Strong

Our offense might not be the most fun to watch but there is a certain beauty in imposing your will on the other team. They know we are going to run. We know they know. And yet BC still had a very productive game on the ground and broke it open with a long Andre Williams TD. The defensive effort was better than the stats will indicate. They allowed some big plays but offset that by making big plays too. This was a very big win for this season and hopefully for Addazio as he builds the program.

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

In-game comments post: Virginia Tech

This is a critical game for a variety of reasons but most importantly because we don't have much room for error in our path to a bowl game. Virginia Tech tends to play down to their opponent, which should make this interesting. Leave your thoughts and comments below.

You can also follow me on twitter.

Kiwi in Africa and other links

If you haven't watched this clip of Kiwi in Uganda helping cancer and AIDS patients, give it five minutes. I try not to overplay the all "BC guys are great people" narrative, but you have to appreciate Kiwi lending his time and celebrity to this cause. Considering his grandfather was murdered and his family run out, there are a million reasons not to go back to Uganda. Yet he is and trying to do some good. Good for him.

After a few rough years, BC's Defense is our calling card once again.



Volleyball lost to Wake Forest.

Basketball Season Poster is out. I don't know why, but I still find these sorts of things interesting. The team posters (and media guides) are like little time capsules. I wish someone and BC would digitize and post all the old posters.

Game Watches: Virginia Tech

Noon starts might not be great for tailgating, but I think they work well for Game Watches (bars aren't super crowded yet, can eat lunch, etc). If your chapter is hosting a Game Watch and it is not listed, be sure to put it in the comments section.

Chicago Game Watch
Nic and Dino's Tripoli Tap
1147 W Armitage (Armitage Brown/Purple Line L)
Chicago

Dallas Game Watch
Christie's Sports Bar
2811 McKinney Ave Suite 22
Dallas, Texas

Houston Game Watch
J. Blacks Feel Good Kitchen & Lounge
110 S. Heights Blvd.
Houston

Jersey Shore Game Watch
Val’s Tavern
123 E. River Road
Rumson, N.J.

Las Vegas Game Watch
Firkin on Paradise
4503 Paradise Road
Las Vegas

New York Game Watch
Joshua Tree
513 3rd Avenue (between 34th and 35th Street)
New York, N.Y.

Philadelphia Game Watch
Fox and Hound - Center City
1501 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, Penn.

Phoenix Game Watch
Gallagher’s Sports Grill
7575 N. 16th Street
Phoenix, Ariz.

San Diego Game Watch
The Beer Co.
602 Broadway
San Diego, Calif.

San Francisco Game Watch
Shanghai Kelly’s
2064 Polk St (between Pacific Ave & Broadway St)
San Francisco, Calif.

Washington, D.C. Game Watch
Irish Whiskey Public House
1207 19th Street Northwest
Washington, D.C.

Tweets of the Week

Ryan Anderson continues to see most of his time at the 5 for Boston College. Creates mismatches. Enhances spacing. Skilled team.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 31, 2013

The fact that Nutt was a I-A head coach for two decades and is clueless about CT talent should tell him all he needs to know about CT talent

— Matt Hinton (@MattRHinton) October 31, 2013

Today is Priest Appreciation Day. I am thankful for all the @BostonCollege Jesuits have done to shape my life.

— Richard Kelley (@kelleyri) October 27, 2013

We're going to need more treats. RT @BCMike22 Everything that is #BCEagles awesomeness right here RT @morinje: pic.twitter.com/R2XqDxzTrN

— Boston College (@BostonCollege) October 31, 2013

#BCEagles fans rejoice, media grumbles MT @BCBradBates: Here's a sneak peek of new courtside setup for @BCHoopNews. pic.twitter.com/srqyj5K9S9

— Jack McCluskey (@jack_mccluskey) October 25, 2013

BC-Virginia Tech preview

Suddenly this season has a bit of pressure. Expectations were raised by the solid first six games. Last week's mess has people wondering if BC can get to bowl eligibility. In a way this Virginia Tech team is the perfect opponent now. They are favored and will still be a tough game, but their offense is so sluggish even a loss will probably be close and not crushing like last week.

