Its Game Time

(BOSTON COLLEGE vs #15 NEVADA, 9:00pm ESPN, KRAFT FIGHT HUNGER BOWL)

This time tomorrow the Boston College vs Nevada game will be coming down the stretch hopefully with Boston College ahead of the Pack. Excuse the pun. 9pm tomorrow 15,000 Nevada fans and 6,000 Boston College fans will jam into the home of the World Champion San Francisco Giants baseball stadium for a football showdown in the 1st annual Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. Already the atmosphere is electric.

I have been in San Fran since Thursday morning and I have seen BC and Nevada fans everywhere. The constant jeering with each other creating a feel for what the game will be like, and if this game atmosphere is anything close to what it is just out in the street (which it will be) its going to be a fun time. Though the Nevada fans more than double Boston College followers, BC fans have been loud and proud and seemingly everywhere. I was up about 2 hours north of San Francisco at Point Reyes National Park, way out in the middle of nowhere, when all of a sudden I hear "Lets go Eagles! See you at the game!"

So here we are, on the eve of the big game, Boston College looking to get to 8-5 for the second straight season and prove all those naysayers wrong by beating 15th ranked Nevada in front of a pro-Wolf Pack crowd. So what are the keys to victory for Boston College?

The Defense has to stop an offense averaging 305.9 yards rushing and 42.6 points per game. Kuechly, Herzlich and Kevin Pierre-Louis and the other linebackers have to set the tone in this game. If the linebackers can help with stop the run game then the defensive line has to pressure the QB, something they have had issues with all year. However with senior Alex Albright returning to the D-Line for his last game, he will help the other less experienced linemen to force Nevada to rush throws and hopefully turn the ball over.

(BC's true Freshman QB, Chase Rettig)

That is the other key. BC cannot turn the ball over. The offense must have some sustaining drives to keep the defense rested and to do that, the must keep control of the ball. Freshman quarterback Chase Rettig had a crash course in being an NCAA division 1 quarterback this year and he matured very quickly. BC must help keep the pressure off Rettig by getting good chunks of yardage on first and second down through pounding the ball on the ground. Montel Harris will be in uniform for the Eagles along with surprising Freshman Andre Williams. If they can keep BC out of 3rd & long situations, the offense should be able to sustain their drives. Allow Rettig to utilize the play-action and get in a rhythm throwing the ball, and BC will win this game.

BC must keep their defense rested because they will be asked to do a lot tomorrow night. If Rettig can get comfortable and mix in a little passing with their already great ground game, BC can eat time off the clock and allow their best run-defense in the nation to stop Nevada's high octane offense and prevent them from jumping out to a big lead. If BC can get the lead and bleed the clock, they will win the game.

Its Game Time Eagle Nation.

WE ARE BC

Recruiting News

So since my last post, Boston College has landed a major recruit at the Cornerback position. BC will be welcoming Albert Jean Louis, a Brockton native, to school in February and he will join the team for spring practice. Jean Louis, a four star cornerback, committed to The U (Miami FL) originally but when coach Randy Shannon was fired, Jean Louis backed out and decided to sign with the hometown team. This is a great pick up for BC who have always lacked a lockdown corner.

(BC's newest Recruit)

Jean Louis is another piece to an already successful recruiting class put together by Spaz and the staff. He joins fellow four star linebackers Graham Stewart (Middletown, CT) and Stephen Daniels (Cincinnati, OH) who went to the same high school (St. Xavier) as Kuechly and Herzlich. Now picture this for the 2012 season….

MLBs: Kuechly, Sr. Pierre-Louis, Jr. OLBs: Stewart, So. Daniels, So.

SCARY. Thats why BC is becoming known as Linebacker U. Well maybe not THE Linebacker U, that belongs to Penn State but BC is pumping out NFL quality linebackers at a good clip.

I will be leaving to go to San Francisco in two days and will be in attendance at the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, hopefully to see BC send Nevada home empty handed. I will try and provide updates on this blog whenever I can find internet connection.

Its less than a week until game day, hopefully Boston College will come ready to play and finish winners in what looked like a lost season.

WE ARE BC

Extension for Spaz

Its the most wonderful time of the year! Bowl week!

With bowl season three games in and the Beef O'Brady Bowl in progress there really hasn't been much to report considering they've all been blow outs (not counting Beef bowl). However there is some news out of Boston College….

BC has awarded Frank Spaziani with a two year contract extension for his success keeping the program together after Jeff Jagodzinski left the program in 2008. This new contract extension will extend Spaz's contract through 2015 as he still has three years left on his original deal. The next five years will be under the steady hand of coach Spaz.

