Draft 10/29: Keys to the Game vs. Clemson

Well, BC is now 2 and 5, and desperately need a win to have a flare of hope to even make a bowl game, well in comes to town a new rival in Clemson. Here are our Keys to the game to beat Clemson, and start heading the ship in the right direction.

1M)Don't kick it to Andre Ellington.

Boston College hasn't really been on fire when it comes to Kick Coverage.. Well don't kick to Andre Ellington, seriously, just don't do it.

2W) Rettig shakes his jitters early

Lately Rettig seems to take a about a quarter and a half to get settled, but after that he seems to get good rhythm and happy feet time is over. Hopefully this week Rettig has his feet and timing set early.

3M)Getting the hot routes right.

Last year Clemson's DC threw the kitchen sink at B, with regularity. We can expect to see more of the same this week. We need Chase and the WR's to e in the same page for those hot routes once the impending blitz is recognized.

4W) Montel being en fuego

Did you watch the Celtics / Heat game Tuesday night? The Heat were getting it handed to them.. and there really wasn’t much they could do about it . They have 3 stars, but none were really putting up the points, Then, Lebron (as much as I am not a fan) took over.. He put up points and made it a game.. Well Montel, We need you to take over and make this a game.

5M) Where have you gone, Cole-diMaggio?

Johnathan Coleman is one of our favorites so it was super exciting for us to see him emerge early in the season... But where has he been the last couple of games? Seems like part of the problem is he's simply not getting looks....he needs to break coverage early and be a prime target for Chase with the blitzes we're sure to see.

6W) Forget 3, make it 7!

BC has had a hard time moving the ball on offense, and that’s really not an opinion, its a fact. BC needs to force the issue to convert touchdowns when they are in the red zone, and stop settling for 3. If BC is going to win, we are going to have to take some risks., so going for it on 4^th is going to happen.

7M) Time to press coverage

Playing back and allowing the short completion simply hasn't been a successful strategy. Parker is good enough QB to consistently complete the short passes all day so we need to force the issue.

8W) Throw on first down

Im not gonna say we should run a crazy offense, I am not going to say we should even run a balanced offense.. I am just asking for a small victory here. Throw on first down, give it a chance. Our opponents know our tendencies, and they play towards them.

9M) Bobby "Old Spice Swagger" Swigert returning kicks

Wesley, I do believe we will throw it on first down. The question is whether or not we do it before halfway through the third quarter. About even odds there, I would guess.

For my last selection, I'm going with using Swigert on kick and punt returns. He's been terrrific as a freshman catching the ball, but for those who follow recruiting it was Bobby's kick and punt return skills that got most of us the most excited. Chris Fox is a good athlete and a serviceable backup in the defensive backfield but he clearly shouldn't be returning kicks. Montel is easily the most valuable player on the team given our overall weakness on offense and risking injury to him on punts is painfully dumb (not that we want Bobby injured by any means). Let's put Bobby in a position to make a play....or ten...we'll need it Saturday..

10W) Get ahead Early

With our offense, we haven’t really been the shock and awe that we may have grown used to in the past. For us to win, we will need to get ahead early and try to maintain that lead. Our defense should keep us in lots of games, but we will need an early push from the offense to have that lead, as comebacks will be very hard for us to manufacture.

Recap:

BCMike: Dont kick to Ellington, Hot Routes, Cole Di-Maggio, Press Coverage, Swigert Returning Kicks

Wesley: Rettig Shake Jitters, Montel en fuego, Get 7, Throw on 1st, Get ahead early

Draft 10-29: Keys to the Game vs. Clemson
	BCMike: Dont kick to Ellington, Hot Routes, Cole Di-Maggio, Press Coverage, Swigert Returning Kicks
	Wesley: Rettig Shake Jitters, Montel en fuego, Get 7, Throw on 1st, Get ahead early
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Draft 10/26: Worst of the Worst vs Maryland

Well that sure was a kick in the pants. BC showed a lot of heart in a great come back attempt, but it came up short, inches short to be exact. There definitely wasn't a shortage of potential worst of the worst, but before we start we definitely want to wish Albright, Gause, and Wes Davis a very speedy recovery!

