Week 12 Ballot

BCDraft Ballot - Week 12

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oregon Ducks	--
2	Auburn Tigers	--
3	TCU Horned Frogs	--
4	Boise St. Broncos	--
5	Stanford Cardinal	--
6	LSU Tigers	--
7	Wisconsin Badgers	1
8	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	1
9	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-2
10	Ohio St. Buckeyes	--
11	Michigan St. Spartans	--
12	Alabama Crimson Tide	1
13	Virginia Tech Hokies	1
14	Oklahoma Sooners	5
15	Arkansas Razorbacks	--
16	Nevada Wolf Pack	--
17	Missouri Tigers	3
18	Temple Owls	3
19	Navy Midshipmen	3
20	N.C. State Wolfpack	--
21	Iowa Hawkeyes	-9
22	Texas A&M Aggies	--
23	Maryland Terrapins	--
24	Northern Illinois Huskies	--
25	West Virginia Mountaineers	--
Dropouts: Utah Utes, Arizona Wildcats, Central Florida Knights, Fresno St. Bulldogs, San Diego St. Aztecs

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Draft 11-16: Plays of the game vs. Duke

A win is a win, right? It was scary at times, but the good guys held off the storm and extended the win streak to 3. Boston college plays Virginia at home this week, and then finishes with Syracuse on Thanksgiving weekend in the dome.

1W) Rettig to Swigert

This touchdown pass was great for several reasons. One being swigert was open the whole time, but rettig did a great job of looking at every other reciever to buy swigert even more time. Two, it was a great long bomb. Three , freshman to freshman, I could get really used to this over the next few years!

2M) Keeks the tackle monster

21 tackles? Seriously? The guy is leading the NCAA before the game started....and now? Now he's 40-some tackles away from the single season record for tackles. Two games sounds like it would be tough but if BC wins one of the next two we should go bowling and Keeks should get the NCAA record.

3W) Montel TD run

Let me put a disclaimer first, Montel helped make this game a bit more interesting than it really needed to be by fumbling twice in the redzone. But Boston college was able to make it out with a W, and montel has definitely personally pulled the win out of the fire for the rest of the team in the past, so he undoubtedly gets a pass. Montel's TD run was a good showing of his great balance and power as he was hit initially behind the line of scrimmage, (as most times) and was able to run sideways, do the limbo and get into the endzone. To top it all off he still had over 100 yards on the ground and averaged around 5 yards per carry.

4M) Max Holloway coming through

We needed Max to have a big game and he did just that registering a couple of sacks and a couple TFL's. Getting pressure on the QB is so important for our bend bit don't break defense and Max has been the difference maker in the last couple weeks.

5W) Momah Touchdown

Momah has officially found his pair of recievers gloves. Until recently I was starting to think that he was an experiment at WR and not at DE. Well Rettig was able to toss a high ball that only Momah or someone on stilts could bring in, well this time it was Momah, and it was a great catch.

6M) Four yards

While it would have been great to have Duke stay in the negative, bit four yards rushing and now leading the nation in rushing D is something I'm going to be just fine with.

7W) Not having to watch on espn3

Ill take BCMikes advice on this that the commentating to this game was horrible. Now don't get me wrong Warrick dunn was a good running back, but him and his sidekick are not great announcers to put it mildly.

8M) Amidon fly routes

Wesley, count yourself fortunate not to be subjected to Ryan Rose. While Warrick Dunn is far from Keith Jackson, Adam Rose once solidified himself as the worst announcer on the planet.

At 8 here I'm going with the Amidon "9" or "streak" or "fly" route, whatever you like to call it. Amidon consistently gets solid separation on this route giving Rettig a great target. I don't know if it's at the line of scrimmage or the cornerbacks are just not respecting Alex's speed, but any way you slice it that route has been good to both Alex and Chase.

9W)Rettig no picks.