What's on my mind (not totally related to this game)
Many professional circles feel like a "small world" but college coaching really is small. Take Virginia Tech Offensive Coordinator Scot Loeffler as an example. After working with Addazio at Florida, he took the OC job at Temple in 2011. The success he and Addazio had opened the door for him to be OC at Auburn. Addazio filled the Temple job with Ryan Day. While the 2012 season wasn't as successful for Temple as the prior year, Day's BC background did help Addazio and his transition to the BC job. Loeffler along with the other coordinators at Auburn was out of a job when Chizik was fired. Now he's coaching at VT and going against his old boss.

Three Simple Keys
1. Finish the drill against Logan. The Florida State game turned when we didn't wrap up Winston on his bomb before the half. Logan is like that...only bigger. I don't think he is a good QB, but he can capitalize on broken plays. BC needs to take him down when we get the chance.
2. Improve field position. Last week we didn't do the offense any favors by starting so many drives deep in our own territory. That needs to change this week. I don't expect Dudeck to break any big punts, but he needs to do little things to help the net punting. Willis also needs to come out strong on his KR.
3. Play action pass. It is the only way we are going to get them out of crowding the box. The guys are getting open. We just need Rettig to get them the ball and for them to hold on to it.

Gambling Notes
-- BC is 4-3 against the spread this season
-- Virginia Tech has won five in a row vs BC
-- Addazio is 3-1 at home this year.
The current line is BC+5


Factoid 
This will be the sixth BC Coach Frank Beamer has faced. With the way colleges churn their coaches, I doubt we will see another rival coach put in 25+ years against us.

Scoreboard Watching
From an ACC standpoint, the game is FSU-Miami. As a barometer of what BC faces, I think Wake-Syracuse is much more important. Wake has improved since we played them and the Orange are faltering.

I hope to see...
One of the younger guys step up. Spiffy is our first big injury of the year, but that should be an opportunity for one of the other player makers to fill his spot. Dudeck will probably get more passes his way, but why can't Jackson or Crimmins or one of the other guys make some plays?

BC is in trouble if...
Rettig doesn't get out of his malaise. By this I mean that he completes more than 50% of his passes, doesn't turn the ball over and doesn't take more than three sacks. That's a lot to ask against this defense, but it is the only way BC is going to win.

Bottom Line
It feels like the UNC loss emptied the bandwagon a bit. I realize we have serious problems, but I remain upbeat about this matchup. Despite their defense and talent, Virginia Tech has not played very well this year. I think it will be low scoring and BC will make fewer mistakes. I think Chase breaks out of his funk and we take the lead in the second half.
Final Score: BC20, Virginia Tech 13

Spitballing basketball stuff

Just a few random thoughts on basketball...

It is a few days old, but there was some good news out of the BC's private scrimmage with St. Joseph's. Although we trailed when it was starters vs starters, BC won the event and made 14 3-pointers. That type of output should be very exciting. If it is a sample of our mindset we are going to cause every team we play problems. I know chucking 3s is not foolproof. However, if teams clamp down on us, we know Hanlan can penetrate and score at the basket. It should also open up things for Anderson. Maybe this really is Donahue's chance to go "all in." We've got a super tough schedule and an experienced team and an AD who didn't hire him. Why not try to shoot the lights out every night? What's the worse thing that could happen?

...

One rotation guy who is not a shooter is freshman Garland Owens. BC's been a bad defensive team for a long time now. Having one good energy/defensive wing like Owens is not going to change that. But as long as Owens can help slow down the other team's best player, we can go without his offense. 

...