1W) Getting stopped on 4th and inches

There really could not be a more true term of nail on the coffin. And I really don't think I need to add any details on this.

2M) Play calling

It was the 4th quarter before our first pass on first down. Execution is a problem as well, but we are painfully predictable and completely devoid of any creativity.

3W)Momah tipped INT

Does it kind of seem like I am picking on Momah lately? Hmm well maybe.. I think Momah has all the athletic ability to be a great receiver, and the God given height as well.. just can’t seem to get it all in motion.. at all. So much that I think we would be best served as a diversion on Offensive Goal line situations, and on the Dline. But on this play it was one of Rettig’s first passes that were tossed well, right into the hands of Momah only for it to go off his mitts into the air and into Maryland’s hands.

4M) Sticking with what doesn't work
Historically, the bend but don't break D wad effective as we has at least one corner (Blackmon, Tribble, etc.) who was fast enough that the staff would allow them to play up and challenge short throws now and again.

This year, we have chosen to play back and not challenge anything and allow WR screens to be run ad-naseum. Enough is enough, we need to challenge people.

5W) WE (BCDraft) asked for it

We really did. If you look back to our fourth pick with Soaring to Glory We said we wanted to force O’Brien to beat us.. well he did. I actually have to give a lot of credit to the Freshman, he played a great game. BC stopped the run, no doubt only allowing 43 yards on the ground.. but O’ Brien played well. There must have been a link for BCDraft on the medifast weight loss program for Fridge to see our keys. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/27/AR2009082701605.html

6M) The Chase check-down
Guilty as charged, Wesley. Kudos to O'Brien, he played well and did what Maryland needed to get the W.
While I still strongly believe that Chase is the right QB for us now and likely in the future; he checked down constantly in the last game. To be fair to Chase, 90% of the patterns appeared to be underneath routes but when BC needed to move the ball down the field in chunks we dunked and dunked for two and three yards.

7W) ESPN3 Commentators

Ok, if the game wasn’t already hard to watch, the commentators made it that much worse. They called the head coach for BC Spaziano, called Rettig- Retting, Called Noel a well experienced DB. Called any play where a DLine made penetration a blitz. BCMike and I were talking during the game, and we agreed there is a reason why these guys were on ESPN3.

8M) Return game

I am sure Chris Fox is a great kid, and we all hope Shakim Phillips will develop into one of the premiere possession WR's in the ACC. However, at this point Phillips is not striking fear into the heart of anyone and Fox has been consistently inspiring. I don't know of they're practicing much differently than they're playing but personally is like to see Bobby Swigert on kicks and ponts and Amidon joining him on Kick-off returns.

9W) Harris Fumble

Mike I agree, I cringe seeing Montel back there but he did do good. Phillips seems like a fish out of water back there, and Chris Fox hasn’t been impressive. Id be good with Swigert and Amidon, as I would imagine they are the future in that dept, might as well get them the reps. Now montel has been very reliable.. especially that he always extends to get more yards on each carry. But his fumble against Maryland set up an easy score. Montel hasn’t dropped the rock many times at all during his career at BC, but the ones he has seem to be at the worst possible times.

10M) Albright not alright

One of the few bright spots this year has been the outstanding play of DE Alex Albright. Alex has battled injuries and surgeries his entire career at BC But pushed through and was having a terrific senior season. For Alex to go down after working so hard just isn't fair. At the time we're writing this we don't know how severe the injury is but we all hope we will get to see Alex back on the field before the year is over.

