2014 season preview: Boston College Eagles

It's that time.  Football season previews begin now.  I do this for a couple reasons - it familiarizes me with the conference, which is handy when you're trying to sound like you know what you're talking about for the rest of the season, but also there's this: I don't think there's another UVA site that goes as far in-depth, so, you the readers of FOV are the most-informed UVA fans around about the ACC.  Plus it makes August fly the hell by, because it'll be two weeks til game day and I'll be half done.  Anyway, here's Boston College.

Schedule:

8/30: @ Massachusetts
9/5: Pittsburgh (Fri.)
9/13: USC
9/20: Maine
9/27: Colorado State
10/4: BYE
10/11: @ NC State
10/18: Clemson
10/25: @ Wake Forest
11/1: @ Virginia Tech
11/8: Louisville
11/15: BYE
11/22: @ Florida State
11/29: Syracuse

Skip: Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia

2013 results:

Villanova: W, 24-14
Wake Forest: W, 24-10
USC: L, 35-7
Florida State: L, 48-34
Army: W, 48-27
Clemson: L, 24-14
North Carolina: L, 34-10
Virginia Tech: W, 34-27
New Mexico State: W, 48-34
NC State: W, 38-21
Maryland: W, 29-26
Syracuse: L, 34-31
Arizona: L, 42-19 (Independence Bowl)

Record: 7-6, 4th (Atlantic)

Projected starters:

QB: Tyler Murphy (5Sr.)
RB: Myles Willis (So.)
FB: Bobby Wolford (rSo.)
WR: Bobby Swigert (5Sr.)
WR: Shakim Phillips (5Sr.)
TE: Louis Addazio (rJr.)
LT: Seth Betancourt (5Sr.)
LG: Bobby Vardaro (5Sr.)
C: Andy Gallik (5Sr.)
RG: Harris Williams (5Sr.)
RT: Ian Silberman (5Sr.)

DE: Brian Mihalik (Sr.)
DT: Mehdi Abdesmad (Sr.)
DT: Connor Wujciak (rJr.)
DE: Kevin Kavalec (So.)
SLB: Josh Keyes (Jr.)
MLB: Sean Duggan (Sr.)
WLB: Steven Daniels (Jr.)
CB: Manny Asprilla (Sr.)
CB: Bryce Jones (Jr.)
SS: Dominique Williams (5Sr.)
FS: Sean Sylvia (5Sr.)

K: Mike Knoll (Fr.)
P: Alex Howell (Sr.)

(Italics indicate new starter.)

Coach: Steve Addazio (2nd season)

Media prediction: 6th of 7, Atlantic

All-ACC:

2013 1st team: RB Andre Williams, LB Kevin Pierre-Louis, K Nate Freese
2013 2nd team: OT Matt Patchan
2013 3rd team: WR Alex Amidon, C Andy Gallik, DE Kasim Edebali
2013 HM: OT Ian White
2014 preseason: C Andy Gallik

(Italics indicate departed player.)

This is a good optimistic note to start the season previews with: proof that there's precedent for going from 2-10 to a bowl game in one season.  And if UVA can't quite pull that off, proof that a new coach can make a world of difference.  Steve Addazio parlayed a 13-11 record at Temple into a promotion to BC, and whatever he's doing seems to work.  Nobody (well, almost nobody) thought they'd find their way to the postseason, but there they were, finishing the regular season on a hot streak and with a 7-5 record.

This year the odds seem just as long.  Picked 6th by the media, there may be good reason for that as BC took multiple body blows in the attrition department.  They're left with clumps of good players in some places, but other units have been utterly decimated.  Addazio hit a major sophomore slump in his second year at Temple, and has a major challenge here to avoid another one.

-- Offense

Let's start with the one major positive: an interior line that most teams would kill for.  A trio of fifth-year seniors with a combined 74 career starts anchors the whole offense here.  Center Andy Gallik is a Rimington watch-lister and the media's preseason choice for top center in the ACC.  Bobby Vardaro, now a fifth-year senior, is entering his fourth year as a starter at left guard, and the Eagles really liked RG Harris Williams going into last year and he did not disappoint.  Whoever lands the job as top running back will have a field day, or 12 of them really, running behind that line.  There'll be a battle at tackle, however; the lead spots for now likely belong to last year's backup LT, Seth Betancourt, and Florida grad student transfer Ian Silberman, but the Eagles also look to redshirt sophomore Jim Cashman and senior Dave Bowen to provide competition.

