Boston College 38, Weber State 20: Reasons for Optimism or Cause for Concern?
by Brian Favat on Sep 6, 2010 7:00 AM EDT
in Boston College Football
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Brian: A win is a win, right? The Eagles move to 1-0 on the year after taking care of the Big Sky's Weber State Wildcats 38-20.
Even though it was a rather ho-hum win, there are plenty of reasons for optimism for BC. Saturday was a great day for Mark Herzlich, as he got to lead the team back onto the field for the first time since beating Ewing's Sarcoma. Montel Harris had a strong performance, rushing for over 100 yards for the fifth straight game (and 14th in his career).
But behind the 38-20 win, there are lots of concerns, at least for me. The biggest concern I have was the play of Shinskie. Uncle Dave sure knows how to put a damper on the Alumni Stadium crowd's mood. In his first series, he took a delay of game penalty on BC's first play from scrimmage. On the second play, he lined up under Thomas Claiborne (not the center) and recovered only to throw a bad interception to Taylor Sedillo. Shinskie was able to bounce back, leading BC on three consecutive touchdown drives, but throughout the day, his passes weren't crisp and he forced a lot of passes, including throwing a second interception in the endzone looking for Momah. Shinskie finished a pedestrian 10-20, 285 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT.
The problem is that we didn't see enough of Marscovetra to know whether he's any better than Shinskie. Marscovetra only threw three passes on the day (2-3, 38 yards, 1 TD).
Are you encouraged by the Eagles performance on Saturday? Or were there too many mistakes, particularly at the QB position, that make you a bit nervous that BC won't be able to work out the kinks before the September 25 game against Virginia Tech? Your thoughts?
Jeff: I think in a game like this where the Eagles have the much better team on paper, you have to look at the first half performance much more than the second half perfomance. In the second half, Weber even scored very late and went for an onside kick with only seconds remaining. BC was playing to get some rust off and try out a few new combinations of players and freshmen. In the first half, Shinskie especially showed some rust but then showed he could shake the rust off. After throwing an interception on his first pass, Shinskie led the offense to touchdowns on the next 3 possessions. When Marscovetra came into the game, BC had 238 yards to Weber State's 60 yards. I think up until Marscovetra came on the field is the most telling of what BC's future performance might be like this season and it is certainly encouraging.
From that point on, BC and Weber State both scored 17 points. In the second half, Weber State actually "beat" BC 10-7 and BC's only score was a defensive touchdown. That is discouraging, but I think the good early on, putting away Weber State by midway through the second quarter, is more important than what happened after that. Shinskie was 7-10 for 141 yards and 1 interception.
The second half was not very exciting to watch as an Eagles fan but BC did only punt twice.
On defense, it was great to see that Herzlich made 3 solo tackles and assisted on two more. Kuechly finished where he left off leading the team with 8 total tackles.
Brian: Speaking of the defense, my other cause for concern is actually with the defensive units, particularily the front four. The BC defense couldn't seem to get off the field. Typically in a game like this against an FCS opponent, BC is used to scoring and scoring quickly and losing the time of possession battle. But there were stretches where the Eagles defense couldn't get off the field, including a 7:42 drive by Weber State at the start of the first half.
I know Cameron Higgins is somewhat of a mobile quarterback, but to register no sacks on the day and get little pressure on the QB is definitely a cause for concern. It seems like it's still a primary concern for Spaz, too. The status of Kaleb Ramsey is questionable for Saturday's game against Kent State after he suffered a concussion this weekend. If Ramsey can't go, the Eagles already thin defensive line just got that much thinner. It will be important this weekend to get pressure on the QB and stuff the run this weekend, as Golden Flashes QB Spencer Keith and RB Eugene Jarvis represent a step up in the competition.
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Shinskie did nothing to to make me more comfortable with him running the offense this year as opposed to last year. A lot of his completions were check downs, but a positive point is that he seemed not to hold onto the ball and avoid sacks.
In terms of our front 4, its hard to watch our team get absolutely no pressure on the QB, and also watch weber state get in a rhythm against what i thought is a top 10 defense in the country. Gause’s soft coverage allowed him to get a pick, and take it to the house, but our defensive stats are misleading.
Overall C performance.
Meh
That’s how I feel about Saturday’s game. Not great, not horrible. To Shinskie’s credit, he bounced back alright in the 1st half, but the second half was really just terrible, and I don’t think we can just pay attention to the half where he played well and ignore the half where he didn’t, regardless of the scoreboard. In both halves, I saw a lot of those same mental mistakes that he’s made — he can get away with them against Weber State, but not a better team. For BC’s sake I hope he can put it all together, but I do have my doubts. Perhaps it’ll work out that neither Shinskie nor Marscovetra are the answer, but who knows at this point.
I think we certainly need to see something more out of this D in Week 2. I don’t think anyone can be truly satisfied with that performance on Saturday.
Soaring to Glory: A slightly relevant BC blog
Shin looked better
Not great, but better than last year, and last year was a couple of INTs and an uncharacteristic Montel fumble from 10 wins. I think the guy has great upside, and nice arm, he just needs to not force it. If the team could treat him like the Jets handled sanchez last year, we’ll go far. He doesn’t need to be The Guy.
Was at the front row of the game...
…and was not happy with Shinskie’s performance. His best play of the day, as a quarterback, was an incomplete pass. He actually looked off the safety, went through his progressions and hit his target between the numbers- only to have it dropped. I wasn’t impressed with how he played. 10/20? That’s pathetic. Even though Marscovetra was only on the field for a limited time, there was an extremely visible difference in the quarterbacking. Marscovetra was smooth, on target and efficient. Shinskie was jerky, wild and off-target. Even on Uncle Dave’s long throw, his receiver had to slow down a LOT to corral the ball. Marscovetra just has so much more upside and appears, in my opinion, to be just as “polished” as Dave- so why isn’t he playing more?
Also, there was very little pressure on the Weber QB. As in almost no pressure. Hopefully someone will emerge.
I’ve heard similar reports to this before. Spaz just seems to favor Shinskie. Hoping Marscovetra at least gets his shot in the Kent State game.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Granted that Marscovetra only threw 3 times and had less time to prove himself, but on TV he did not look got either.
He didn't look good?
He has a long throwing motion, but he’s much more accurate. Shinskie has a terrible tendency to throw the ball where the receiver used to be, too low, into traffic, or while he’s being tackled (and not throw it out of bounds). I saw Marscovetra in the Spring Camp and in his limited snaps, and he is definitely just as capable, if not more, than Shinskie. And since he’s younger, with a higher ceiling, it’s hard to watch Shinskie continue to start.
Ah well. At least we won!
by Richard Hill on Sep 10, 2010 12:18 AM EDT up reply actions
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