Recap:

Wesley: Stopped on 4th, Momah tipped int, We asked for it, ESPN3, Harris Fumble

BCMike: Play Calling, Sticking with it, Chase check-down, Return game, Albright not alright

Draft 10-26: Worst of the Worst vs Maryland
	Wesley: Stopped on 4th, Momah tipped int, We asked for it, ESPN3, Harris Fumble
	BCMike: Play Calling, Sticking with it, Chase check-down, Return game, Albright not alright
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Draft of week 9 ballot

BCDraft Ballot - Week 9

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oregon Ducks	--
2	Boise St. Broncos	--
3	Auburn Tigers	1
4	Michigan St. Spartans	4
5	Utah Utes	-2
6	TCU Horned Frogs	-1
7	Missouri Tigers	4
8	Nebraska Cornhuskers	4
9	Alabama Crimson Tide	1
10	Stanford Cardinal	4
11	Wisconsin Badgers	4
12	Ohio St. Buckeyes	4
13	Arizona Wildcats	5
14	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	-8
15	Florida St. Seminoles	2
16	LSU Tigers	-7
17	Oklahoma Sooners	-10
18	Virginia Tech Hokies	3
19	Arkansas Razorbacks	4
20	South Carolina Gamecocks	4
21	Temple Owls	--
22	Iowa Hawkeyes	-9
23	Baylor Bears	--
24	Miami Hurricanes	--
25	East Carolina Pirates	-3
Dropouts: Texas Longhorns, West Virginia Mountaineers, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

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Draft 10/22: Keys to the game vs Maryland w/ Soaring to Glory

Eagle Fans today we are proud to tell you that we have Soaring to Glory today with us today to help find what it will take the Eagles to get the W on Saturday over the Maryland Terrapins!
Soaring to Glory, you're the guest so you get first pick.
and Thanks for making time to discuss these Keys!

1SoaringtoGlory) Offensive line, Wake the hell up
When you go from having one of the best offensive lines in the nation (and being informally known as O Line U) to having one of the worst, you tend to take notice. Their flimsy play this year is inexplaicable, especially considering one of the linemen is/was a highly-touted NFL prospect. Whatever the case may be, this offense will never, ever get off the ground this season if these guys don't step it up. They held up OK against FSU but we need to see more.

2BCDraft) Where art thou Full back ?

STG, great call on your first pick, COMPLETELY agree that it starts and ends with the line play, not sure if it is just all the changes in systems, loss of Tennant or something else, but where we thought we were strong seems to be a position of flux.
Kind of what brings us to our second draft choice, Utilize the full back. I want to see lead blocks, chip blocks, and even a carry or two wouldn't hurt my feelings at all. We have had this pick in past drafts, but I really don't understand why this position seems to be a point of nonexistance this year as I believe we have talent.

3STG) Gary Tranquill, wake the hell up
Our septuagenarian offensive coordinator, for the most part, has called very conservative games. His offense is moribund and lifeless, and few adjustments are being made. A few weeks ago, we had a VT player essentially telling the media that our offense is easily predictable. He's right; that's on you, Gary. There's something to be said for simplifying the gameplan, but I don't think that means condensing it to a couple of plays in the same sequence over and over again. BC needs to get way more unpredictable.

4BCD) Force O' Brien to beat us

It's going to be a battle of the Freshman Quarterbacks at Boston College on Saturday but I feel that Rettig is the better one. We want to steal a page out of the playbooks from our previous opponents and load the box, stop the run and dare Maryland to win it on the arm of #5. O'Brien has averaged just over 50 percent completion rating and threw 3 picks last week at Clemson, a repeat performance like that could mean an Eagles win

5STG) Defense Keeping up the pass rush
We actually saw signs of a fairly good pass rush last weekend at Florida State. That was absent last year and for a good portion of this year, but we need it now more than ever. When BC has an effective pass rush, as we just witnessed, the entire defense becomes better. Maryland's offense isn't as bad as BC's, but it's far from elite. If the D can limit them in the air, assuming they do their normal good work on the ground, the Eagles can hold Maryland to a low score, giving our pathetic offense a chance to come through.

6BCD) Rettig Passing the ball more than 30 times
Haha, I know what you guys are saying. 30 times!!! He has barely thrown over that in his short college career at Boston College (34) The thought here is that BC has to take the full attention off of the run. Obviously he will have to complete a good amount of them, but Maryland's Pass Defense has shown to be porous, the game is at BC and truthfully to obtain more wins, we will have to have some threat of a pass..perfect storm for Rettig to air it out.. It only seems like yesterday when I was complaining we were having Matty Ryan throw for 50+ times a game.