Running back is just one of many position battles on the offensive side.  Bowling ball back Myles Willis has a chance to be a really good one, having had a solid season as Andre Williams's primary backup last year, carrying 60 times for 346 yards.  Tyler Rouse is similarly built and will get his shot as well, and the Eagles bring in a couple of talented freshmen, particularly the highly-sought Jonathan Hilliman.  This should be more committee-based than last year when Williams piled up over 2,100 yards and BC was pumping him for the Heisman.

If that seems like a lot of production to replace, though, that's nothing compared to receiver.  Alex Amidon caught 77 passes for the Eagles in 2013; the next-highest total on the roster was 14.  And the next-highest total for a receiver was 11.  Thanks to graduation, transfers, injuries, and position changes, BC has one single receiver on the depth chart who caught a pass in 2013.  Suffice to say, depth is a problem.  The return of Bobby Swigert should help; Swigert is a capable player, but spent a season and a half on the shelf, so rust will be a problem.  BC brought in grad student transfer Shakim Phillips from UConn (Phillips began his career at BC in the first place) and he should find a way pretty quickly to the top of the depth chart after catching 60 passes in two years at UConn.  BC will also expect true freshman Thad Smith to play a part, and they return Dan Crimmins (the aforementioned lone returner) and have moved backup QB Josh Bordner to receiver as well.  Bordner and Crimmins are huge targets and should be able to help out in the red zone.  Long story short, Addazio has managed to piece together a unit that should be reasonably functional, but has a lot to live up to in a hurry.

His quarterback this year will be Tyler Murphy, another former Gator that Addazio had recruited to Gainesville.  Murphy is described as a dual threat, but only managed a yard per carry last year.  SEC starting experience is a plus; the fact that Florida's offense was startlingly ineffective last year is a minus. Murphy was not bad as a Gator, but the offense didn't move especially well.

Quite a bit depends on Murphy.  BC has a foundation on the interior line that's the envy of most of the league, and has weapons in the running game that are unproven but carry plenty of potential.  Swigert and Phillips make a passable top pair of receivers.  If Murphy can put it all together, BC's offense could surprise.  A lot has to go right, and this team is depending on more players than you'd like that are coming off injuries or haven't shown much on the field, but the potential is there, and Addazio has an offensive background and did a very nice job of making it work last year.

-- Defense

Boston College's signature unit lately has been the linebackers; the top three tacklers last year were the three starters at LB.  Two of those are gone this year, with the lone returner being Will backer Steven Daniels.  Daniels had 88 tackles last year, with 6.5 TFL, a pick, and a forced fumble, and there's no reason to expect he won't be as productive again.  On the other side, BC turns to Josh Keyes, who started two games last year and was as maximally productive as you could expect of a fourth 'backer when the first three average over 100 tackles apiece.  Sean Duggan will man the middle; he had a very good 2012 season (again, for a reserve) but all but disappeared last year.  He may be pushed by true freshman Connor Strachan for playing time, or he may break out and collect 100 tackles of his own.

Up front, there's a lot of turnover.  After a pitiful 2012 in which the Eagles collected only six sacks all season, the D-line turned it around last year and became a productive unit.  Connor Wujciak returns as a long-time starter; he's a line-clogging, 300-pound DT who'll be joined by Mehdi Abdesmad, who had 17 tackles in only four games before going down for the season with an injury.  The Eagles also like sophomore lineman Truman Gutapfel, who played in 10 games last year as a true freshman.  That should be a very solid defensive tackle rotation.

End is a little trickier, as no starters return.  Brian Mihalik has played well as a veteran reserve and will get a good chance at a starting gig this year; he's started the odd game in the past and has plenty of experience.  Nobody else has much, though.  Kevin Kavalec got in three games as a true freshman last year and Nick Lifka is a redshirt junior with only a handful of games under his belt.  There's an opening for heralded freshman Harold Landry to make an immediate impact.  Landry committed to BC early in the 2014 cycle and stuck with it when everyone - OSU, Auburn, FSU, South Carolina, Miami, and a whole host more - tried to pry him away.

Helping with the transitions at linebacker and DE will be a very veteran secondary.  Safeties Sean Sylvia and Dominique Williams are both fifth-year seniors with a ton of experience, and both are more than solid players.  Cornerbacks Manny Asprilla (also a senior) and junior Bryce Jones picked off two passes each last year and it's fair to expect them each to continue to improve on that production.

BC always relies heavily on its linebackers, and this defense could go a long way if the newcomers to the starting lineup can fill those very large shoes.  There's high hopes for Keyes in particular.  They'll need once again to find a pass rush and they'll likely ask Keyes and Daniels to play big roles there in order to help out the inexperienced defensive ends.  With veteran safeties and DTs, this should be a very stout run defense, and having veteran corners will be a big help when the pass rush isn't up to snuff.  But I think this unit will be solid overall.

