Boston College Athletics
W2WF: I'm On My Way...Home Sweet Home
September 23, 2016 | Football, #ForBoston Files
BC returns home looking to take out frustrations on Wagner
There's always something about coming home.
Players get to sleep the night before the game in their own bed. They get to wake up, attend pregame Mass (this week in St. Mary's), and walk through O'Neill Plaza down the Higgins Staircase into the Yawkey Center and Alumni Stadium. They'll get to dress in their own locker and run out of their own tunnel. They'll play on their field.
Every football game, regardless of opponent, matters. There's only so many times to put on the jersey and break through the banner. For the players who chose to attend Boston College, they now have the chance to do it in their own home stadium.
That's what matters the most as Saturday's football game with Wagner dawns. The three-week odyssey that took them to Dublin to Foxboro to Blacksburg now brings them back to Boston and Chestnut Hill.
That said, there's plenty to digest as the game draws near. Let's try to do just that. This week, let's get some help from one of the most notorious and baddest of the bad boys - Motley Crue.
BC enters this week as one of only two schools in the entire football subdivision yet to play a home game in their own stadium. Of the three games they've played, two were conference games, including last week's defeat at Virginia Tech (widely regarded as one of the toughest places to play).
Let's try to put that into perspective: There are 124 schools in 10 conferences in the football bowl subdivision. Four additional institutions play without a league affiliation. Of the 127 schools not named Boston College, only Texas State in the Sun Belt Conference has not played a home game. That's 1.6 percent of all FBS schools. In contrast, over half of the Big Ten (including the entire West Division) hasn't played a road game.
At some point, that travel wears on a team. Sure, the Eagles were able to sleep in their own beds for the UMass game, but they still had to board buses and travel to dress in an unfamiliar locker room. They played the first game in Dublin. Last week was at one of the toughest places to play in all of college football.
"We've played some tough games to open the season," said head coach Steve Addazio earlier this week. "We opened up in Ireland against Georgia Tech. That was a tough game, a tough opener. I thought we played very, very well. I thought we played well offensively, and I thought we saw a real growth in our throw game. That was against an ACC opponent.
"Then we played on the road against UMass," he continued, "who was pretty athletic, and it was like the Super Bowl for them. I thought we showed signs of our passing game developing even more, and there was real signs of good things.
"To go down (against Virginia Tech), I just think we got behind a little bit here, got out of sync. I think the young guys in that environment got a little flustered, and it led to what it led to."
I'm not blind to this week's dynamic. Wagner is out of the Northeast Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). FCS schools aren't the most attractive opponent for fans and historically serve as FBS cannon fodder. Since 2007, Power Five schools are 59-26 against FCS teams.
BC in particular is 24-1 against teams from FCS/Division I-AA. It lost its first game after the NCAA split the divisions in 1978, a shutout loss to Massachusetts. Since then, BC is undefeated. In the Eagles' last six meetings, they've outscored opponents by a 210-point margin (240-30).
That doesn't mean, however, that this is a game to be taken lightly and ignored. Already this year, five FCS teams beat Power Five teams, including one over an ACC team (Richmond over Virginia) and one (North Dakota State) over a team ranked in the top 15 (Iowa).
Playing at home should be and is a big deal. For Boston College, the long and winding road is leading them right back to where it all began at Alumni Stadium. Regardless of the opponent, it's something all players look forward to.
This song is 100 percent pure adrenaline from start to finish. From Mick Mars' opening riff to the nonstop power to Vince Neil's iconic voice to Tommy Lee keeping the tempo going with some of his best drumming, it's one of those songs that's incredible.
This is a golden opportunity for the Eagles to start getting their legs back under them after last week's gut punch. BC's offense mustered only 124 yards. They ran only 57 plays, 20 less than the Hokies. Field position exasperated all of that, with four of Virginia Tech's six punts landing inside the Eagles' 20 yard line.