7STG)Special teams, don't quit on me now
We didn't quite see it in the punting last week (though Quigley gets a pass for being very good overall), but this team needs to win the special teams battles. Nate Freese seems to be as automatic of a kicker as we've had in a while, and Ryan Quigley's punts have been largely quite good, but BC's return game needs to get a whole lot better, as do the kickoffs. BC is now 110th in FBS in punt return yards (just over 4 yards per PR), which hurts BC in the field position battle, and we know this offense could use all the yardage they can get.

8BCD)Stretch the field/ Establish a deep threat
BC is averaging 5.9 yards per reception, and this is without mentioning the completion average. It goes without saying that BC needs to show that they can throw the deep ball. It seems that BC misses Larmond's ability more than anticipated, as he was definitely the option on for stretching the field in 2009. But 5.9 average per reception doesn't give the Eagles many opportunities to win, we've gotta push the ball down field and force Maryland keep us honest.

9STG) Catch the ball already
I think this is an OK, not great group of WRs, but it seems like they aren't doing enough. BC bloggers have lamented how they're not getting open and are suffering from drops. There's no telling if this situation will be remedied any time soon, but it'd be nice, wouldn't it?

10BCD) Jim Noel showcase

I think it would go without saying that Noel played great last week, even through a tough loss he made some great plays playing for a suspended Legrande. Well he played so well he got the starting nod this week at home against the Terps. Well here you go Jim, show us all why you should keep the starting job permanently. I think strong play by Noel could be the difference maker on Saturday.

Recap:


STG: O-line wake up, Tranquill wake up, Defense pass rush, ST dont quit, Catch the ball
BCD: Fullback, Force O'brien to beat us, Rettig 30+, Stretch the field, Jim Noel Showcase

Draft 10-22: Keys to the game w-Soaring to Glory
	STG: O-line wake up, Tranquill wake up, Defense pass rush, ST dont quit, Catch the ball
	BCD: Fullback, Force O'brien to beat us, Rettig 30, Stretch the field, Jim Noel Showcase
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10/19 Draft: Worst of the Worst vs. Florida State

Well Eagles fans.. if close or moral victories counted, we would write this one down as a W, but neither have a counter in the record books. and as much as we would rather do best of the best, here goes another week of worst of the worst.

1M) Getting sucked into believing

It's one thing to lose it's another to believe you're going to pull the upset and manage to lose. Just too much heartbreak this season.

2W) Montel getting so close

And only putting 3 on the board twice Montel.. He will more than likely leave Boston College as the yards leader, the carries leader, and a leader in tons of other areas for BC. He has ninja like moves, great patience, and always falls forward. All great traits.One thing Montel doesn't have is insane breakaway speed He has good breakaway speed, but on occasion he has been caught from behind. Well that happened on two long gains against FSU.. and it hurt. And not to completely fault Montel, they were great runs, he just couldn't outrun the FSU secondary. But also to blame is the rest of the staff by getting that close and not being able to capitalize on it by putting up 7.

3M) Play Calls

Yes, there were two big successful runs up the middle in the first half but the calling of continuous dives on 1st down 95% of the time and dives on 2nd down 80% of the time leaving Chase in 3rd and long situations 85% of the time simply wasn't a formula for success.

4W)Lack of WR seperation

Mike, couldn't agree more.. the playcalling was so much worse than just being conservative. It seemed on several plays the line held the Defensive push back and Freshman Quarterback Rettig was able to progress through all of his options, just to see that absolutely nobody could get open. I've got to think that Florida State's Defensive Backs are good.. But can't imagine them to prevent that many passes from happening. The WR's just couldn't seem to get away from coverage.

5M) Offsides

I believe it was Edebali who was offsides on the 1st Noel pick-6 that was called back. As luck would have it, he got another one anyway but it was just so terribly deflating to have a great play like that called back on a bonehead mistake.