-- Special teams

Nate Freese was a good enough kicker to actually be drafted (by the Lions, in search of some stability after the retirement of Jason Hanson) and he handled punting duties too, so a big hole is left.  True freshman Mike Knoll and senior Alex Howell will be the primary kicking competitors; Howell looks very likely to be the punter, though his experience consists of five kickoffs in three years.  Fun fact: Howell is the younger brother of former UVA punter Jimmy Howell.

-- Outlook

The media pegs this team as the 6th-best in the Atlantic Conference.**  I'm not convinced it's that desperate.  Granted, this is the tougher of the two to win; having FSU, Clemson, and now Louisville on the schedule makes things hard, and it's not any easier since BC crosses over against VT.  Their other crossover this year is Pitt, a game they play early and which will serve as a bellwether for the season.  Add USC to that and you've got a tough schedule.

However, the Eagles should also be able to find three wins in the OOC with little trouble.  VT isn't quite what they were, either, and the Eagles did knock them off last year.  (This year, that game is in Blacksburg, though.)  BC can certainly go bowling; they probably need to beat three of Pitt, NC State, Wake, Syracuse, and VT to do it.  I think they will, and though they're not really contenders for the conference title, I think they outperform their sixth-place finish in the media poll.

**I'm still on my kick of calling these things conferences and not divisions and I will be until they fix this shit.  You're not in the same conference as a team you play once every six years.  NFC teams play the AFC more often than that.  Hell, National League teams play the American League more often than that.

season preview: Boston College Eagles

Schedule:

8/31: Villanova
9/6: Wake Forest (Fri.)
9/14: @ USC
9/21: BYE
9/28: Florida State
10/5: Army
10/12: @ Clemson
10/19: BYE
10/26: @ North Carolina
11/2: Virginia Tech
11/9: @ New Mexico State
11/16: NC State
11/23: @ Maryland
11/30: @ Syracuse

Skip: Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, Pittsburgh, Virginia

2012 results:

Miami: L, 41-32
Maine: W, 34-3
Northwestern: L, 22-13
Clemson: L, 45-31
Army: L, 34-31
Florida State, L, 51-7
Georgia Tech: L, 37-17
Maryland: W, 20-17
Wake Forest: L, 28-14
Notre Dame: L, 21-6
Virginia Tech: L, 30-23
NC State: L, 27-10

Record: 2-10; 6th of 6, Atlantic Division

Projected starters:

QB: Chase Rettig (Sr.)
WR: Alex Amidon (Sr.)
WR: Spiffy Evans (Jr.)
TE: C.J. Parsons (rJr.)
RB: Andre Williams (Sr.)
FB: Jake Sinkovec (5Sr.)
LT: Dan Lembke (rSo.)
LG: Bobby Vardaro (rJr.)
C: Andy Gallik (rJr.)
RG: Harris Williams (rJr.)
RT: Ian White (5Sr.)

DE: Kaleb Ramsey (6Sr.)
DT: Mehdi Abdesmad (Jr.)
DT: Connor Wujciak (rSo.)
DE: Kasim Edebali (5Sr.)
SLB: Kevin Pierre-Louis (Sr.)
MLB: Steele Divitto (Sr.)
WLB: Steven Daniels (So.)
CB: Manny Asprilla (Jr.)
CB: Bryce Jones (So.)
FS: Sean Sylvia (rJr.)
SS: Spenser Rositano (Jr.)

K: Nate Freese (5Sr.)
P: Alex Howell (rSo.)

(Italics indicate new starter.)

Coach: Steve Addazio, 1st season

Media prediction: 7th of 7, Atlantic Division

All-ACC:

2012 1st team: WR Alex Amidon, LB Nick Clancy
2012 2nd team: OT Emmett Cleary
2012 HM: P Gerald Levano, LB Kevin Pierre-Louis
2013 preseason: LB Kevin Pierre-Louis

(Italics indicate departed player.)

BC's expectations weren't that high last year, but they still failed to reach them in spectacular fashion.  A 2-10 season - in which most of the losses weren't even competitive - meant the end of Frank Spaziani's tenure and the hiring of Steve Addazio, whose head coaching credentials consist of riding Al Golden's coattails at Temple for one season before taking the Owls back to Losing Seasonville.  Addazio has depth issues to deal with at several positions and faces a tough ACC schedule; the consensus two best teams are in his division, and his crossover games are UNC and VT.