(Spaz is all smiles this holiday season)

Now, this may upset some people who claim that Spaz is to conservative, and that he isn't cut out to be a head coach. What those people didn't realize is that after Jags left, Boston College football was left in shambles. After Jags last game coaching, quarterback Dominique Davis transferred, B.J. Raji and Ron Brace graduated and went on to be drafted in the 1st and 2nd round of the NFL draft, Mark Herzlich, Reigning ACC POY was diagnosed with cancer and recruits that had committed to Jags de-committed. Spaz was left in a tight spot.

In his first year as head coach of the Eagles, Spaz lead them to 8-4 record (6-1 at home) and a date with the USC Trojans in the Emerald Bowl. Though they fell to the Trojans 24-13 and dropping their record to 8-5, I would consider that a successful year. Sure you want to win the bowl game and play better on the road, but given the circumstances Spaziani did a bang up job.

(Rich Gunnel sets the all time mark at BC in

receiving yards with this catch against USC

in the Emerald Bowl 2009)

The second year would be the real test for coach Spaz. Coming into this season BC's receiving corps was inexperienced, the graduation of all time leading receiver in Boston College history Rich Gunnel left BC with one legitimate option in Colin Larmond Jr. Four star recruit, wide receiver Shakim Phillips, figured to make an immediate impact. Both went down with injuries in the preseason. So the stage was set for Spaz's sophomore campaign, an inexperienced offense lead by junior running back Montel Harris and a defense with a good mix of youth and experience lead by the emotion return of senior Mark Herzlich.

After they jumped out to a 2-0 start, the Eagles lost five straight and many began calling for coach Spaziani's head. In the face of unrelenting criticism and in danger of losing his job, Spaziani decided to make a change a the quarter back position. True freshman Chase Rettig was given the wheel and asked to lead the team. Fast forward to present and BC is sitting pretty in the post-season for the 13th consecutive year and a match-up with 14th ranked Nevada. Spaz was able to lead an injury plagued, inexperienced team to 5 consecutive wins to end the season. This man deserves to be the coach of Boston College for years to come and this was expressed by athletic director Gene DeFilippo.

(Athletic Director, Gene DeFilippo)

"Let me tell you, to bring the team back that was, 0-4 in the ACC and 2-5 overall, it gave us all an opportunity to see, first of al, how these players and coaches reacted to Spaz. The fact he did a terrific job of rallying them through all the injuries, all the young kids we played, I told him, 'You know Spaz, there'll be sometimes in the coming years when we'll win 10 or 11 games, but I'll always look back at 2010 and say that was probably your best coaching job,' because how it ended up."

With Spaz locked up until 2015 Boston College football is on the right track and in good hands. If Spaz can pull out a win against a tough Nevada team in the Kraft bowl it will only validate the decision to keep the defensive genius under contract.

Finals Week

Yeah, so I have finals this week so I won't be posting but I will try to do 3-4 posts per week up until the Kraft Bowl game vs Nevada.

But quick update as Im sure many of you already know:

Virginia Tech wins the ACC Championship game for the 3rd time in its 6 year history, I mean thats pretty good, but of course if BC had come to play in 07 & 08 they might be the leader in ACC titles since 05….

Despite the allegations and investigation into wether his father "sold" him to Auburn, QB Cam Newton wins the Heisman trophy. Newton threw for 28 passing TDs and ran for 20 TD's. He had a ridiculous passer rating of 188.16 and lead Auburn to an undefeated regular season, SEC title, and a showdown with Pac 10 champs Oregon and LaMichael James, in the BCS National Championship game January 10th.

Kuechly fell short of the Butkus award for best LB in the country. The award instead went to Texas a&m's Von Miller, despite having 112 tackles less than Kuech the Freak (Miller: 59 Kuechly: 112).

A little ACC basketball news. New coach Steve Donahue lead Boston College to a victory over defending ACC regular season champion Maryland, 79-75 down in College Park. This is Donahue's first ACC win, and the Eagles are now atop the conference with a 1-0 record in ACC play and an 8-2 overall record.

Thats all I've got for now. Be back posting December 21st most likely. Until then…

WE ARE BC

BC vs Nevada: Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, January 9th 9pm ET

Boston College vs #14 Nevada

Mark your calendars (or book your plane tickets!) for San Francisco, AT&T Park, January 9th because BC has a date with #14 Nevada in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, 9pm ET/ 6pm PT. This will be the first meeting between the Eagles and the Wolfpack. BC comes into the Kraft bowl with a five game win streak and the nations best run defense while Nevada (12-1) comes into this game fresh off their overtime upset of then #4 Boise State, giving the Wolfpack a share of the WAC title. BC nation if you can go to this game, I urge you to go. We need to get rid of the reputation that the BC has a poor following.

WE ARE BC

Note: Luke Kuechly needs 21 tackles to set the NCAA single season tackle record. If he sets the record he will do it in one less game than the previous record holder Lawrence Flugence of Texas Tech, set in 2002.

