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Boston Coll. Eagles

Boston College Eagles

Boston Coll. Eagles

7-3 (4-2), 2nd Atlantic Coast - Atlantic

Boston College Team Report

Yahoo! Sports Nov 18, 1:05 am EST

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INSIDE SLANT

   There are a couple of things you can count on around the Boston College football program at this time of year.

   One is that the Eagles are going bowling, which they will do for an 11th straight season. The other is that being an outsider in the ACC, with a reputation of their fans not traveling well for bowl games, BC doesn’t get to go to the bowl spot it deserves.

   Loopholes in the bowl selection system allow the Eagles to fall, and it appears they may wind up out at the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco, away from the spots that find other ACC teams more attractive.

   But that doesn’t seem to matter to a football team that has already won seven games, two or three (or more?) than many expected it to win, and has a chance at a third 10-win season in the last four (under three different coaches).

   The road won’t be easy. The Eagles host 7-3 North Carolina this Saturday and then finish with a road game, a good one at 2-8 Maryland.

   By the way, the Eagles are still alive in a quest for a third straight trip to the ACC title game, barely. They have to win their last two and Clemson has to lose to North Carolina State for BC to win the Atlantic Division. Clemson has the tie-breaker because of its win over BC.

   “They have very, very good players,” Spaziani said of North Carolina. “They have a very good scheme. It’s a professional scheme, and they play it, and they’re well-coached … It’s certainly going to be challenge. We’ve got our work cut out for us, on both sides of the ball.”

   But the Eagles are also 6-0 at home. And they have also won seven straight November games, dating back to 2007, a sign of BC’s toughness.

 

NOTES, QUOTES

   —Boston College director of athletics Gene DeFilippo, employing his third head coach in the last four years, is again thrilled with the production of his program. “Nine wins or eight wins, that’s just great,” DeFilippo told the Boston Globe. “It’s been a fantastic year for us.”

   —Because of the loopholes in the bowl selection process, it appears BC would again get a lower ACC bowl than it has earned. The Emerald Bowl in San Francisco, in the second tier of ACC bowls, looks like a likely destination.

   —QB David Shinskie, a 25-year-old true freshman, continues to grow into the role of the starter. Last Saturday at Virginia, he was 12-for-26 for 147 yards and a touchdown, but also threw two costly interceptions before leading a winning fourth-quarter drive. “Dave is making strides in leadership and a lot of other areas, but he has a long way to go,” said BC coach Frank Spaziani.

   —RB Montel Harris had his first big road game of the season, and in doing so, cleared the 1,000-yard rushing mark for his sophomore season (after running for 900 as a freshman). He ran for 151 yards on a career-high 38 carries.

   —LB Mike Morrissey started his BC career as a walk-on and is now a mainstay on the defense, sealing Saturday’s win with a tackle at the BC 12 in the closing seconds. The Virginia PA announcer credited the stop to super frosh Luke Kuechly, who made 13 in the game but not that one. “Yeah, we were teasing Kuechly about that,” Morrissey said with a smile. “I think somebody from Virginia could have tackled Montel, and they would have announced ‘Kuechly.’”

   —The Eagles take a 6-0 home record into Saturday’s home finale against North Carolina.

   —BC has won its last seven November game and hasn’t had a losing November since it went 1-2 in 2001.

   SERIES HISTORY: North Carolina leads 3-2 (last meeting, 2008, North Carolina, 45-24).

   SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: David Shinskie is 25 years old. But the BC quarterback is still a true freshman, and he makes true freshmen mistakes. Last week, he threw a pair of costly interceptions, one in the Virginia end zone and the other returned for a touchdown, but then led a winning drive in the fourth quarter. The Eagles have a 1,000-yard rusher in Montel Harris, but North Carolina leads the ACC in rushing defense (94.1), scoring defense (16.1 points per game) and total defense (268 yards per). BC is 61st in the country in rushing, just 92nd in passing, 95th in total offense and 57th in scoring offense. Inside the red zone, though, the Eagles are 15th, with 25 touchdowns and six field goals in 34 trips inside the 20.

   SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: This group continues to be battered by injury, with the defensive end spot now the real trouble area. They keep patching things together, a task made easier by the work of freshman LB Luke Kuechly and former walk-on LB Mike Morrissey, who both continue to make plays. The Eagles are 29th in the country against the run, 61st against the pass, 22nd in defensive scoring, 30th in total defense and tied for 27th inside the red zone.

   QUOTE TO NOTE: “We certainly had a lot more mistakes than we needed to have, and they’re costly in any game but certainly on the road. But what happened was there was a tremendous amount of character shown by the players to fight through it all.”—Boston College coach Frank Spaziani on his team’s win at Virginia last week.