-- Offense

Lack of continuity will be something that the Eagles' offense has to deal with; senior quarterback Chase Rettig is on his fourth offensive coordinator in four years.  Rettig has helmed the BC offense for the past season-and-a-half, improving his efficiency slightly each season.  He's never been a feared playmaker, though, which is something BC lacks throughout their entire offense.  The Eagles production ranked at the bottom of the conference last year no matter how you look at it, and their 26 touchdowns on the season was the fewest of any team in the ACC.

Boston College does think that RB Andre Williams can be a dynamic playmaker if he stays healthy.  A 99-yard rush against Army last year is some evidence of this.  That said, he otherwise averaged about 3.75 yards a carry, and health has been a problem; Williams has missed games in each of the last three seasons with various ailments.  Behind Williams, there's very little experience; Tahj Kimble and David Dudeck will fight the battle for carries, neither of whom has played more than a minimal role in past seasons.  Dudeck and Kimble do have receiving skills that Williams does not, ensuring them at least a place in the offense.

At receiver, Alex Amidon is a very dependable option who had six 100-yard games and seven touchdowns last year; he represents BC's best proven playmaking capability.  Spiffy Evans and Bobby Swigert also return; Swigert isn't listed on the depth chart but he had 44 catches two years ago and it was a pair of knee injuries that limited his stats in 2012, so you'd expect to see a role for him as well.  Though quality pass-catching tight end Chris Pantale departs and a battle looms between Mike Naples and C.J. Parsons to fill his shoes, there should be adequate receiving capability in the offense as long as there's also health.  If there isn't, it might start to get ugly.

Probably the biggest offseason loss for BC was left tackle Emmett Cleary; getting first crack at replacing him will be redshirt sophomore Dan Lembke, who has been grooming for the job for a while.  On the other end, the very experienced Ian White slides over to right tackle after playing the first three years of his career at right guard, where he's made 23 starts.  White could be a safety valve option at LT if Lembke isn't ready.  On the interior, Bobby Vardaro at LG and Andy Gallik at center provide solid continuity, each having started all 12 games last season and at least a few in 2011 as well.  The question will be Harris Williams at RG, a player the coaches like but who missed most of last season with a broken foot and has played only nine games the past two years.

With a senior quarterback, a decent receiving corps, and reasonable continuity on the O-line, the pieces are in place for BC to make some modest improvements on offense this season.  But no defenses save the dreadful NMSU Aggies and (maybe) Villanova will be intimidated by this bunch, and putting yet another system into place (the new OC is last year's WR coach, so it's not that new, but still) might hold them back at times.  Potential for improvement exists (very little place to go but up) but there's still potential as well for this to be the conference's worst offense.

-- Defense

As has been the case for a while, BC's strongest unit on either side of the ball is their linebackers.  Two very productive linebackers return, and though the Eagles will have to replace Nick Clancy's 145 tackles and 10 pass breakups, the talent is more than available to do so.  Steele Divitto moves to the middle from the strong side, and Kevin Pierre-Louis moves from weak to strong.  Pierre-Louis is BC's entry on the preseason all-ACC team and made Phil Steele's preseason first team as well; he had 85 tackles, 4 TFL, and 2 sacks in an injury-shortened 2012 (and happened to be BC's sack leader as well.)  Divitto recorded 92 tackles as well, and led the team in snaps played last year with 1,052; he's proven exceedingly durable (particularly by BC's injury-riddled standards) by starting each of the last 24 games.  Filling in on the weak side is Steven Daniels, a well-regarded recruit in 2011 whose role increased heavily during his redshirt freshman season in 2012. Daniels is a product of the same Cincinnati high school that produced BC superstar Luke Kuechly; he is expected to step right in and be a top contributor as well.

The defensive line is another story.  Last year I wrote that "the Eagles badly lack a true pass rushing threat from the ends."  The team as a whole had had only 11 sacks in 2011.  That somehow got even worse; the Eagles managed just six sacks all season, the absolute worst number in the whole country.  Kasim Edebali is the top pass-rush threat, if you can call it that; he had 1.5 sacks in 2012, a 300% improvement from his half-a-sack in 2011.  There may be a boost coming from Kaleb Ramsey, who played only four games total in 2011 and 2012 due to injury and was granted a sixth year by the NCAA.  He played reasonably well for the Eagles in 2010 and ought to provide a boost for what was a pathetic pass rush.  Brian Mihalik provides the primary depth, though he's not a terrifying presence either.

In the middle, a four-man rotation looks likely, with Mehdi Abdesmad moving inside to make room for Ramsey.  Connor Wujciak was a top-250 recruit in his class and looks ready for a larger role after earning five starts last season.  Jaryd Rudolph and Dominic Appiah are listed as the backups for now but both also have some starting experience under their belts.