I always seem to come back around to Dennis Clifford, but he's still such an unknown. When thinking about Darryl Hicks' likely redshirt, I started thinking that a Clifford redshirt is probably a good idea too. This team has an effective big man in Magarity. It looks like we will have enough depth and offense and we know Clifford is not going to be healthy enough to start the season. Instead of rushing him back, why not let him sit the whole season and get 100% healthy. It is a move that would certainly benefit Dennis. He could recuperate and hopefully regain his old form. It think it would also help our scholarship distribution. A healthy 5th year Clifford could lead a team after the departure of Anderson and Jackson and others. The only drawback is losing him in this critical season. I am not doctor or basketball coach, so this may be premature or plain dumb (probably both). I just think sitting him is the best long-term decision for Clifford and Donahue.

Run, Chase, Run

Chase Rettig is coming off one of his worst games and we are facing (in Addazio's mind) the best defense we've faced this year. It doesn't appear like a great time to bounce back or regain your confidence. I don't know exactly what is going on with Rettig. He's always held the ball a bit too long, but now it is becoming a real problem. Is it the new offense? Is it a lack of faith in his receivers? Is he being coached to hold on rather than force a pass? Has he lost his confidence? Or are not enough guys getting open? Based on watching and on what Addazio said, I think it is probably a little bit of everything.

The most challenging part of this slump is that Rettig still represents our best chance of going bowling. We know he can get hot. We know there are winnable games left. And the alternatives are not better. This is not Porter-Ryan or even Shinskie-Rettig. It is much more equivalent to Crane-Davis. The backups can't do the one thing that Chase can -- throw the ball.

The answer is to make the game easier for Rettig within the confines of the offense. To do that, Rettig needs to do the one thing that against his nature -- run.

We don't have a pages and pages of the playbook dedicated to QB runs like we will next year. But there are still plenty of plays where there are running opportunities. There are a few options and plenty of rollouts. Either by nature or by coaching, Chase rarely runs in those plays. However, there is plenty of open space. Early in one of our drives, he handed it to Williams on an option play when he could have kept it for a big gain into huge hole. Some of his rollouts (if he stays close to the line) could go for positive yardage. The biggest area where he could benefit from the run, is scrambling forward from the pocket when no one is open. The opponents are not spying him. On many of these plays he could escape for short gains.

I don't think Rettig is ever going to look great running or break open the game. Running has its risks. Rettig could get hurt, but I think the upside of running outweighs the risk of injury.

Right now we are predictable. Rettig running changes that. On true running plays adding him to the mix keeps the linebackers from crashing hard on Williams. On pass plays he can keep the chains moving and maybe start to get safeties and LBs hedging a bit -- which would help our receivers later in the game. Finally on dropbacks, if nothing is there, running helps his timing. He should take his steps, scan and then throw or run. The waiting is a killer. Nothing good is coming of it. He either forces a bad pass or takes a sack. By pushing him to run, it creates a rhythm or a natural clock in his head to make a decision. It might not lead to big plays and will probably result in even fewer attempts, but we may become more efficient on offense.

Things will probably get worse before they get better. After VT we face the easier part of our schedule. Who knows, Rettig could be fine and start completing passes once again. I still have faith in his arm. I just think we need to use his legs to fix things.

Marge Kelley passes and other weekend news

Marge Kelley -- the wife of legendary BC Hockey coach "Snooks" Kelley -- passed away over the weekend. There is no online obituary yet, but condolences quickly spread among the BC Hockey community. Marge was instrumental in the success of the program as she served as a mother figure to many of the boys on the team. She has kept a connection to the program through the years. She will be missed.

Hockey played Minnesota twice over the weekend. Things looked promising during tense tie on Friday. Sunday's loss was more lopsided.

Former Eagle Sean Flaherty wrote an article about BC's social media for MIT.

Kenpom released his first ratings of the season and BC debuted 37th.

Women's soccer beat Maryland 1-0.

Georgia Tech defeated Volleyball.