BCMike, good call there, I am also VERY impressed with Alex’s blocking ability, which has been a problem throughout the year. Well I felt like it was important enough to put in our Keys to victory, and it was. If Rettig would have thrown an interception we could VERY easily be talking about how we lost to Duke. Thanks for reading the Keys on Friday Chase!

10M) "...so you're saying there's a chance"

At 2-5, I was pretty sure I was watching the end of an era of BC football, not going to win one FBS game let alone go bowling...but now...well, hell--one win vs. UVA *OR* 'Cuse might get us in a bowl game...and two wins most certainly will. It's not the dream season many of us thought that 2010 was going to be, but finishing strong (enough) to go bowling and keeping that streak alive would be quite an accomplishment at this point.

I like that our boys are actually giving us something to hope and be positive about.

Recap:

Wesley: Rettig to Swigert, Montel TD, Momah TD, no ESPN3, Rettig no picks

BCMike: Keeks tackle monster, Max coming through, 4 yards, Amidion fly, a chance

Draft 11-16: Plays of the game vs. Duke
	Wesley: Rettig to Swigert, Montel TD, Momah TD, no ESPN3, Rettig no picks
	BCMike: Keeks tackle monster, Max coming through, 4 yards, Amidion fly, a chance
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Keys to the Game vs. Duke

It's Duke week, and that means that Coach K and the boys from Camer...oh, wait...it's the football guys. Never mind.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1M) Respect your opponent

This isn't your Father's Duke team. Well, actually depending on how old your Dad is, that could be a compliment if we go back to the Spurrier years...

I digress. The point is that we cannot afford to waltz into this game expecting to be handed a win simply because we're BC and they're Duke. Duke isn't that automatic win any longer and frankly, we're not exactly world beaters ourselves these days. We need to approach this game like we did Clemson and Wake, and take care of business.


2W) Focus on this week

With BC getting closer and closer to bowl eligibility, bc will be doing the math to see what it takes to be playing in December/ January, well Duke isn't a horrible team and BC will need to focus on beating them before getting ambitious about future opponents.


3M) Containing Helfet

Good call there Wesley. Not just overlooking Duke for Duke; but looking at the future instead of the now. I hope our boys heed your words!

Next up I'm taking locking down Helfet. Last time out vs. UVA, Helfet went off for over 125 yards and the one Duke receiving touchdown. I'm not exactly petrified of Renfree, but we have to respect Helfet and make sure our secondary knows where he is at all times. He's not their leading receiver on the year, but I personally fear the "hot" player more than I do the season resume guys.


4W) Minimize penalties

Last week at the wake game I literally watched our team back up about 4 times in a row. Actually overall this season we have been getting a lot more penalties than we typically do. Whether that's due to the youth of the team, or something else I really don't know. But it needs to stop for us to continue our bowl ambitions.


5M) Keeping pace on the scoreboard

Believe it or not, Duke can score. While we are never going to turn down the points, here's what I'm talking about: if BC gets up by 10-15, we simply can't afford to turtle on offense like Tranquil has had us do the past couple weeks. If we do that, Duke will eventually score a chunk and be right back in it.


6W) Herzy's re-coming out party

Herzys been good this year, and his story has been nothing short of a miracle. But, this Is the game to watch. If you like college football, you're going to love this.
Herzy is going to play outta his mind this week against duke, and be a large factor in the W.


7M) Keeping Holloway sackin'

Holloway had a great couple of sacks late last week to seal the victory. We need to have him keep the momentum up and get pressure on Renfree.


8W) Rettig zero picks

Last week against wake Rettig had 2 picks, one was a tipped ball, and one was a poorly thrown pass. Rettig played very well otherwise and showed great composure to forget about the ints. This week, rettig will get a bit more rope as he has each week, and should be allowed to throw more. To win, we need his passes to not land into the hands of the guys in blue and white.


9M) (for all that is holy and good in the world), Run patterns past the first down marker.