Pass defense was a strength of sorts last year, partly because the linebackers are very good in pass coverage but also because the back line is solid.  CB Manny Asprilla had a pair of picks last year, and Bryce Jones had some success as the nickel back, which in turn gave the Eagles confidence enough to move Sean Sylvia over to free safety.  Sylvia pairs up with Spenser Rositano (three INTs) to give the Eagles a good pairing in the defensive backfield.  If they had any pass-rush help this group might get some conference-wide recognition.

That said, until that pass-rush help shows up, BC can't fire on all cylinders on defense.  Their pass rush has me scrambling to the thesaurus for syllables for "pathetic" - I like "piteous," "deplorable," and "grotty" myself.  A grotty pass rush.  It really can't be worse than six total sacks this year.  The linebackers do a great job of cleaning up the mess from the D-line and the secondary really has potential, so if the Eagles can solidify themselves up front, the defense should be at least non-disastrous, perhaps even decent.

-- Special teams

PK Nate Freese had consistency issues in 2011 but got them mostly fixed in 2012, and should be dependable in this, his senior season.  The Eagles will be looking for a punter; the only one on the roster is sophomore Alex Howell (younger brother of former UVA punter Jimmy Howell), though Freese might also be called upon for that job.
-- Outlook

BC was really, really bad last year.  2-10 was a very apt record, and their Maryland win was by a mere three points.  It's not like they had a bunch of close losses that just happened to swing the wrong way.  This year's schedule offers only a modicum of relief; basically by not having Notre Dame on the OOC list, replacing them with 1-11 New Mexico State.  There should be improvements on both sides of the ball, if a healthy Andre Williams can give Chase Rettig some run-game help and if the D-line improves even a little.  Finding two ACC wins among Maryland, Wake, and Syracuse ought to be the goal; the rest of the ACC schedule is daunting.  If they can do that and hold serve in the OOC by beating Army, Villanova, and NMSU, that's five wins.  Where the sixth would come from would be a mystery; five seems like the cap and four seems just as likely.

game preview: Miami

Date/Time: October 30; 12:00 PM

TV: ESPN

History against the Hurricanes: 2-5

Last matchup: Miami 52, UVA 17; 11/7/09

Last week: UVA 48, EMU 21; Miami 33, UNC 10

Line: Miami by 15

Opposing blogs: The 7th Floor

Uniform combination: beats me, but for the first time this year it'll be something you've seen before unless the team takes the annoy-me-greatly route and wears white jerseys

You May Also Want To See, Because You Probably Won't On Saturday: Closing out the OB

Injury report:

OUT

WR Tim Smith
TE Joe Torchia

DOUBTFUL

CB Chris Broadnax

QUESTIONABLE

OT Landon Bradley

PROBABLE

CB Ras-I Dowling
RB Raynard Horne
WR Dontrelle Inman
OL Morgan Moses

Miami season preview here.

It'd be nice not to have this game right away after the Eastern game. There's something about a winning streak (or the chance to have one) that would've been appealing. Miami just out-talents UVA. But UVA is going to have to find a way to keep this one competitive. It's a biggish recruiting weekend with a number of visits of the official and unofficial variety taking place. From the information freely available, DE Horace Arkadie and WR Demetri Knowles will be in, along with two of the absolute most important targets, Demetrious Nicholson and Travis Hughes. Plus a number of current commits and a couple other names that are behind paywalls. Nicholson and Hughes alone would make this a big deal.

HOW WE CAN WIN

- Just be competitive and give the fans a reason not to leave. This game isn't even all about what goes in the win/loss column. Hughes and Nicholson are two of the biggest fish on that recruiting board, and this is the second-to-last home game of the year and possibly the last on real national TV. This team needs a major talent infusion, and making a competitive statement against Miami would go a long way toward that goal. That in itself would be a win. For the future. Think of the children.

- Step in front of things thrown by Jacory Harris. The most INT-prone quarterback UVA has yet seen this year comes to town this week. Harris is still a very dangerous quarterback, but he had a little bit of a wrong-color-jersey problem last year and he's shown so far that he hasn't fixed it. It's the one that that's really limiting him and the Miami offense. Further, Miami is the hardest team in the country against which to move the ball through the air. They have the lowest opposition QB rating, have intercepted 14 passes against three allowed touchdowns, and allow just 5.7 yards per pass play. You can't repeatedly sustain long scoring drives against a defense that stingy; you have to give yourself short fields. This is exactly the formula that Ohio State used to beat the Canes: pick off Harris, go 25 yards for the score instead of 75.