Second viewing thoughts and grade report: UNC

This wasn't a game we gave away with bad clock management or a missed kick. It obviously didn't come down to one play. But it was frustrating watching it back, because UNC did not play that well. Not as well as the score indicates. Instead BC kept shooting itself in the foot. This echos what Addazio said after the game, but when he watches it back, I imagine he will have steam coming out of his ears. There were that many plays -- fumbles, bad sacks, defensive players falling down, bad punt returns, etc. -- that added up to a big loss.

Offense: D+

We have plenty of issues on offense but Rettig is getting most of the blame. In this case it was justified. He is now holding the ball way too long. There were some positives in relation to his pocket awareness. He was willing to tuck and run more than he has all year. And most of the runs were net positives. But too many throws were late or not thrown at all. Talk of making a QB change is very premature. If we are going to make a bowl, it will be with Rettig's arm.

I was wrong about Rettig prior to the season. I was really wrong about Andre Williams. He's gotten so much better as the season goes on. The touchdown was nice, but he had a huge hole. However, he had a series of runs between the tackles where he ran hard and moved through traffic. For many years Williams was bad between the tackles. If he didn't have space, he wasn't able to adjust. Now he can weave a bit and is still very hard to take down. The only real issue with Williams was the early fumbled exchange. Rouse got a few snaps in garbage time. Willis was on the field more, but didn't get involved in the offense.

The offensive line was good. They got good push on running plays and at different points everyone was asked to pull or run. The pass blocking was also good for the most part. They gave Rettig time on most throws. Patchan allowed a sack, but was good for the most part (despite his penalties). Gallik also let in some rushers. Williams and White both played well.

Amidon had a few nice catches but could do much after the catch. He also dropped a catchable third down. But we need to get him more touches. What happened to using him on end arounds? Naples had a nice catch early. Jackson and Evans both had chances to catch balls but the throws weren't great. I blame it a little on them and on Rettig. A better QB-WR connection would have them coming back to the ball. Dudeck missed his one chance at a catchable ball.

I don't know what to make of Day's gameplan against UNC. We ran the ball well enough, but couldn't build on the passing game. A big problem in my opinion was passing on passing downs. If we run, run and leave us in a passing 3rd down, the defense knows what's coming. We are at our best when we can pass off of play action or rollouts on first and second down. It worked somewhat early. Why move away from it? Why not use some of the shotgun with short crosses that Rettig and Amidon like early in a possession? Get them in rhythm. Teams are flatout challenging BC now. It is going to be on Day to salvage our passing attack. It wasn't effective this week.

Defense: C+

The defensive line was probably the best part of the D. Ramsey played well and brought pressure. Appiah made plays for the first time in a long time. Mihalik made some good plays early. Edebali did well closing.

Steven Daniels is so much better than he was at the start of the year. We knew he was a big hitter, but he's doing a better job covering a lot of space. Divitto had a better game. He's not getting tackles for a loss, but is tackling well. KPL made some plays early but wasn't as active late. Little had a huge play in his debut.

Sylvia was the first BC player to get tossed for targeting and I am okay with that. The replay looked like he was slowing down a bit, but he still led with his head/shoulders without using his arms. If you are really going to break up a touchdown, you need to wrap up or reach in. A knock out hit might get the WR to drop the ball, but that is no longer legal. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts from here. The rest of the DBs had a similar situation from other weeks. They were decent tackling but not great in coverage. Asprilla got burned early turning the wrong way. Williams fell down on a touchdown.

The defense wasn't the real problem but the results weren't great. It didn't feel like a Don Brown day. BC certainly brought pressure and generated some huge drive-killing sacks, but most of the time their QBs were given way too much time. Our multiple looks and guys faking the blitz didn't seem to bother either of their QBs. Like I said with Day, teams now know a bit more what to expect. Brown needs to keep mixing things up or just blitz even more. The blitzes were what worked best.

Special Teams: C

Freese's punts were fine and our punt coverage was fine. Freese also had a solid kick off and made his FG.

Willis handled all the KRs and was fine. He didn't get a big break on any but made good decisions and ran hard.