Luke Kuechly: All-American Middle Linebacker

Thats right. Kuechly, who is leading the nation with 171 tackles including 101 solo tackles, was voted on to the 1st team All-America. As a sophomore. To put that into perspective, Matt Ryan didn't make 3rd team All-America and he lead BC during arguably its best year ever. BC fans, you are watching a very special player, one who might go down as the best BC defender in history. On Saturdays at the Aluminum Monster, you can be sure his name will be mentioned on the loudspeaker over a dozen times (he averages 14.7 tackles per game, including a 21 game streak with 10 or more tackles).

Not only was Kuechly named a 1st team All-American he was also named to the ACC 1st team along with teammates: Anthony Costanzo and Montel Harris. Montel had a fantastic last half of the season rushing for 100 yards 8 times and was the only unanimous selection to the ACC first team, getting 61 first team votes (the max). Harris and Andre Williams are going to be a deadly duo hopefully in whatever bowl game BC gets, but definitely next year.

(Luke Kuechly leads the nations best run defense)

With the regular season and the awards behind the Eagles, they are enjoying the rest of the week off and waiting to hear who their post-season opponent will be. (Side note: at the BC vs Indiana basketball game on Wednesday night Spaz walked by me and I shook his hand and congratulated him on the year. Damn he has a firm handshake). Now what bowl will BC be "bringing their talents (LeBron James "The Decision")" to?

There are three options for the Eagles, all have their benefits. Courtesy of the U, BC has a chance to land in the Sun Bowl in El Paso Texas. After losing their last game to South Florida, Miami fired coach Randy Shannon and in the process, scared away the heads of the Sun Bowl. Though this bowl isn't considered a major bowl, it is more prestigious than the other two options. If this was the case BC would most likely play an SEC team like Tennessee or Georgia.

The bowl that could select the Eagles is the Military Bowl in Washington D.C. The opponent for the Eagles has already been determined as the Military Bowl has taken Eastern Carolina. Now for those of you who watched the 2008 BC season you know what this means. ECU's quarterback is former BC quarterback Dominick Davis. After Chris Crane broke his collar bone against Wake Forest, Davis took over for the last game and the ACC Championship against Virginia Tech. Davis was average in that game and during the offseason decided to transfer from BC to ECU leaving BC in the quarterback predicament that we all suffered through over the past two years. It would be nice if BC could make Davis regret his decision and end his college career with a loss.

Last option, and most likely is the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco California against none other than #9 Boise State. That would be quite a way to end the year for the Eagles, playing a team in Boise State that until their loss last week at Nevada, could have played for the National Championship. However there have been talks about sending Boise to the Las Vegas Bowl to face #21 Utah and having #14 Nevada (Not sure of their actual rank) go to the Kraft Bowl. The heads of the Kraft Bowl have stated that unless Nevada could bring a larger fan base, they were sticking with Boise.

Now we play the waiting game.

WE ARE BC

Perfect Ending

There couldn't have been a more perfect ending to Boston College's season. Up 16-7 on the road against the Syracuse Orange with just over a minute remaining BC's defense needed one more stop. Who better to make that stop than number 94 himself, Mark Herzlich. The man who beat cancer and won the hearts of BC fans as well as the nation, ended BC's season and his regular season football career with an interception. Despite not being allowed to wear his signature eye black, (who the hell tells a guy who beat cancer what he can and can't do?) sealed the game, bringing BC's winning streak to five games, finishing with a 7-5 record.

(Thank you Mark Herzlich #94)

Spaziani has given the team the week off of practice so they can rest while they await to hear who their bowl opponent will be. A much needed rest for the Eagles and a chance to get healthy before their bowl game. Hopefully Montel Harris will be able to play in the bowl game because BC will definitely need him, but I think they struck gold on Saturday with Harris's backup.

(Andre Williams #34)

Freshman running back #34 Andre Williams took over the backfield duties against Syracuse in Harris's stead. All he did against the Orange was carry the ball 42 times for 185 yards and a touchdown. Not to mention Williams ran for over 100 yards last week against Virginia. If Williams is for real than BC football is in better shape than I thought. Williams running style reminds me a lot of Patriots running back Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis. When he gets the ball he runs straight up the field and doesn't dance around trying to find holes in the backfield. What a find for the Eagles.

One more thing from Saturday's game. BC proved once again that it has one of the best defenses in the country. In each of the games during their five game win streak BC's defense has allowed one touchdown or less. They are 6-1 on the year when allowing one touchdown or less (the lone loss coming against 12th ranked Virginia Tech).

Now we wait to see who BC draws in a bowl game. Oh yeah remember last post when I said we might play Boise State? Well they lost to Nevada so its looking like a real possibility.

WE ARE BC