- Run the ball, run the ball, run the ball. It'll result in plenty of punts, but punting from 4th and 3 is a lot better than getting picked off. Punting is one area where UVA can match Miami step for step; the Canes' Matt Bosher is belting the ball this year, but so is Jimmy Howell, and their return game isn't much better than ours, either. The play-calling should favor the run so as to give Marc Verica very little opportunity to make a facepalm-inducing heave somewhere; when in doubt, run and don't pass. When it's 2nd or 3rd-and-short, just pick up the first down and don't do crazy things. When it's 3rd-and-too-damn-long, discretion is the better part of valor; better a run that gives a slight field-position boost than a high-risk pass. This is the sort of fraidy-cat playcalling that's usually pretty unpopular with the fans, but in this case there's a perfect storm brewing that has potential to leave at least three and possibly more Marc Verica interceptions in its wake. I'm OK this week with avoiding that.

HOW WE CAN LOSE

- Miami steps in front of things thrown by Marc Verica. As I've alluded to, Miami's amazing pass defense + Verica's penchant for interceptions = Bad. This is a scary matchup and I don't need to tell you what happens when Verica throws a lot of picks. It's bad for the scoreboard but even worse for the recruiting weekend.

- Fail to stop the run game. Which unfortunately has been the big problem. Miami already has an excellent set of receivers and a quarterback that runs hot and cold, but more hot. Let their running backs have a big day the way UVA couldn't stop the run against EMU and there won't be much in the way between Miami and a blowout.

- Do everything I say and get out-talented anyway. Frankly, Miami is the kind of good team and UVA is the kind of bad one where you can execute the game plan to perfection and still find yourself 14 points down at the end. The O-line is in flux and the defense is doing that thing where they make the ballcarrier look like an untippable sippy cup. It'll take more than just good execution to win. It'll take some mistakes from Miami.

HOW THE GAME WILL GO

The realistic best case is a close loss, but there's plenty of potential for something really embarrassing, too. Miami's defensive strength (the ability to shut down the pass and pick off opposing quarterbacks) matches up like a jigsaw piece with our major offensive weakness (Verica's frequent visits to Dumbinterceptionland), and that together matches up with the nightmare recruiting scenario: Verica pulled in the third quarter to a rousing chorus of boos from what remains of an angry crowd. If this happens I'm dropping every visitor at this game to red on the recruiting board.

But the saving grace here is that Miami hasn't been very impressive on the road. Harris' 4 picks against Ohio State, fighting off a spirited comeback attempt by Clemson, and a really blah offensive effort resulting in a 28-13 win at Duke. Only in the Pitt game did Miami really flash its dominance on the road. If they're capable of an even worse effort than the Duke one (though even then, they forced seven turnovers, five of which were interceptions) and if UVA comes out really fired up from start to finish.....well, these are big ifs. I don't usually give a score prediction, but I'll give one here to illustrate where on the spectrum between "moral victory" and "last year's 52-17 faceplant" we'll probably see here: Canes 38, UVA 17.

REST OF THE ACC

NC State 28, FSU 24 on Thursday (HA I am vindicated for keeping the Wolfies in my poll ballot)

Clemson @ Boston College, 12:00
Duke @ Navy, 3:30
Wake Forest @ Maryland, 3:30
North Carolina vs. William & Mary, 3:30

i guess i can't be angry

I sure was at halftime, and the 50-odd yarder that EMU busted off early in the second half didn't help my mood.

But it's against the rules to be mad at your team for winning 48-21. Just can't do it. After three weeks where nothing went right, watching the team break away and make some plays was refreshing. You're not going to believe me, and that's OK, but I swear I knew Terence Fells-Danzer was going to take that kickoff to the house about seven yards after he caught it. (I wish I could call it a product of vastly improved special teams, but a return like that has a lot more to do with how shitty EMU is.)

So it's Optimism Time, yay. Well, you are allowed to be a little bit concerned for the future even after a win, especially when the run defense is gashed time and time again. Credit where credit's due: if there's such a thing as halftime adjustments, they worked and the defense played up to expectations in the second half. But they're just too....I dunno....blockable, most of the time. I was re-watching the game to see if I could find anyone out of position on some of these long runs. Seems like a likely explanation, what with our OLBs all learning new positions. It didn't seem to be a problem. Tackling and shedding blocks was the problem. On a play that went for 13 yards and let EMU out from the shadow of their own end zone, Aaron Taliaferro was in prime position to make the tackle at the line, and totally whiffed. (Interestingly, on that play he was the outside linebacker.) On the long runs, the problem wasn't so much a lack of pursuit, as a lack of aggressive pursuit. Guys are letting themselves get chopped to the ground, and the line isn't being disruptive.

