On a Good Shellacking Leveled Against BC Football
This one was just painful to watch.
I knew the Eagles were in trouble when V-Tech marched right down the field with little resistance on its first drive. The BC offense just isn’t built to come back from big deficits, and the first drive was just too easy.
It was going to be a long afternoon if the defense didn’t improve. It didn’t, and it was. The defense got shredded by Taylor, but what was surprising was that he did it with his arm as well as with his legs. In the first encounter, he put up bunch of yards on the ground (and he repeatedly converted third and longs with his feet again), but the Hockies’ offense kept humming along when Taylor was able to complete passes when he had to. Either the Hokies made great strides in its offense since mid-season, they had a great game plan, or the BC defense just didn’t show up, Taylor was the difference in the game.
BC was going to win or lose this game on defense and turnovers. I thought going in that if BC won or tied the turnover battle, we’d have great shot at winning the game because the Hockies’ offense was so inept. You can point to the turnovers, but the fact is, the game was lost long before turnovers mattered. As defense failed the team, the pressure on the offense and Davis mounted, and they simply weren’t able to meet the challenge. I think it unfair to blame Davis for the loss on this one. The team didn’t get this far either on his shoulder’s or the offense’s shoulders, and no winning formula included Davis becoming a star.
The loss hurt, not because I thought this was the year BC went to a big bowl game, but because I thought we had a great chance once we got to the championship game, a miracle in of itself. You’re simply not going to get too many chances at a BCS. You have to win them when you’re given a shot, and for two years in a row, BC has come up short. For all the credit I’ve given to Coach Jags, this one will remain a blemish on his resume that will begin to look strikingly similar to Tom O’Brien’s (which, as this site points out, though, isn’t so bad after all).
So we’re off to the WeSuck.com Bowl for the tenth straight year. The Music City Bowl sure sounds familiar; BC played it in 2001. Facing a barely bowl eligible 6-6 Vanderbuilt team that limped to the finish line (a sure sign of a slap in a face for a team that finished second in the ACC), I would expect the Eagles to score another meaningless victory to raise the active victory streak to an nation-leading, but no-one-gives-a-shit nine in a row.
After all, that’s all we have left to look forward to. Again.
BCeagle,
Yep, I agree. I was rather disgusted too. I wish I knew more of the Big 12 rules, because that sure sounds nice.
Chris,
I thought Davis played ok too, but it was clear that once the team went down big, they had no shot. The defense really let us down failing to contain Tayler, not just with the legs but with the arm. He really killed us.
I do expect good things from the team next year. I’m psyched.
Well, time for hockey, as always.
I’m disgusted. Absolutely disgusted.
If this were Big XII rules we would have had a BCS berth the past couple years.
I wasn’t so sure after the first touchdown drive. Sometimes a defense just needs some time to get its feet under it, and an opening drive doesn’t say much.
But there were too many times in the first and second quarters where BC players had a shot a Tyrod and missed. We needed to get stops early and either get a lead or keep it very close so that we could continue to run. A bright spot of this game was Montel Harris, who ran really well when given the opportunity.
I am not sure what next year holds. I expect Davis to get better, but we have some other possibilities at QB as well. I am not sure what the defense will look like with some of the major pieces gone, although our young corners have actually gotten a lot better as the year progressed.
I’m just not sure what happened to the defense. Everyone but Raji looked at least a little off their games yesterday. He was still amazing and will be great in the NFL.
I think one play that was absolutely key was Gunnell’s fumble in the second quarter. I am not necessarily blaming him; he made a great catch on that play and the VT player really ripped at the ball, but it would have made such a difference. We are simply much, much better when playing from tied or ahead than we are playing from behind. I think next year, with an improved Dominique Davis, we will be better at playing from behind. I thought he actually played pretty well, but was too hesitant running the read-option, and was ultimately in over his head playing from behind in the second half.