While there are many aspects of Gary Tranquil's offensive playbook that make me projectile vomit, none is more infuriating than the "run into the middle on first down. Run off tackle on 2nd down. On third and 6, run a short pass pattern right at the sticks" strategery. It's beyond aggravating, our opponents know it and don't respect any route past the sticks. They habitually jump those patterns forcing Rettig to make the perfect throw which he really can't do on a consistent basis yet.

All I'm asking is that after we run the ball into the middle of the line on first down and off-tackle on second down is that we have our wideouts run patterns longer than the first down markers by five plus yards. I beg you.


10W) Stop Connette’s run

Connette is Duke’s form of running QB, a good, true freshman he runs the ball 4 times more than he throws. And currently has 6 TD’s for the year. The Defensive line for the Eagles are going to have to be very aware when he is in.

=======================================

RECAP:

BCMike drafted: Respect opponent, contain Helfet, keep pace, Holloway, past 1st down marker
Wesley drafted: Focus, Min Penalties, Herzy re-coming out party, Rettig 0 picks, contain Connette

11-13-10 Draft: Keys to the Game vs. Duke
	BCMike: Respect opponent, contain Helfet, keep pace, Holloway, past 1st down marker
	Wesley: Focus, Min Penalties, Herzy re-coming out party, Rettig 0 picks, contain Connette
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Week 11 ballot

BCDraft Ballot - Week 11

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oregon Ducks	--
2	Auburn Tigers	--
3	TCU Horned Frogs	2
4	Boise St. Broncos	-1
5	Stanford Cardinal	3
6	LSU Tigers	8
7	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-1
8	Wisconsin Badgers	1
9	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	3
10	Ohio St. Buckeyes	--
11	Michigan St. Spartans	--
12	Iowa Hawkeyes	4
13	Alabama Crimson Tide	-6
14	Virginia Tech Hokies	5
15	Arkansas Razorbacks	5
16	Nevada Wolf Pack	8
17	Utah Utes	-13
18	Arizona Wildcats	-5
19	Oklahoma Sooners	-4
20	Missouri Tigers	-3
21	Temple Owls	1
22	Navy Midshipmen	--
23	Central Florida Knights	--
24	Fresno St. Bulldogs	--
25	San Diego St. Aztecs	--
Dropouts: Baylor Bears, South Carolina Gamecocks, N.C. State Wolfpack, Maryland Terrapins

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11/8/10 Draft: Plays of the Game vs. Wake Forest

Another game, another win. What else is new?

What's that? This *IS* new? Oh, well it's nice to be hitting up the "W" column once again this past weekend. I have to say I'm reminded of the most underrated sequels of all time, the baseball flick "Major League II" after this past weekend:

"We won last time out. We won today. We win tomorrow, it's called a "Winning Streak". It HAS HAPPENED BEFORE."

...on to our favorite plays from Saturday...

============================================

1W) Keeks pick

First toss of the game was caught by number 40 for the eagles. What a great way to start the game.


2M) Montel determination TD

You know which one I'm talking about...Montel was stopped dead to rights by a big defender but stayed strong, flexed, and contorted himself to stay upright before lunging forward and diving for the endzone. That play was Montel personified.


3W) Fox Pick

Haha, that was an awesome one BCMike, good call.. Montel just looked pissed as he took what he felt was rightfully his ( the end zone).

I hate to go back to back similar play, but this one was very noteworthy. I haven’t always a been a big Fox fan, I’ll admit that. But the past 2 games he has been playing very well. Wake was driving the ball with a good amount of confidence, Fox stepped up and made a good play to stop them on what seemed to be a points scoring drive.


4M) Reemergence if Jonathan Coleman

Good call on Fox. He's gotten an opportunity to play and has made the most of it.

For mine I'm going with the reemergence of Coleman. He played great in the season opener and we has not seen much of him since. He stepped up his game and made a couple big catches at important times this game.