Spiffy had some issues on the punts. He let one sail way over his head and then had some questionable decisions on returns. Dudeck was fine on his one punt return.


Overall: C-

The offense couldn't score. The defense allowed long, multi-play drives and the special teams didn't do anything special. Our gameplan was to get control early and grind it out. That was the problem. We didn't have a Plan B. Or at least a Plan B we could execute. We adjusted a little on D by bringing more pressure. On offense we couldn't come up with anything.

I appreciate Addazio's candor. UNC probably has more talent, but they didn't overwhelm us like USC did. BC made too many mistakes to win. That happens to all coaching staffs. The key is how Addazio regroups and gets the team to play better.

I know there is a lot of focus on Rettig. I've been blogging enough to see plenty of QBs struggle. This is not a Porter-Ryan or even a Shinskie-Rettig. I think this is more like Crane-Davis, where your backups are not the answer. So now the offensive staff needs to find something that works. It is triage time. If they don't, we will have many more games like this.

House of Horrors

One day we will win in Chapel Hill. Today certainly wasn't the day as BC lost and fell to 3-4 on the season.

The defense had its moments. So did Andre Williams. Rettig didn't. There were plays to make but he either missed his targets or took bad sacks. I don't know if he's lost his confidence or trying to do too much, but it wasn't pretty. The good news is that there is still much to play for...all we need is the offense to get back on track.

I will have second viewing thoughts and grades late Sunday.

In-game comments post: UNC

Can we finally win at Chapel Hill? Does this start a strong second half of the season? Or do we come back down to Earth? It should be interesting. Leave your thoughts and comments below.

You can also follow me on twitter.

Tweets of the Week

Great double-rainbow at soccer game in Newton. BC 3 - Harvard 2 with 7:00 left in game pic.twitter.com/SnJodj4Hga

— Brad Bates (@BCBradBates) October 22, 2013

After this debacle, I feel SO much better about the direction of my alma mater #BC

— Damien Woody (@damienwoody) October 20, 2013

I thought Clemson would at least force Winston to play a full game. Only Boston College has pulled off that feat this season.

— Patrick Stevens (@D1scourse) October 20, 2013

Team Picture 2013-14 pic.twitter.com/nEfw6DVNva

— Dan McDermott (@d_mcdermott) October 18, 2013

Congrats to Johnny Gaudreau on etching his name in @BCHockeyNews history as a 100-point career scorer! #WeAreBC pic.twitter.com/d6IRFfVrBe

— BC Hockey (@BCHockeyNews) October 19, 2013

Game Watches: North Carolina

While this may have more affiliates than usual picking up the game, it is still region to region. If you cannot get it at home, check out one of the local Game Watches. Add your Chapter's information if it is not included below.

Chicago Game Watch
Nic and Dino's Tripoli Tap
1147 W Armitage (Armitage Brown/Purple Line L)
Chicago

Dallas Game Watch
Christie's Sports Bar
2811 McKinney Ave Suite 22
Dallas, Texas

Houston Game Watch
J. Blacks Feel Good Kitchen & Lounge
110 S. Heights Blvd.
Houston

Las Vegas Game Watch
Firkin on Paradise
4503 Paradise Road
Las Vegas

New York Game Watch
Joshua Tree
513 3rd Avenue (between 34th and 35th Street)
New York, N.Y.

Philadelphia Game Watch
Fox and Hound - Center City
1501 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, Penn.

San Diego Game Watch
The Beer Co.
602 Broadway
San Diego, Calif.

San Francisco Game Watch
Shanghai Kelly’s
2064 Polk St (between Pacific Ave & Broadway St)
San Francisco, Calif.

Washington, D.C. Game Watch
Irish Whiskey Public House
1207 19th Street Northwest
Washington, D.C.

BC-North Carolina preview

Addazio made a point that we are starting over with the second half of the season. Maybe North Carolina is taking the same approach in the hope of putting behind their 1-5 start. When the schedule came out this seemed like one of our tougher games. Now I don't know. There is still talent in Chapel Hill and they've been in some of their games. Let's hope they don't finally put things together this week.