 

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

   THIS WEEK’S GAME: Boston College vs. North Carolina, Nov. 21—The Eagles have already qualified for their 11th straight bowl game, but this Senior Day gives BC the shot at finishing off a perfect 7-0 home run. The Eagles are 3½-point favorites.

   KEYS TO THE GAME: Montel Harris has run wild in home games this year and now faces a North Carolina team that is allowing fewer than 100 yards rushing per game. You would think BC would pass the ball more, but it’s the BC way to run the ball, especially at home.

   PLAYERS TO WATCH:

   RB Montel Harris—He has been a machine at home and last week had his first big road game of the year. After running for 900 yards as a freshman last year, he has cleared 1,000 this season.

   QB David Shinskie—The 25-year-old true freshman continues to make mistakes but also continues to make plays that make you believe the future is bright.

   LB Luke Kuechly—The best freshman in the ACC and one of the best in the country had another monster game at Virginia with 13 tackles, including a sack, three tackles for loss and a pair of pass breakups. Kuechly not only leads BC in tackles, but his 107, second in the ACC, are an amazing 57 more than anyone else on the Eagles’ defense.

   ROSTER REPORT:

   —WR Rich Gunnell caught three passes for 75 yards last week at Virginia and needs 161 yards over the last three games (counting the bowl game) to break Pete Mitchell’s all-time BC record of 2,388 yards receiving.

   —DE Alex Albight missed the Virginia game with an ankle injury, and fellow Des Jim Ramella and Brad Newman both left that game with injuries. The status on all three for this week was unknown.

   —LB Luke Kuechly broke Stephen Boyd’s 1991 BC freshman tackles record with his 101st last week.

   —RB Montel Harris is BC’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Derrick Knight had 1,721 in 2003.

   —LS Jack Geiser was also out last week, with Sean Flaherty handling the long snaps.

Updated Nov 18, 1:05 am EST
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21 Comments

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  1. <i>motofone2000</i>
    21. Posted by motofone2000 Fri Nov 20 3:07pm EST

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    I am always a bit discouraged by the "BC doesn't travel well" statements as to the Bowl selections. Having been to many over the past 7 years, the facts are that it is mostly true. But, do you blame the fans? Even if BC finishes with 9-10 wins, we get a toilet bowl! This has been a recurring issue, and one of the reasons Tom O'Brien left, and why BC joined the ACC. BC has many winnig seasons, beats decent tems, goes to the ACC title game 2 years in a row, etc, and we get the Bowl games in frigid Boise Idaho, or Memphis, or worse...Detroit! That's tough to handle year in and out when you see lesser teams with worse records go to better bowls. The test will be if BC wins the ACC one day, and gets the BCS bowl berth that comes with that. I bet the fans turn out for that one.
  2. NJ Native
    19. Posted by NJ Native Wed Nov 18 1:49pm EST

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    In 1984 BYU won the national Championship. This is significant to BC fans for several reasons. 1) BYU was not a consensus National champion, it had to share the Crown with Florida. 2) BYU was forced to play a 6-5 Michigan squad on Dec. 21 in the Holiday Bowl...they didn't even get invited to a major Bowl.
    3) Michigan, was invited when only 5-5 and had beaten nobody of consequence that year and was picked over a 7-3 Rutgers team that had beaten Pitt, Penn State and Michigan State. The reason given was that Michigan had a much older College football tradition ( Rutgers won the first college football game ever played as well as the first college football Championship). 4) BYU was the last non BCS school to win.
    Why is this significant to BC? For several reasons.
    1) Talk has been of eliminating the ACC automatic bid, conference records in bowls, against other BCS conferences in regular season have all been given as reasons that the ACC is a weaker divivision. Another reason, the decline of Miami and FSU and the fact that BC is doing so well.
    2) BC doesn't travel well, so will not get the money bowls...even in it's own conference.
    3)BC is perceived even among ACC fans who should know better as a lower tier team, barely above FCS one reviewer stated.
    What this translates into is no shot at a national title, ever. Unless there is a Significant playoff system installed. And it needs to be 32 teams or more or the same dozen or so schools will continue to pass the title around.
  3. NJ Native
    18. Posted by NJ Native Wed Nov 18 11:39am EST

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    Here is something to consider fans. Had BC picked up 5- star RB Knowshawn Moreno from Middletown South High School in NJ (BC does very well recruiting there), BC Might have had the Horses on the Ground to Beat VaTech in the ACC championships, Heck they might have had the horses to run the table, but would still be in the same boat they are in this year since KM left pulled a Herschel Walker and left Georgia for the NFL after two years. What BC needs to look at is smart, gritty, team oriented 4 star recruits who want a good education first, Bowl and regional TV exposure second. BC's attitude and assistance given to Mark Herzlich should show recruits that BC is a 1st class program.
  4. d
    17. Posted by d Fri Nov 6 2:51pm EST

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    Shinskie has loked pretty good for not being in the game for 6 years. He has a bright future @ BC as long as he gets the blocking against the top teir teams.
  5. Joe P
    16. Posted by Joe P Wed Nov 4 8:32am EST

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    Obrien's move to North Carolina State has, to date, been a total disaster.

