Diary Of One Half Of Trainwreck Football
by CSOM_97 on Nov 4, 2011 10:36 AM EDT
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Pregame: Me: "Get ready for another exciting half of run-run-pass-punt football."
15:00: BC’s first drive. Run-run-pass-punt
12:57 Florida St’s first drive. Two Kuechly tackles and a forced fumble. FSU punts.
10:50: BC’s second drive. Run-run (fumble)
FSU scores and leads 7-0
9:07: BC’s third drive. Run-pass-pass-punt. Friend#3: “We’re 9 of 10 on play call so far.” Discussion ensues whether punts count if you called a three-and-out in advance. Consensus is they do not. So we’re 7 of 8 on play calls.
6:52 defense gets a couple of sacks, stops FSU. Starting to look a bit like last two years where the defense puts up a heroic effort only to be stymied by the offense. That would be an improvement over most of this year.
3:32 BC’s 4th drive. Run-run-run-punt. That last run is on 3rd and 22. Me: “Even I didn’t see that surrender coming.” Friend#1: “Guess Spaz has the under.” We’re 9 of 11 on play calls (again, just by assuming run-run-pass for every drive).
End of First Quarter. BC has 8 yards passing, -7 rushing. Friend#2: “It is a minor miracle we are only down 7” We have already devolved into mostly just tracking Kuechly tackles. Tangible sense this game is only going downhill from here.
14:42 E.J. Manuel gives himself up rather than be tackled by Kuechly. Vigorous discussion whether that should count as a tackle. Consensus is it does not, but that Manuel’s manhood is fairly in question.
13:08 FSU scores to go up 14-0. NOLES flags run through endzone in front of students, who can’t even be bothered to boo. No one cares, everyone knows what’s coming.
12:35 Spaz opens up 5th straight drive with a run against the best run defense in the ACC. We start discussing the basketball season. Drive is run-run-pass-punt. We’re 12 of 14 on play calls.
11:24 Fans around us have long since joined Kuechly tackle tracking. FSU has a 55 yard run, Kuechly makes the tackle. Replay review whether he’s forced his second fumble. Kid next to me says he hopes FSU keeps the ball if that means Kuechly gets another tackle.
11:09 FSU 21-0. Friend#1 leans over: “If it makes you feel any better, this is how I felt about UMass basketball for 15 years.” FYI-it doesn’t.
10:24 FSU 21-0 again after previous TD overturned. No one cares there was a difference.
10:24 Media timeout. Vigorous discussion of conditions under which we would leave game at halftime. Consensus is 31-0 or worse, or 28-0 if we still don’t have a first down. Personally I have not left a game at halftime since the Army debacle in 1995, but my spirit is broken and I consent.
9:40 Mock cheer for our first first down. Wait, no, holding call wipes it out. Wife: “Why are we so terrible?”
8:35 BC offense hits double digits. In yards. We are still punting. Friend#3: “At least there is a nice moon tonight.” Friend #2: “Can Kuechly play offense too?” Kuechly immediately makes his 9th tackle on the punt.
8:25 Me: “Hypothetically, how bad would we be if we didn’t have Kuechly?” Friends#1-3 are speechless, slow head-shakes all around. #blownminds
7:18 Kuechly’s 10th tackle.
6:44 Kuechly’s 11th tackle. Vigorous discussing develops over whether that’s 10 or 11 as we've started to lose track. Friend#3 asks about BC’s single game tackle record. Rest of us agree it is Chamberlin at ‘Cuse, can’t decide whether it was 25 or 28.
4:51 FSU makes it 28-0. We still don’t have a first down. Total offense is 214 to 16. Though that doesn’t count our 1.5 return yards.
4:12 Bordner comes in at QB. At least that’s something interesting. We bust a long run on a QB keeper. Friend#3:”Spaz is probably over there screaming to run that play again.” Next play is another QB keeper.
0:49 Spaz hasn’t swapped Bordner for Rettig all year, now he’s yo-yo’ing them like a favorite new toy on the same drive, Rettig comes on to boos each time. Wife: “That poor kid! Why does Spaz keep putting him back out there just to hand-off?” This is a very good question. My wife gets a kiss for her football-savvy.
0:43 Fumble. We’ve now fumbled on their three yard line and our own. Play under review. Friend#2: “ESPN must be praying this gets overturned.” It doesn’t. End of half.
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It’s incredibly sad and indicative of just how far this defense has fallen when Kuechly is extending his consecutive 10+ tackle streak by halftime.
Editor, BC Interruption
BC's single-game tackle record
25: Frank Chamberlin (1999 Syracuse)
25: Stephen Boyd (1994 Virginia Tech)
25: Tom McManus (1991 Rutgers)
Editor, BC Interruption
Spaz fully aware of our school motto ...
“My message would be the same as it would be in the beginning of the year. I mean, our guys are playing hard. Our guys are working hard. They’re doing what this university professes, ‘Ever To Excel,’ and we’re trying to do it the right way. The success isn’t as obvious in wins and losses as eveybody would want. But it will come, and the sooner the better.”