What's on my mind (not totally related to this game) This week proved that the college football community has really short memories. We were a good story after giving Clemson a scare. Then we're off and Clemson gets crushed. Suddenly we are dropping in Power Rankings and a big underdog (considering we are facing a 1-5 team). I don't want pats on the back for being 3-3 but I think BC should win this week and should finish strong. We have our issues, but so does everyone else.

Three Simple Keys
1. Disrupt Eric Ebron's from running his routes. This is the matchup that scares me. Ebron is good. Really good. Probably the best Tight End we will see all year. Our Linebackers (and even some of our Satefies) are not great in pass coverage. My suggestion is blitz heavy at Ebron so that he has to stay in to protect.
2. 3rd down defense. North Carolina can grind it out like we do. If we are going to dictate tempo and be ball control, he have to have the ball. The key is stopping them on 3rd down and keeping their possessions short.
3. Get Willis involved in the passing game. Against Clemson, he proved again that he is good in space. I would love to see a few more screens to him or another wheel route like his first TD.

Gambling Notes
-- Larry Fedora has never lost more than six games in a season
-- BC is 1-7 against the spread in our last 8 road games
-- Addazio is 0-2 on the road as BC's coach
The current line is BC+7

Factoid
North Carolina is the only ACC we have not defeated as the away team.

Scoreboard Watching
I could be way off in my assessment but I think Virginia Tech is terribly overrated. I don't think Duke will beat them, but I do think it will be close. We can learn a lot about the Hokies based on how they handle this game.

I hope to see...
Offensive balance. Addazio preaches it, but we haven yet to really see it on the field. So far one aspect works, while the other trudges along. That shouldn't happen with a good offense. I think we are now at the stage where we know what works and what doesn't. It is on Day to build an effective gameplan around those elements that are working.

BC is in trouble if...
We don't force turnovers from Williams and Renner. These guys both have the ability to make big plays and keep plays alive. The flipside is the occasional carelessness. We need to mirror our Wake Forest game and get the ball off of their mistakes.

Bottom Line
I know they're favored. I know we've never won in Chapel Hill. My rational side knows that their "close losses" to VT and Miami aren't all that different from our close losses to Clemson and FSU. Yet I still feel fairly confident about this game. I think we are pretty conservative and avoid critical turnovers and grind it out. Maybe UNC gets a late TD to make the game appear closer than it was. BC wins and sets themselves up well for the second half of the season.
Final Score: BC 27, North Carolina 20

Addazio at the midpoint and other links

Former Heights editor Greg Joyce posted a good write up of the football season at the halfway point. It is a coaching cliche to say we are starting over -- "a new season" -- but this is the one time I agree with the coachspeak. We are starting over. We won the games we were supposed to win and lost to the big guys. Now we have to face real tests against like programs. Finally we will know how good we are.

Brian at BCI posted a useful breakdown of Donahue's scholarships. He's right that being so dependent on megaclasses means we will never be consistent. I know this might not make sense, but I hope a few reserves leave this year so that we have a chance to get to roster balance. A transfer wouldn't hurt either.

Matt Patchan's brother -- a 2015 recruit -- will be on campus in November.

If you haven't noticed BC has been posting most of Addazio's press conferences on Youtube. He doesn't say a whole lot, but I appreciate that Addazio still has good energy at this point in the season.


ESPN posted their season preview of the basketball team.

Field Hockey beat Harvard.

Men's Soccer also beat the Crimson on Tuesday.

New hoops commit raises all the Donahue recruiting questions again

Steve Donahue is one of the best Xs & Os coaches I've seen in college basketball. He is also a good face of the program and a tireless worker. Those issues were all pretty clear early in his BC tenure. The biggest unknown was could he recruit ACC-level players. Four years in we are still asking that question. He's brought in some, but as we face losing Olivier Hanlan to the NBA, the Don's first commitment for the small 2014 recruiting class is way below the radar point guard Matt Farrell.