    BC is being pushed hard by its Administration to ascend the US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT annual rankings ladder. As an ALUM, the repeated comparisons/reminders to/of the philanthropic prowse of ND graduates in virtually each and every ALUM Magazine I've received in recent years has been both eye opening and disheartening to say the least.

    Going to the ACC and associating with schools like Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest who perenially finish high in the annual rankings was suppose to facilitate this lofty ambiition.

    The bottom line is, BC, a school founded for the purpose of educating Irish immigrants, whether one likes it or not, has been placed on a fast track to chase schools like ND, the aforementioned, and national rankings. Attending a school with annual tutition and room/board fast approaching $60K has somehow become a badge of honor.

    BC has committed itself to an action plan, like it or not, that requires it to upgrade its recruiting across the board. To compete and achieve it must seek out more 3,4 star student/athletes. Everyone knows, even BC, that recruiting 5 star individuals isn't the way to go as these folk are simply destined for near term fame and fortune.

    So much for leadership.
  6. Jack Suede
    15. Posted by Jack Suede Mon Nov 2 11:20am EST

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    I'm not sure BC has as its goal to be "perceived as" anything. They work within the constraints, both natural and self-assigned, that govern their program, and they excel within those constraints. Maybe Tom O'Brien is right, and 8-9 wins/year is as good as you should expect. Well, so what? It's easier to take the bowl snubs at 9 wins than it would be at 11, and they don't want BC either way, because we fans don't travel. There are schools that throw academic integrity out the window, get all the 5-stars they want, and STILL don't have better programs over the past few years. I'll take the 9 wins.

    There are simple statistics at work here. There are a handful of HS players good enough to play in BCS conferences, and there are a handful of HS student-athletes with the academic record to be accepted and graduate BC. The overlap is small. For that rare combination of 5-star and academic ability, BC would have to compete not only against its typical competition but also against places like USC, ND, Florida, Texas, Michigan, etc. where there is tradtition, money and glamour, that BC cannot and should not aspire to match. The Al Skinner analogy is a good one. They don't go out looking for the best kids they can sneak past admissions; they look for players that are a good fit for their system.

    If you can't be satisfied with the level of success that Skinner and the football team deliver every year, without embarassing the university and without complaining about the limitations, then you are missing out on the joy of rooting for underdogs, teams with character that play hard, play smart, and put themselves in a position every year where if one or two bounces go their way, they make a good run.
  7. Joe P
    14. Posted by Joe P Sat Oct 31 7:06pm EDT

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    The notion that the 5 star rating system for high school prospect recruitng is of little consequence at this level of play is utterly preposterous. That coaching can somehow magically close the gap between 3 and 4/5 star players is without foundation. Surely there have been a number of exceptions over the years to the rule - D. Flutie, M.Ryan are just a couple of examples.

    No one questions that BC has and continues to field very respectable football teams. The fact is BC will never be viewed as a prominent college football power (consistently rated in the top 20 with an opportunity to ocassionaly break into the top ten and maybe even play for a national championship) without upgrading its recruiting efforts. There are simply too many truly gifted athletes being recruited by the perenially top twenty schools to expect BC's fine student/athletes to compete. BC has to go like hell just to be competitive in the ACC.

    Illustrative of this fact is BC's basketball program. Al Skinner is probably one of the top 25 division 1 coaches in the country. BC fields competitive teams every year without 3.4,5 star players. Yes, BC makes the NCAA's rather routinely. Ocassionally, it beats the top ACC teams and goes on to win rounds one and two of play. Beyond round two experience is a rarity, however. Repeatedly recruiting 3, 4 star players are the only way for BC to consistently challenge the extraordinary upper tier ACC teams.
  8. Jim
    13. Posted by Jim Sat Oct 31 3:15pm EDT

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    Chips wii make their first ever apperance into the Top 25 after they control the clock and beat a BC team today that will only get better. We lost Brian Kelly but replaced him with Butch Jones. We are "The New Cradle of Coaches." FIRE UP CHIPS! ...and a sincere wish that BC wins out the remainder of the year.
  9. Jonathan
    12. Posted by Jonathan Fri Oct 30 9:39pm EDT

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    Here come the Chips! Just sit back and enjoy the show....this is the new greatest show on turf. If I told you LeFevour will have 2 TD's in the air and 2 TD's on the ground would you feel very confident? Wlcome to the Dan LeFevour show, where BC's nightmare begins on Halloween 2009.
  10. Jack Suede
    11. Posted by Jack Suede Wed Oct 28 11:09am EDT