5W) Max Holloway sack

There aren't many better ways to end a game, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Max has played really well , esp of late and I am excited to see what the future of DE look with both him and Edabali for future seasons. Max showed great pursuit on this play, and an awesome motor as he said "this ends now" as he caught the shoelace and double knotted it for the qb. Game. set. match. BC!


6M) Quigs killin' em softly

In a game with so many turnovers, many times it's easy to look over the field position...but let's not. BC's defense (as we all know by now) relies on the QB making mistakes by taking chances down the field. To force those chances, you have to give him a long field to play with, which is exactly what Quigs did. He averaged...averaged just under 50 yards/punt (46.6) and constantly gave the Eagles breathing room when they needed it. It's easy to overlook a punter, but we've got a pretty great one here, folks.


7W) The Wake crowd

I know this isn’t a direct play for the 60 minutes watched but as a fan this counts.

Although the Stadium probably only had about 20k people in it as it was just over half full and seats 31,500.. The Wake supporters do a great job putting on a class act program. They have good interactive vendors, great supportive fans, even down to a very friendly security staff. I was really thoroughly impressed with the wake crowd.


8M) Montel's Home run

Nice one, Wesley. After visiting Lane Stadium and being treated like trash, I can appreciate being treated well even more.

For my next selection I'm going with Montel's first running TD. We spoke about how important it was for BC to get off to a fast start and Montel's homerun early made a statement and gave BC the lead we would not give up.


9W) Rettig to Amidon

Although Rettig threw 2 picks, he did complete 12 out of 16 , which is the best we've seen at BC for quite some time. Rettig had a good look around to all the potential receivers, and threw a deep one to Amidon, who was able to get a little separation and make a play. Amidon has great speed, and it will be nice to see this combo for many years to come!


10M) Swigert toughness

Agreed on the deep ball to Amidon was pretty. As we said during our game chat I'm starting to thunk Chase throws a better deep ball than short ball. Hopefully we'll see more deep shots downfield as we finish up the season.

For my last one, I'm going with the toughness of Bobby Swigert. Bobby had a deep ball thrown to him and had two defenders deliver powerful shots on him. Bobby composed himself and jogged off the field letting Wake Forest know that we can take your best shot and walk it off no problem. Gotta love that kind of toughness.

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RECAP:

Wesley drafted: Keeks pick, Fox pick, Holloway sack, Wake crowd, Rettig to Amidon
BCMike drafted: Montel determination TD, Quigs, Coleman, Montel HR run, Swigert toughness

11-9-10 Draft: Best plays vs. Wake
	Wesley: Keeks pick, Fox pick, Holloway sack, Wake crowd, Rettig to Amidon
	BCMike: Montel determination TD, Quigs, Coleman, Montel HR run, Swigert toughness
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Draft 11-4: Keys to the Game vs. Wake Forest

Well Eagles fans, we have to build on our one game winning streak, and what better opponent to do that against ACC foe Wake Forest. We will go over what it takes as Boston College fights the battle to bowl eligible.

BCMike, you have shotgun on this one.

1M) Play with confidence

The Eagles were a little shell shocked after being knee deep in the losing streak and it showed. After beating a talented Clemson team we need to enter this game with the confidence that we will win this game, we should win this game...not maybe we might hang around and see what happens. Confidence goes a long way here.

2W) Run Blocking

Over the past few weeks the O line has done consistently better in forcing holes for Montel to run through. With Wake near the bottom the the NCAA in Run Defense this should be a prime opportunity to regain O line U status.

3M) Don't go conservative

This kind if goes along in my first point but I'm scared death that Tranq will get a 6 point lead and allow the Deacs to linger around. We need to keep our foot on the gas and take out a lot of the bent up anger and disappointment on Wake. Keep the foot on the pedal and roast these guys.

4W) Break the road curse

BCMike, Great call on that . I have the exact same nightmares every night and wake up with chills of that exact same thought.