It's troubling, because these are mostly the same guys that allowed 5 yards per play last year, which was good for 30th in the country. 30th is pretty good for a 3-9 team. Now they're allowing almost a yard extra, good for 82nd. That's despite the presence of two of the country's most godawful teams on the schedule. The revival of the offense is why we might see more wins this year, despite the beating Marc Verica takes from the fans.

No change on the outlook for the rest of the season, really. I mean, did you expect one? Other than if we lost, I mean. A loss would have meant playing out the string to 2-10 in front of family and friends, about 1,500 of them each week. The win gives reporters something to talk about in that UVA can finally say they beat a I-A team.....whatever, EMU barely qualifies. And it means Miami will still smash our face, and then we can finally watch some competitive, winnable games, and no I still don't consider Maryland a "good team" even at 5-2, they're still beatable too.

Stuff that didn't fit:

- Hey, the fake punt again. That's a really cool-looking play, and it was even better to watch Ron English call timeout so he could get busy earning an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. He must've watched the tape from USC and then forgotten about the aftermath. I don't mind using it against Eastern Michigan, no. I don't think it's a waste of a play, I think it's the coaches looking at the tape, checking out how EMU plays punts, and deciding they're ripe for the fake. They'll keep doing it if teams keep sending the house like that.

- Perry Jones looks decent, but Keith Payne ought to be the feature back.

- Special teams were all-around excellent. Besides earning a QB rating of 900.4, Jimmy Howell had an excellent day punting, averaging 44.3 yards with two inside the 20, zero touchbacks, and only one return for just four yards. The punt team had a banner day.

- Don't forget to take a look at my poll ballot, below. Because, let the record show that that was submitted before the BCS copycats also put Auburn on top of their poll.

it's hard to get angry at a bad team

Toward the end there, I was really starting to want that game. Obviously, you want the win; as a bonus, it would have knocked Boston College mathematically out of the ACCCG, which, sorry BC fans, but a third straight BC trip to that game would be awful for the conference. So there was a nice double whammy going, and damn if it didn't look like it was going to happen for a while there.

Then, of course, reality sank in, and here we are. And it didn't even suck too bad. Which, is that a bad thing in itself? If we were in contention for anything - anything at all - I'd have spent this whole day and probably most of the rest of the week brooding over the myriad single plays that could have swung the game the other way. If Randolph hadn't missed a field goal; if Vic Hall (of all people!) hadn't dropped a pair of passes on the same series; if we hadn't let BC out of a first-and-25 on their scoring drive; and most obviously, if Sewell could have picked up just six more inches. This is the stuff I'd have been brooding about all day. Instead I played a bunch of Civ and watched stock cars go round and round. I've come to the placid acceptance that the season is a wash. That combined with the beginning of basketball season and the happy glow from a surprise ACC soccer championship would seem to be therapeutic.

(The soccer would be a million times more exciting to me if they would ever televise a soccer game, ever. You'd think that's what ESPNU is for, but no, they'd rather broadcast "Inside the Big East" and replays of random shitty MAC games from the previous Tuesday. As it is the best I can do is nod happily.)

Anyway, this newfound numbness over losing is all well and good, as long as it's short-term and followed by a "change in the program's direction" in the offseason. You might remember I once opined that Al Groh's greatest contribution to the program has been to keep our expectations high. He might not always have met them, but he's done more than well enough to keep us wanting more. This is healthy. The last thing we want is to go the way of North Carolina, post-Mack Brown. Carl Torbush came in and let things slide, and people there lowered their expectations and stopped really caring, and it got to the point where six years of John Bunting seemed perfectly acceptable even as he flushed the football team down the crapper. I am hoping that expectations next August do not match those for next week.

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- BC fans ought to be furious this week. Livid. Here they are trying to stay alive for an ACC championship and their coaches came thisclose to pissing it away. I don't know who was calling the defense on our final almost-scoring drive, whether it was Spaziani or DC Bill McGovern, but they need first to be slapped and after that to learn how to scout the opposition. You are up against the second-worst offense in the entire country - worse than all the shitty Eastern Michigans, Washington States, New Mexicos, Ball States, and all the rest - and you have given up three points to that offense all day, and just because there are only two short minutes left in the game, that is the time to switch to a soft prevent zone? We haven't moved the ball like that all year because teams insist on never playing zone against us. Imagine that. It turned out OK for BC in the end, but it damn near didn't, and it would have been the Bad Decision of the Year for the Eagles. Hint to all future opposing defenses: Never ever deviate from man coverage and we will not score any touchdowns.