6W)The Reverse by FSU

Mike I about threw my beer bottle across the room on that play.. it hurt, and none of us could foresee the future to see that Noel would get another pick six, and that this was just a warm up for the real one. I hated this play for several reasons. 1) our D had done a good job to stop the run, and this really put the game just outside of reach And 2) it was the exact call that BC needed to put into motion. I understand BC trying to win with the running game, but Dive Left and Right over and over isn't necessarily the best call, some times you need to pull someone wide. So this play aggravated me thoroughly

7M) Bad Quigs Punts

Before I say anything, let me say that Quigs was one of our best assets last week vs. FSU. He had some truly terrific punts that put FSU way back in their territory. However, to be fair he also shanked a few. If we did the top plays (boy do I miss doing top plays) he would have wound up there as well, but he had several costly bad kicks this week to go along with the great ones.

8W)No Halftime adjustments

Ok this one is becoming like a broken record. Florida State did a great job of stuffing the middle and adjusting to our run first thoughts, we made none. Actually maybe my biggest complaint was there were no real adjustments at all , esp on offense. Did Tranqs just email… err scratch that Carrier Pigeon this one in, as he sipped pourage out on the cape? It seemed that the entire game offensively was scripted.

9M) Losing contain on Ponder

Great call, Wesley...there really seemed to be zero adjustments, you're right.
Sadly, this didn't happen just once, but as we called out in our Keys to the Game, pressuring Ponder doesn't do a damn bit of good if you lose contain, as he's very good at picking up yards on his own using his feet or throwing on the run and waiting for coverage to break down--which again, sadly he did several times.

I was happy to see us bringing pressure, but it had to be up the middle with contain...which we just didn't do a very good job of. Give credit to Ponder for being able to make those throws on the move and in traffic, but it's not like we should have been taken by surprise by that which it seemed like we were all too often.

10W)The questionable PI/NON PI calls

Now let me preface this, if you have read this blog long at all..my least favorite thing to blame anything on is the refs, unless its just outright stupid.. And I am not going to say this would have let BC win, or the Refs were biased or anything like that. Butttttt.
All I want to do is form a point that FSU had great coverage on our WR's cause they were there WAY before a ball was in the air.. Especially on Pantale.. Now BC was seen doing VERY similar things, and Pass Interference was called.. Now I like the old saying for refs/umps.. "I don't care too much what the strike zone is, just have it be the same strike zone for both teams" Whether the refs saw it or not, I will never know.. but it was beyond irritating to watch this happen repeatedly.

Recap:
BCMike: Believing, PlayCalling, Offsides, Punts, Contain on Ponder
Wesley: Montel great run but 3, WR, Reverse, No Adjustments, PI Calls

10-19 Draft: Worst of the Worst vs. Florida State
	BCMike: Believing, PlayCalling, Offsides, Punts, Contain on Ponder
	Wesley: Montel great runs but 3, WR, Reverse, No Adjustments, PI Calls
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Week 8 ballot preview

BCDraft Ballot - Week 8

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oregon Ducks	--
2	Boise St. Broncos	2
3	Utah Utes	2
4	Auburn Tigers	7
5	TCU Horned Frogs	1
6	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	2
7	Oklahoma Sooners	2
8	Michigan St. Spartans	4
9	LSU Tigers	1
10	Alabama Crimson Tide	-3
11	Missouri Tigers	4
12	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-9
13	Iowa Hawkeyes	1
14	Stanford Cardinal	2
15	Wisconsin Badgers	6
16	Ohio St. Buckeyes	-14
17	Florida St. Seminoles	1
18	Arizona Wildcats	1
19	Texas Longhorns	--
20	West Virginia Mountaineers	--
21	Virginia Tech Hokies	3
22	East Carolina Pirates	--
23	Arkansas Razorbacks	-6
24	South Carolina Gamecocks	-11
25	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	--
Dropouts: Michigan Wolverines, Nevada Wolf Pack, N.C. State Wolfpack, Air Force Falcons

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