Boston College Daily Links: Luke Kuechly Puts On The Lbs

Boston College star weighs in on life (Boston Herald)
"I think if you put it on the right way, it shouldn’t be a problem, and that’s what I’ve tried to do," said Kuechly yesterday at BC. "I wanted to get the weight on, but I want to make sure I can run. I think where I am right now, I don’t want to put any more on. (Defensive coordinator Bill McGovern) has always told me ‘If you can run, I don’t care how much weight you put on. You just have to be able to run.’

Seen And Heard At The ACC Football Kickoff (ACC Sports Journal)
Harris is a black belt in karate, something he feels has helped him be a better running back – he needs just 1,003 to become the ACC’s career rushing leader, in case you’d lost track. The martial art has helped Harris’ balance, given him discipline and the ability "to just fight through."

ACC Forecast: In which a divided nation confronts Virginia Tech’s non-conference schedule (Dr. Saturday)
Boston College junior Luke Kuechly will win the Butkus Award as the nation's best linebacker. Kuechly, a junior, has 341 career tackles, including a national-best 183 stops as a sophomore, putting him on pace to smash former Northwestern linebacker Tim McGarigle's career mark (545 tackles from 2002-05) if he returns for his senior season. If healthy, though, Kuechly will decide instead to take advantage of first-round projections in the 2012 draft.

2011 ACC Blogger Football Preview – ACC Champion/Full Rundown (ACC Blogger)
Montel Harris returns for the Eagles, which is huge because, in my opinion, he is the most talented running back in the conference. The quarterback situation is still messy, so the Eagles will have to rely on their defense to keep them in games. I’m not sure if they can do it, with conference road games at Clemson, Virginia Tech, Maryland, and Miami. If Chase Rettig can figure things out under center, maybe the Eagles could make some noise, but with their schedule that will be tough.

BC's Harris nearing Ted Brown's record (ACC Now)
“I’m starting to hear a lot more of Ted Brown,” Harris said. “Once I go back home, I’m going to look up some tape on him.”

Ryan Ward picks Iowa Hawkeyes over Northwestern Wildcats (ESPN Chicago)
Providence senior offensive lineman Ryan Ward has committed to Iowa. Ward, who is 6-foot-6 and 270 pounds, chose the Hawkeyes over Boston College, Michigan State and Northwestern. Ward's older brother, Patrick Ward, is a junior offensive tackle at Northwestern.

Opponents / ACC

Defining Games: FSU buzz gets another Sooner-sized September test (Dr. Saturday)
After FSU and Virginia Tech, it's a good bet no one else in the conference will even appear in the preseason polls to open the year. There's no chance for redemption or a mulligan: If Florida State is really on the brink of a breakthrough, Sept. 17 is the day it becomes a reality or crawls back into its hole for another year.

Top 50 countdown: No. 39 Northwestern Wildcats (Sporting News)
There’s no question the Wildcats are fun to watch. While they gave up 29 points a game last year, they also scored 26.4 a contest. And they put up more than 5,000 yards of total offense. But if Northwestern wants to surpass its place as a team that creeps above .500 each year and takes advantage of the conference’s myriad bowl alliances, it has to be strong for an entire season.

Northwestern Wildcats at a glance (Sporting News)
Judgment day: Sept. 3 at Boston College. Get blown out by the Eagles on the road and it could be downhill from there. It won’t take long to find out how tough–or talented–this year’s team is.

Swofford wants colleges to regain control (The Boston Globe College Sports Blog)
Make no mistake. Swofford wants ACC teams to win national titles in football just as they have done in men’s basketball two of the last three seasons. " But we’re at a tipping point. We have to get back to basic fundamentals, to what college athletics is all about. Tweaking is not enough.."

2011 ACC Blogger Football Preview – ACC Champion/Full Rundown (ACC Blogger)
Montel Harris returns for the Eagles, which is huge because, in my opinion, he is the most talented running back in the conference. The quarterback situation is still messy, so the Eagles will have to rely on their defense to keep them in games. I’m not sure if they can do it, with conference road games at Clemson, Virginia Tech, Maryland, and Miami. If Chase Rettig can figure things out under center, maybe the Eagles could make some noise, but with their schedule that will be tough.

2011 ACC Blogger Football Preview – Coastal No. 1…Virginia Tech (ACC Blogger)
Perfect conference schedule for a new QB – Starting off with two home games, first road trip at Wake Forest (next at Duke), bye before Georgia Tech on Thursday, game at home next Thursday and Virginia game in Charlottesville. Can’t set it up better.

2011 ACC Blogger Football Preview – Coastal No. 6…Duke (ACC Blogger)
Have you seen that schedule?!?! – Starting the conference slate at BC then hosting FSU and Virginia Tech in a three week span with Wake in the middle, and hitting the road in November for trips to Miami, Charlottesville and Chapel Hill. The ACC did Duke few favors on the schedule.

Debriefing: Demon Deacons duck and cover for another year on the bottom (Dr. Saturday)
If the record declines this fall for the third season in a row — a distinct possibility with losable non-conference dates against Syracuse, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt — it shouldn't come as any surprise if the university and its first winning coach in more than 50 years agree to a mutual split.