I am going to go with Breaking the road curse for the year., although it isn’t too apparent as we have only played 2 games so far this year, we have yet to win any.And as this venue shouldn’t be intimidating, especially compared to both FSU and NC State,(Wake seats 31,500) we should have an opportunity to flip our road curse as we finish with 3 of our last 4 on the road.

5M) Get Andre carries

I agree about breaking the road curse..time for Chase to step up and win his first one!Wake is weak against the run and while Montel is a fantastic back we need to keep him fresh and get Williams some more experience. Win-win here.

6W) FGs Perfect

BCMike , I think the future is bright at running back with freshman RB Andre Williams, he shows a different look than we are used to seeing with Montel..

I will have to say, we are getting spoiled with the play of Freese this year.. he is connecting with just about every reasonable attempt, and it really opens up the opportunities when you have a kicker like that. Unfortunately we always play Wake disgustingly close, IE last year going into overtime and a forced fumble was the only thing that kept us from getting a L. We are going to ask that Freese keeps playing his great game , as we are going to need ever point possible.

7M) Noel and O stepping up

While Wake's defense is supposed to be as woeful as our offense has been, their offense has been able to throw it around a bit. I'm calling out Noel and O to have a big day and to protect over the top

8W) Convert on 3rd downs

I’ve gotta say, one of the most painful things to watch lately are 3rd downs.. It appears that sometimes its even the first time we throw the ball.. but we have been woefully unsuccessful To win, we need to convert on 3rd, I’d even take a 40% success rate..

9M) Striking early

Ugh, you are so right Wesley. I do have to say I was pleasantly surprised at a couple (not all, a couple) third down calls last week vs Clemson when we didn't just run the short pattern at the first down sticks, but actually past that. We'll wee if we can sack up vs. Wake this week.

I'm going with "striking early". This is still a very young team and we clearly have a fragile psyche. We need to keep the good momentum going early and keep the negative thoughts away by coming out and scoring first. I realize this kind of goes along with a couple of my first keys but I just really like our chances if we go down the field on the first drive and score the go-ahead TD. If we get the lead first, I don't think we give it up.

10W) Get 7 in the redzone

I hate to take one that was also a key last week, but it still applies.. BC was unable to push it over the pylon when they were within the 20 yard line. To have any opportunity to win this game, let alone become bowl eligible Boston College is going to have to improve their Red Zone efficiency. I am not sure if that means different plays, or better execution.. just hope it happens.. and quick.

Recap:

BCMike: Play with Confidence, Dont go conservative, Get Andre carries, Noel n O stepping up, Strike Early

Wesley: Run Blocking, Break the Road curse, FGs perfect, Convert on 3rd, Get 7 in red zone

Draft 11-4: Keys to Victory vs. Wake Forest
	BCMike: Play with Confidence, Dont go conservative, Get Andre carries, Noel n O stepping up, Strike
	Wesley: Run Blocking, Break the Road curse, FGs perfect, Convert on 3rd, Get 7 in red zone
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Best of the Best vs. Clemson

Thanks to all that is holy in this world, BC finally won a game. On a personal note, Wesley and I are thrilled not to be doing another "Worst of the Worst" segment. We don't enjoy piling on, but it's tough to sugar-coat the fifth loss in a row.

...but now all of that is behind us....right? RIGHT?!?!?

Below are the best of the best from BC/Clemson this past weekend:

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1W) Keeks pick with 1:43 left

What more is there to say than "Boy Wonder does it again"? After another outstanding day overall, Luke comes up with the clincher as Clemson is once again driving down the field late in the game threatening to win. Great play by Keeks to seal the deal.


2M) Being a winner in Vegas

As many of you know, I was in Las Vegas last weekend for my Bachelor Party. Among the many things we decided to dabble in was the sports book at The Bellagio. Our group decided to do a couple 3-team parlays and one of them had (at my suggestion, no less) Clemson -7. BC had played so poorly all of this year and save FSU; had not covered a game this year.