Editor, BC Interruption
A Prof in German History once told me that his requirement for taking on PhD candidates is predicated on how they could elevate his department’s profile.
“Ever to Excel”—-taking positive upward strides towards excellence.
It’s clear to any casual observer that Spaz is simply over-matched by the demands of the role. He’s a career D-coordinator. I know it. You know it. Baldwin knows it. The problem is, Flip doesn’t….or he’s in complete denial.
is what it is - that post isn't fiction
I kept a running blog on my crackberry after my twitter connection failed. All comments were as stated at the game.
sorry
I am in a rotten mood. Leadership is sorely lacking at Boston College, and it is quite depressing.
I was thinking the same thing as your wife at the game. People are booing when Rettig comes in the game, when all he has been allowed to up to that point was hand the ball off. The few passes he did throw before Bordner came in were 5-10 yard crosses and out routes, he cannot succeed with that playing calling. Especially with no protection and mediocre receivers. Bordner looks like a hero because they gave him plays with which he could succeed. The pass he did complete before the fumble was a nice seam route against zone coverage, at least thats what it appeared to be at the game. They didn’t even give Rettig play action when it may have actually worked last night.
Which speaks nothing of the fact that Spaz even threw Bordner into the game at all …
I’m not exactly sure how:
1) we pull our first string QB for our third string QB (or is he fourth behind Marsco)?
2) we yo-yo in and out Bordner and Rettig as Spaz channels his inner TOB and throws the backup in on the first series of the second quarter, except that he’s doing this within the same drive after not doing this all season.
Editor, BC Interruption
Funny read...........
to an outsider.
Also love your “countdown till the nightmare ends”.
Liked the reference to the self-motivation thought behind the smack being tossed out as if the score were reversed. A lot of us FSU fans were shaking our heads in disbelief at that. “WTF?” was all we could come up with. But one guy told me he thought BC was just getting us prepared for the UM game where such chatter is hardly noticed… since it occurs on every other play.
Good luck the rest of the way.
As a player, I appreciate the fact that in the midst of a terrible season, sacks, TFLs and hard hits are basically the only things that keep you motivated and in the game. Also, all things considered, the BC D held up pretty well last night when you consider BC gifted FSU seven points and forced a fumble that wasn’t called on the third TD drive.
Still, when the other unit is so inept as to bring shame and embarrassment to the program and an entire school, the D needs to tone down the celebrations imo.
Editor, BC Interruption
Entertaining
I can relate a bit, as a Terps fan in the midst of a mess of a season. Thankfully for Maryland, the jury is still out (at least for me) since it’s just Edsall’s first year (I am not part of the “fire Edsall” group).
It’s both impressive and sad that you are able to predict the plays that well.
I was hoping that the Terps would win the MD-BC game not only because I am a Terps fan but because I was hoping it would give more ammo to the argument for BC fans to get Spaz canned … although I think yall have enough anyway.
I’d much prefer the ACC to be a strong conference, top to bottom, with 3-5 top 25 teams and everyone beating the snot out of non-conference opponents (and each other). The Terps and Eagles have both been pathetic this year.
Best wishes for getting a new coach sooner rather than later.
Assumption is the mother of all @#%-ups.
Criticizing your fans after starting the season 2-6 isn't a good look for Edsall
"I think whenever you support a team, or you have a team that you like, you support them regardless," Edsall said on Tuesday, according to Jakob Engelke of Inside MD Sports. "There’s only seven games a year [at home] that you can get out and see. If you’re going to be a fan, be a fan and be out there all the time."
[snip]
Added Edsall, who isn’t doing much to endear himself to the apathetic fan base in his first season: "Sometimes it’s not going to be the way you want it, but just stick in there and support people and keep going. I’ve been an Orioles fan, and it hasn’t gone very well, but I haven’t dropped off the bandwagon. That’s what true fans do."
Willing to give Edsall some time to turn around the Terps but he is literally doing everything opposite of what he should be doing right now.
Editor, BC Interruption
True
I certainly haven’t been impressed with much he’s done. About the only thing he’s accomplished is cutting way back on penalties (which is good as far as that goes).
He needs to take a PR course in the off-season. He’s going to be under a much brighter spotlight in Maryland with the DC media. When other teams do bad things (i.e. off-field shenanigans like drugs, violence, etc.) they are penalized. When the Terps do it, Congress wants to pass some stupid law to try to fix it.
Assumption is the mother of all @#%-ups.
Pretty much describes my night there too.
Except that my section (W, right next to where BC runs onto the field) was pretty much completely empty except for FSU fans and 4 BC fans near us.
It was so embarrassing that the FSU fans starting feel bad for us. It made me sick.
My Twitter @totheights
It could be worse
You could have Al Groh. Tough season Baldwins but there is a new year coming. Spaz will get it together.
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