Here's the good news on Farrell: it is highly likely that he is a "preferred walk-on." Farrell hasn't mentioned that aspect yet and neither have the recruiting sites, but I am hearing is that he is. BC obviously cannot make an official comment on it until Signing Day. Preferred walk-on would mean that he is not guaranteed a scholarship, but will get a fair shot to earn one. For a kid with Ivy and Monmouth offers, the chance to play and compete at the ACC level can be enticing even if there are no assurances. I appreciate a player who has faith in himself to compete and succeed.

The bigger issue that this raises though is why is Farrell the first guy in the 2014 Class to commit. Donahue targeted a series of elite prospects. We only have one definite scholarship available. Another scholarship is expected to free up due to attrition. Donahue needs a star.  A guy who can carry the load after Anderson and Hanlan leave. We don't need another shooter, undersized point guard. Those guys can be found and had at any time. Donahue can pick them up at or around Signing Day every season. Farrell is a proof that those types will come to play at BC even without a scholarship. Guys like Farrell are the role players for a Championship Team. Where is our post Hanlan centerpiece?

For a long time I thought this would be a make or break year for Donahue. Then I heard that Bates was on board with the schedule and the direction of the program. BC needs to show improvement this year, but it is not NCAA Tournament or bust. If BC is above .500 and makes the NIT, Donahue will be safe.

I like Donahue and I want him to succeed, but I am worried about our future. Hanlan and Odio are his only recruits (so far) who have exceeded their pre-BC expectations. I would say Anderson, Rahon, and Jackson have met. Clifford looked like a steal but we might never see him at 100%. The rest of the recruits have not lived up to their hype.

Recruiting is not easy. Skinner missed on a lot of guys and didn't even try on some local stars. Yet he built credibility with BC fans by landing enough guys who exceeded everyone's expectations of what they would be in college (with the biggest surprises being Bell, Dudley, Rice and Jackson). Is Matt Farrell going to be all ACC one day? Will we get one elite player in the 2014 cycle? With the way the musical chairs are playing out, I am not optimistic.

Preferred walk-on or not, this is going to be a small recruiting class. Donahue needs an impact player and I hope he finds one soon. Welcome to BC, Matt Farrell. I hope you shut up all the Doubting Thomases and dumb bloggers.

VT gametime and other links

Our game against Virginia Tech will be a noon kickoff with a national TV audience. I think this is again a good confidence boost in our TV appeal. ESPN/ABC have not determined which actual network will carry the game yet. That will be decided after the North Carolina game.

In other encouraging TV news, our game against UNC is getting pretty good pick up on regional sports networks. The Tar Heels are 1-5 and still a regional team in football, so I don't think they can take credit for the game being shown out West or throughout the Midwest.

Surprisingly North Carolina remains a 7-point favorite in our game. I know we have a lot to prove, but I am surprised there remains that much confidence in a one-win team.

ESPN has us bowling but keeps us down in the Power Rankings.

Women's Hockey handled Dartmouth.

Women's Soccer tied Miami.

Hanlan ready for next step and other links

Olivier Hanlan continues to get great press heading into the season. I know this might be counter intuitive but I don't want him trying to score 25+ a night. I think we will be best if he is getting everyone involved and we are making 3s. If we just stand around waiting for him to do it all, I think our overall scoring will suffer.

Women's Ice Hockey beat Yale Saturday. Sunday afternoon they take on Dartmouth.

Field Hockey lost to North Carolina. While they remain ranked, they are only 1-3 in ACC play.

That's how you have a Jerry York Night

The Hockey team crushed Wisconsin 9-2. It was impressive in every way with plenty of scoring to go around. It was a fitting win on the night BC honored our Hall of Fame Hockey coach. As many remember "York Night" was scheduled for last season, but the Coach missed time due to multiple eye surgeries.

BC travels to Minnesota next week for a two-game series with the Gophers.