Boston College 40, Maine 10: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

After each game we break down the positives and negatives. Last weekend it was all positives, but even against a team like Maine we started to see some negatives poking out. Let's take a look at this week's Good, Bad and Ugly.

The Good

Marcus Outlow: What a great showing by the freshman running back. For weeks we have been talking about the productivity of Jon Hilliman and Sherm Allston, but Outlow has been on the outside looking in. Finally we got to see what this kid can do. He looked fantastic running the ball, and again appeared to be a completely different back than the others we have seen. Good size, good speed. Was anyone else praying he would get the final touchdown? I certainly was.

The Entire Defensive Front Seven: I know it was only Maine, but my god was the D-line dynamic. It seemed they were pressuring every play the Maine QB went back to pass and allowed only 16 yards on the ground. Some of the players that deserve to be pointed out was again Harold Landry who looks ready to be an every down DE, and Josh Keyes who week after week looks more and more like Kevin Pierre-Louis. Truly an exciting linebacker who's speed is unparalleled. Next week is going to be a different ball game for this crew, as Colorado St can put up point quickly.

Tyler Murphy The Field General: His passing skills may be questionable, but Murphy has the read option and run plays down to a science. As Dan mentioned yesterday, Murphy's touchdown run was a brilliant read on what the defense gave him. He did what he had to do the entire game, and honestly I think Addazio/Day held his runs back a little this game so that he didn't need to take any unnecessary hits. I'd expect a big game out of the graduate student play caller against Colorado St this weekend.

Jon Hilliman: As I watched Hilliman run with the ball, the thought "man he runs like a younger Andre Williams" kept popping in my head. He certainly isn't up to 2013 AW standards yet, but he is consistent and is easily the best running back in terms of breaking tackles and shedding hits. The upside on this kid is very high, and as he continues to grow he will certainly be a name BC fans are going to want to know.

The Pass Play To Josh Bordner: These are the types of passes BC needs to make, but they should never be designed like that. If Tyler Murphy has a guy that wide open, he should be throwing it, otherwise scramble. Also a big kudos to the big WR's (Callinan, Bordner, Crimmins) on another fantastic game blocking.

The Bad

Joey Launceford: I hate piling on the kid because he is only a walk on, but clearly Alex Howell should be doing all the kicking at this point. The missed extra point was all on Launceford who kicked it far too low and was easily blocked. Apparently Addazio is on the same wavelength, as Howell did all the kicking in the second half.

The 1st Half Offensive Plan: I don't know what BC was doing for most of that first half. Murphy was throwing the ball far too often, and of course made his bad pass that was easily intercepted and led to Maine's lone touchdown of the game. Dan said it already, but BC can't be a throwing team, they don't have the quarterback to do it or the wide receivers to make it successful. Watching the game it was clear that the success of the offense is correlated with how much they throw the ball. It's beating a dead horse at this point, but when BC ran the ball, they controlled the clock, kept Maine off the field and dominated.

Yet Another Play With Blown Coverage: I wanted to put the BC secondary in the Good category, but my conscious said that this play dictated another Bad label only because it was awful. I haven't had a second chance to watch the game, but it seemed like the blown coverage was again on Sean Sylvia who released a wide receiver to about 50 yards of open terrain. These plays drive me crazy because it looks like a simple communication error. Can't be making these mistakes against good teams because they will make you pay.

The Ugly

Bobby Vardaro's Injury: Watching the game on the sideline, my father kept commenting on how many plays Vardaro was flattening the defender he engaged. Less than a quarter later and Vardaro was on the ground, writhing in pain and the injury didn't look good. BC listed him as questionable to return to the game, and hasn't released an injury report at the time of this writing, but losing Vardaro would be a devastating injury to the offensive line. Cross your fingers on this one folks. (Update: Apparently he came back later in the game. Phew)

Scheduling this game on a date that was not Parent's Weekend: Can we please never schedule an FCS game that isn't on Parent's Weekend? There is no reason for this game to be played on a date other than, and the attendance of less than 30,000 showed that.