Panthers rookie report: LB Luke Kuechly leads group after first preseason game (CBSSports)
First round: As expected, LB Luke Kuechly started and was a tackling machine. He had tackles on three consecutive plays in the first series and forced an Arian Foster fumble in the second. "I think Luke came out and showed what he's capable of doing," coach Ron Rivera said. "He's a smart football player. He's an athletic guy, and he made some things happen."
BC report: Williams needs to step up his role at RB (Blauds)
Andre Williams returning to form. "My freshman year of high school one of coaches said, you’ve got to make sure you are not resting on your laurels," said Williams. "Don’t always look to the past. You’ve got to keep looking forward. I keep hearing the Syracuse game, the Syracuse game. That definitely set the pattern for myself. I think I have to keep climbing the stairs this year to reach the next level."
BC report: BC linebackers ready for life AL (After Luke) (Blauds)
""It’s more about a group this year than any individual," said Divitto between two-a-day sessions on Friday morning. "Last year we had one guy (Kuechly) flying around covering up everyone’s mistakes. This year we don’t have that luxury. We have to play smarter. We have to play together."
BC's force in the middle (The MetroWest Daily News)
The MetroWest Daily News' Eric Avidon profiles BC's Kaleb Ramsey.
Boston College football coach Frank Spaziani cool under pressure (ESPN Boston)
"Definitely," starting QB Chase Rettig said, "for the direction of the program and obviously for me, as well. Different pieces of the puzzle have to come connected, but just being the quarterback you take on such a big responsibility. I think this is a year that we grow toward what I wanted to do when I committed to BC. "I'm just gonna put my best foot forward to getting BC back to [where it was in] '06, '07."
After 4-win season, Boston College will try to bounce back for coach Spaziani (The Washington Post)
"A lot of teams used to start off with an easy win, but starting off with Miami is what we need," Pierre-Louis said. "We know that we can’t come off slacking in the first quarter or they’re going to take the game away from us."
Gene DeFilippo Retiring (Edward Taylor's Blog)
As many of you know by now, Boston College Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo is retiring. I have long been a supporter of Gene and wish him the best in his retirement. I went back to the archives of this blog and pulled out this post from 1 year ago. I've edited it a bit but the main point is still relevant. I was sharply criticized then but I stand by it today. Thanks Gene for your service and making Boston College Athletics vastly better than it was in 1997.
ACC Coaches Talk Anonymously About Conference Foes (AthlonSports.com)
Spaziani’s teams have always been strong on defense, but this year will be interesting. For the first time in three years they won’t have either a Mark Herzlich or Luke Kuechly anchoring the defense. Kuechly was awesome. Such a great player on the college level, and he will be a good pro."
2012 ACC Non-Conference Football Schedule Rankings (Blogger So Dear)
Solid analysis on the ACC non-conference football schedule over at Blogger So Dear. Minor quibble with putting Wake Forest ahead of BC. Maine was a better I-AA team than Liberty last year (Maine was 9-4 and put a scare into Pittsburgh). BC gets @ Army when Wake gets Army at home. BC has an extra road game (against a BCS peer school) while Wake gets Vanderbilt at home. Only Wake lean is that the Deacons go to South Bend while BC gets the Irish at home. Don't think that's enough to swing the SOS measure.
Flames prospect evokes memories of Gionta and Gerbe (ProHockeyTalk)
Johnny Gaudreau gets the PHT treatment. "The history of BC hockey players with some of the small guys… I just want to be like them and play like them and have a career like they have. You’ve got to have some influences out there and they’re definitely some of mine."