since Yukica’s reign carried into the modern era, I counted his first. Although Navy was competitive in the 1960s, ’68 was a down year for them (2-8) making this win important but less impressive. BC ended the year 6-3. This was Yukica’s first win en route to becoming the school’s all-time winningest coach. As you'll be reminded over and over during the NC State week, TOB broke Yukica’s win total last fall.
Coach: Ed Chlebek
First Game: September 16, 1978
Result: BC 7, Air Force 18
Thoughts: This was the first game of a disastrous and winless first season for Chlebek. Air Force wasn’t good in 1978 (3-8) but they had a coach who knew what he was doing (Bill Parcells). Inheriting a steady program and going winless was an ominous sign for Chlebek. Other odd losses in 1978 included getting shutout by UMass, a one-point loss to Holy Cross and flying all the way to Japan to play and lose to Temple.
Coach: Jack Bicknell
First Game: September 19, 1981
Result: BC 13, Texas A&M 12
Thoughts: This was a pretty big upset as Texas A&M was a bowl team and not much was expected of BC. Bicknell would follow this win with four straight losses. The second half of the season would get a little better when injuries forced Bicknell to use a freshman QB named Flutie. BC would finish the year 5-6.
Coach: Tom Coughlin
First Game: August 31, 1991 at Rutgers
Result: BC 13, Rutgers 20
Thoughts: While losing to Rutgers in the 1990s should have been embarrassing, this loss was to one of the Scarlett Knights’ better teams (6-5). Coughlin only won four games his first year, but his teams were competitive throughout and could have won two or three more if a few things broke his way.
Coach: Dan Henning
First Game: September 3, 1994 at Michigan
Result: BC 26, Michigan 34
Thoughts: This was my first game as a BC student and I watched it in Conte. Yes, Conte. They put it up on the scoreboard. I cannot remember the exact reason why we had to watch there (it was either not shown in Boston or it was on ESPN when the campus still didn’t have cable). BC scored early on a flea-flicker, but we couldn’t keep up with a very talented Michigan team. BC finished the season an underachieving 7-4-1. A few thrilling moments, yet ultimately coming up short would be sign of things to come in the Henning era.
Coach: Tom O’Brien
First Game: September 6, 1997 at Temple
Result: BC 21, Temple 28
Thoughts: I’ve written about this loss in the past. While expectations for TOB were low, losing like this was depressing. Temple had a few good players but were not a good team and would finish 3-8. BC would finish 4-7. After the loss, I never would have expected that TOB would become the program’s winningest coach.
Jags position probably most closely resembles Henning (taking over a winner and facing a BCS conference team). But the big differences between 1994 and now is that BC will be at home and has more talent than Wake. Let’s hope he has a different outcome than Henning.
Keep in mind that first games are important from a momentum standpoint, but not a great indicator of anything. (And I’ll be telling myself that over and over if we lose Saturday.)
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