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    Nonsense. The recruiting has gotten much better--forget about Rivals and just look at a) the string of title game appearances and b) the NFL draft. They are deeper than they ever were in the Big East days. Look for next year's LB corps to be among the best in the country, and I mean scary good, if Herzlich comes back strong and Kuechly puts on a few pounds, they could have two Butkus semi-finalists. The O-line has remained excellent, and the skill positions have steadily improved. Look at the DBs and WRs compared to ten years ago, and it isn't even close. This is a team that was picked to finish near the bottom (as usual), but will be playing in a bowl. Shinskie will only get better, and the D will only get better, and next year will be a big one.
  11. big 11
    10. Posted by big 11 Tue Oct 27 12:01am EDT

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    Golden Tate for heisman !
  12. Timothye
    9. Posted by Timothye Fri Oct 23 11:28pm EDT

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    Don't worry about 4 or 5 star recruits people. The difference is marginal between an average 4 star and and average 3 star recruit. They base these rankings on very little information and many times a high schooler gains a higher ranking playing against lower competition or they max out their potential in high school while many of the BC 3 star guys are late bloomers. Unless you are Florida, Alabama, USC, or a hand full of others in that stature all you need to do is bring in a bunch of good players and let your coaches develop the talent that is there. Notre Dame has had top 5 recruiting classes each of the past 5 years and has had much less success than BC. So has Florida State. Oh, and yes it is a shame that Jeff Smith has been injured a lot in his career at BC but quess what? He will graduate with a top notch degree. How many players at the aforementioned schools can say that?
  13. rsjet
    8. Posted by rsjet Thu Oct 22 3:22am EDT

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    Too bad about Jeff Smith. He looked like he had alot of potential. Hope he can get back to how he was. But the team has been playing well of late. Next thing we need is a QB to step up and play and the O-line to give him some time!

    BC may not get the top recruits but they certainly coach to the highest level making the players they get, in many cases, as good as the top recruits.
  14. uofm6574
    7. Posted by uofm6574 Wed Oct 21 1:31pm EDT

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    Rudy still sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  15. NJ Native
    6. Posted by NJ Native Tue Oct 20 1:06am EDT

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    BC has had some success in recruiting 4 stars, Josh Haden is an example as well as phillips in this recruiting cycle, but not anywhere near a Notre Dame or a southern State School. BC has several disadvantages to overcome 1) stability: BC has had strong turnover4 the past three years and lost several commits as a result...the most costly.... Joe Boisture 4 Star QB. 2) BC is an Academic School alot of top ranked recruits just don't qualify academicly... Not an issue at FSU, Florida, Alabama and the like. 3) BC doesn't have that sexy rep as a BCS contender... Starry eyed 5 and 4 star prospects want BCS Bowls and TV exposure....most are unaware how often BC airs. 4) BC is not a party school. 5) BC is a cold weather school and just doesn't sound as inticing as a Miami or USC or Texas. 6) Most 4 and 5 Stars are3 from southern states and want to play for the state school.... they become rock stars at home.
  16. NJ Native
    5. Posted by NJ Native Tue Oct 20 12:55am EDT

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    To answer # 4's question on Jeff Smith. He has had some injury problems the previous seasons, the most serious being life/ Career threatening concussions but has been playing credibly as a KR and had a sensational catch and run for TD against FSU. BC needs to use him as well as Harris and Haden in more screen passes to allow them to to work in space and use their speed to advantage.... the Bazooka/ Wildcat formation they are using way too often IMHO is wasting these chances as well as not allowing Schinskie to gain confidence and get into a rythym. Screens are an excellent and fairly safe way to jumpstart your passsing.
  17. rsjet
    4. Posted by rsjet Mon Oct 19 2:20am EDT

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    What happened to Jeff Smith? A couple years ago he was heralded as the next big star to come out of BC. Now he just comes in as a 3rd string back up when the game is won?
  18. Joe P
    3. Posted by Joe P Sun Oct 18 10:51am EDT

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    BC needs to elevate its recruiting standards if it ever really wants to become a prominent national player. So far, BC has had virtually no success recruiting players from the southeast region of the country. This was suppose to happen when they joined the ACC.
  19. Timothye
    2. Posted by Timothye Wed Oct 7 1:51pm EDT

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    Anyone know where the heck Momah has been this year?
  20. <i>kielysull</i>
    1. Posted by kielysull Mon Aug 31 8:41pm EDT

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    • OTs Kaleb Ramsey (ankle), Nick Rossi (leg) and Bryan Murray (foot) were all hurt, forcing the coaches to move DE Austin Giles to offense, at least temporarily.

    FYI - This is incorrect. They are DTs, and their injuries forces Giles to move to DT, not offense.
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