- Let's just agree to not play any running backs this season except for Rashawn Jackson.

- Special teams at the beginning of the season were just sort of crummy in a really boring way. Randolph has been near-automatic this year, which is nice, and Howell's a decent punter, but the return and coverage units were just wandering about in the wilderness. Somehow the special teams have made huge improvements and at the same time, regressed horribly. Now we block punts for touchdowns, return punts for touchdowns, and don't kick the ball out of bounds any more. It looks great. At the same time, we negate our TDs with the world's stupidest penalties and rough the punter on 4th-and-22. I don't know whether to give Ron Prince major-league credit for coming up with innovative punt rushes and improving the return blocking as the season goes, or rip him a new one for neglecting to coach his guys not to block in the back and dialing up all-out bumrushes on 4th-and-22.

- Putting us on national TV next week seems like a really nutty idea, but keep in mind: it's all about Clemson. They win, they set up a rematch with Georgia Tech in Tampa. Prepare yourself for the C.J. Spiller Heisman campaign as brought to you by ESPN, and for the announcers to be not entirely sure which team he's playing against. Besides, once you get past the ESPN2 game (BC-UNC) the next three games are disasters. I want to know where I can get the three-way parlay on TFSU, Miami, and Poly to each win by three touchdowns.

- It's basketball season, and Tony Bennett is 1-0.

RIP Kevin Bradley

Sad news for the program today as former Wahoo fullback Kevin Bradley was found dead of a gunshot wound. Bradley was a little-used player, except on special teams and in the Music City Bowl in 2005, but he was only a sophomore and might have made an impact in '06 and '07 had he not left the team. According to his mother he had some medical issues, which probably led to his behavior issues, which definitely led to suspension issues, and it's all probably related to all this today, which I say in the least speculative way I can. Our prayers for the family.


OK.....the news. I said I'd have a recruiting list update, but I don't. There isn't any news, really. Oh, sure: various players are setting up official visits and even naming them, it's that time of year. But nobody's committed anywhere in the last week, nobody's named any top fives or anything like that. Even in the stalkeresque obssessive world of recruiting, everyone's got a line, and mine's located somewhere in the neighborhood of caring that somebody's visiting another school 700 miles away, which I don't. I will note, however, that Rex Burkhead and Arthur Fontaine are pretty close to being taken off the list. Fontaine is talking Georgia Bulldogs in the kind of tone that should make a Georgia fan pretty happy, and will probably commit around the time he next visits Athens, which will be soon. (So much for the line.) Burkhead is from Texas, where we don't do so hot, and has loads of offers and will be narrowing the list pretty soon, and what he's saying is that he likes the schools he's visited, and he has not visited Charlottesville. I don't see this one happening.


Along the lines of yesterday, more notes, again of the not-as-fluffy variety:

- Groh didn't know Brett Favre was traded. (OK, that one is pretty useless.)

- Jimmy Howell is likely to be the punter. (CDP, above.) I'm expecting Howell to be pretty good, so this is good news. Ryan Weigand gave us some good work from back there, but I'm still squeamish about the punter position. Lingering bad memories from a Florida State game a few years back where we lost when Florida State started a bunch of drives already in field goal range because Tom Hagan literally could not kick a football more than 30 yards. So I'm pretty convinced of the importance of having a decent punter.

- Quarterback J.C Poma will join the walk-ons as soon as NCAA rules let him. (CDP, above.) Pre-beginning-of-fall-classes roster limits are the reason he's not there now.

- The kicking job is wide open. Chris Hinkebein impressed nobody in the spring, so the job is anyone's to win between Hinkebein, Rob Randolph, Yannick Reyering, and just about anyone else who wants it. If your grandma walked on, they'd walk her out to the 25 yard line and have her give it a shot. (Mine, no. She's a wonderful spry old lady, but her plant foot had polio once upon a time, so she'd have to take a medical redshirt.)

- Sean Gottschalk is bigger. How exciting.

- The soccer team has some transfers coming in. (RT above.) Yeah, we do the "other" football here too, every once in a while. Both are defenders; Matt Weiler joins us from Kentucky and Jordan Evans transfers from Richmond. Both are most-of-the-time starters on bad soccer teams. (Richmond scored 7 goals in 19 games, which is awful even by soccer's low-scoring standards, and Evans had one of them.) Beyond that I have no idea how good these guys are. I don't even really know what makes a good soccer player. Those of you who care about this news will probably know more than I and should probably educate me. Those of you who don't care, also don't care about this news, so I'm off the hook with that crowd.