Thoughts on Boston College Football Heading into the Finale

I’m not sure how many articles I can write about why Addazio needs to go, and anyway, he’s saved me the trouble by solidifying his own case over the last two games. The Boston College fan base was already lying prone on the mat when once-rival Notre Dame delivered a sharp kick to the ribs to the tune of 41-7. The loss featured two Addazio era hallmarks: a lack of halftime adjustments and an inability to compete with ranked teams.

This season, the Eagles are cumulatively +42 in the first half, and -58 in the second. They’ve outscored their opponents in the second half just four times (Syracuse, Louisville, Richmond and Rutgers). The BC offense has been piling up yardage at an impressive rate this season, but they’ve scored 239 first half points to just 106 in second halves. So while you might assume that a physical, punishing running game would wear out opposing defenses, the numbers suggest otherwise. It could be that opposing defenses are making adjustments to a fairly vanilla attack, or that BC’s play calling gets even more conservative down the stretch, or both (it’s both).

We all know about Addazio’s abysmal 1-17 record against ranked opponents, but those defeats have gotten progressively worse. Over the past 5 seasons BC has gone 0-13 while losing by an average of 25.69 points per game! Listen, there’s no shame in losing to a national power like Clemson every year, but you’ve got to at least compete in some of these other games. Add Spaziani’s 0-9 record against ranked opponents, and we’re looking at ONE big win in the past TEN seasons.

I’m generally not one to tune in for Addazio’s weekly press conference, but upon hearing that he’d shed his signature mustache, I had to take a look. I tend to shave my beard in moments of existential crisis, and I assume these were similar measures. In a largely mundane Q & A, he was asked how the team would prepare with their backs against the wall:

STEVE ADDAZIO: Nothing different. Just go straight ahead and keep moving. Every week’s the same. Just kind of -- same Sunday, same Monday, same Tuesday, same Wednesday, nothing different. Just get prepared, go out and have a great plan and keep your motivation high, keep your work ethic high, and have a great week one day at a time. Honestly, I would like to think you wouldn’t be able to distinguish between any given week. I’d like to think that every week is the same week.

Now compare that to:

I understand that Notre Dame went 3-9 the year that Jagodzinski is referring to, but there was a feistiness to those teams, and you can see why. Sure, there was talent on that team, but they were still playing way above their heads, and seemed to both recognize and relish big moments. I believe Daz when he says he wants every week to look the same, because regardless of fluctuating talent levels, pretty much every season has looked the same with him. We bring the same approach each week, generally beat the teams that are worse, and invariably lose to those that are better.

P.S. Thank you for reading along throughout the season. Happy Thanksgiving!