My friends had to agree that BC has looked pretty rough this year and that while Clemson's record wasn't too impressive, there was plenty of talent on that team to get a W in Chestnut Hill.

So....we're all ready to go up to the front and set up our bet...when I have an attack of conscience and say that despite it being a darn good bet, I just couldn't go through with betting against BC...how awful would I feel if the rest of the parlay hit and I was forced to root against BC for the greater $good$ (let alone my friends being forced to cheer against BC which would have pissed me off to no end)? So we pulled the BC bet and put in Auburn instead...

It worked out great for everyone....

On a related note, I wish I could have captured a photo of the Clemson fans who randomly walked in to the same Vegas bar with us at 9AM in the morning to watch the game. I'm darn sure they didn't expect to see a gaggle of BC fans showing up to cheer against them. Good times.


3W) Wheel route to Montel

The play itself was a thing of beauty...everything from Montel's route to Chase's pass to the effort of Montel at the end to squeak inside the goal post to secure the 7 (and not settle for 3)...

But what about a little appreciation for the irony of BC using the play/route that has hurt us so much over the years vs. Clemson being the biggest scoring play of the day for BC? Great stuff.


4M) Catanzaro not being Richard Jackson

You have to hand it to Richard Jackson...for me to remember ANY kicker's name outside of David Gordon of yesteryear let alone one on another team really says something.

For those of you who are not having flashbacks, Richard Jackson was arguably the player of the game the last time BC played Clemson in what was easily one of the least enjoyable games in the history of man to attend/watch. Jackson booted multiple FG's from 23, 32, 33, 35, 42, and 52. Six of 'em. Kid couldn't miss.

But he's gone now. Now Clemson has Catanzaro which I have to profess I strongly prefer. His missed kicks not only hurt Clemson on the scoreboard, but you could tell took some serious wind out of the Tigers' sails and consistently provided BC with the chance to drive a shorter field.


5W) Chris Fox multiple pass break ups

You could tell that the Clemson offensive plan (or at the very least, Kyle Parker's offensive plan) was to attack the depleted BC secondary by picking on Chris Fox. Bad move, Clemson. Fox performed extremely well in the spot start by breaking up multiple pass plays with acrobatic moves that frustrated the Clemson WR's and QB to no end.


6M) Not imploding after the early pick-6

Nice call on Chris Fox, Wesley. He's been criticized heavily (and with cause, IMO) for his kick off returns but he made a statement with his play in the defensive backfield Saturday.

I'm going with standing up and staying strong after the pick-6. BC could have wilted and Chase could have packed it in but we didn't. BC kept at it and finally won a close game.


7W) Freese being Freese..

To piggy-back off of your Clemson kicker selection, I'm going with Freese being Freese. I think he is the lone thing I could call on this team to be consistant lol.

This was another nice reminder that this is arguably the best overall kicking combo we've had at BC for a long time.


8M) Not giving up the big play in the kicking game

Clemson has historically hurt us on the return game and BC hasn't covered kicks and punts very well this year but we did a really nice job on Saturday. Thankfully the staff must have read our Keys to the Game and saw they shouldn't be kicking it right at Andre Ellington. Worked out well, didn't it?


9W) Cleary overall play

Well Lapham went down unfortunately with an injury in the pick 6 throw from Rettig..

Cleary came in and played very well, and not only was he unexpectedly thrown into the game but he was matched up with the sack leader in the nation.. and he played very well


10M) Amidon back on kick returns

While he wasn't great it was good to see him back there. Between him and Swigert I think we have the future of returning now starting, it was a good coaching move and it made me happy to see them make a good decision even if it is a little late in the season.


RECAP:

Wesley drafted: Keeks pick, Wheel route to Montel, Fox DB play, Freese being Freese, Clearly play
BCMike drafted: Winner in Vegas, Catanzaro not Jackson, no implosion after pick-6, no bad KR/PR plays, Amidon on KR.