The defense gave up 476 yards and failed to get off the field on half the third downs they faced (Virginia Tech was 7-14). The Hokies averaged 6.2 yards per play, and as a team, BC gave up nearly 40 more yards on penalties, committing 12 for 93 yards compared to the hosts' seven flags for 55. Those are the numbers, and there's no running from it. The longer the game wore on, the more BC wore out, resulting in Virginia Tech's 21 third-quarter points and 11 minutes of fourth-quarter possession.
"It's a fact that the defense was on the field too long," said Addazio, "and (Virginia Tech) made some big plays early. We couldn't flip the field. We still played great run defense, we really did. But by the time we got down to the fourth quarter, the defense had been on the field too long, plain and simple."
Three games into the season, there's still plenty of time to turn that around. It started this week in practice, where the team returned with gusto. "You take a game like that, sometimes you learn what you can from it, you realize what happened, (and) you move on from it," said Addazio. "You move on. There's just too much football ahead, and I saw too many good things against good opponents early.
BC already said it would get back to basics in this game, so expect simplified schemes and play calling. In place of zone blocks or scheme type runs, expect something more straightforward - man-on-man blocking, moving the granite, and powering forward. Expect straight pass blocking and easier, simpler routes for receivers to run.
Against UMass, graduated quarterback Patrick Towles connected with sophomore wide receiver Jeff Smith with a simple post route. After breaking away from the defender, Smith ran straight for the end zone. The pass blocking stood up, held the rush up, and gave Towles time to step into a bomb. Smith caught it, then went back and did exactly the same thing.
Against Georgia Tech, redshirt sophomore running back Jon Hilliman broke off a run by watching the blocks develop, looking for a hole, and hitting the accelerator. It was straightforward, and it was nothing special. Expect more of that entering Saturday's game with Wagner as they go "back to basics" in their progression.
Primal Scream is one of the more underrated songs in the Crue's catalog. I've always felt the opening - which starts with Tommy Lee's drumming and introduces Mick's slightly darker riff - sets an angrier tone than other songs. The lyrics talk from the first person, as Vince talks about being kicked when he was down when he was younger. Now that he's older, he's ready to let the primal scream out.
Three games into the season, Boston College is still inexperienced as a team. The Eagles are still developing on the offensive line, and they're still developing with a new quarterback under a new offensive coordinator. The goal has always been to continue getting better, and as the season enters its second quarter, the development should start to really gel. They'll get kicked around a little bit (like last weekend), but eventually, they'll stop it by sheer determination and grit. Summed up nicely in the words of noted philosopher Popeye, "That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more."
At some point, it will happen.
Think back to 2013: Seven games into that season, BC was 3-4 with blowout losses to Southern Cal and North Carolina. The Eagles promptly won four in a row to become bowl eligible. If not for a comeback win by Syracuse in the season finale, BC would've finished the year 8-4.
In 2010, BC ws 2-5 after a loss to Maryland before rattling off five straight to finish the year bowl eligible at 7-5.
Those are just two examples of a team that came together and gelled. It takes time, especially for a building program with a number of young players who have barely played together in a system. When it does, the seeds of that success will be traced back to when a 49-0 loss knocked them down. There's plenty of football left to play, and it begins on Saturday with Wagner.
Players get to sleep the night before the game in their own bed. They get to wake up, attend pregame Mass (this week in St. Mary's), and walk through O'Neill Plaza down the Higgins Staircase into the Yawkey Center and Alumni Stadium. They'll get to dress in their own locker and run out of their own tunnel. They'll play on their field.
Every football game, regardless of opponent, matters. There's only so many times to put on the jersey and break through the banner. For the players who chose to attend Boston College, they now have the chance to do it in their own home stadium.
That's what matters the most as Saturday's football game with Wagner dawns. The three-week odyssey that took them to Dublin to Foxboro to Blacksburg now brings them back to Boston and Chestnut Hill.
That said, there's plenty to digest as the game draws near. Let's try to do just that. This week, let's get some help from one of the most notorious and baddest of the bad boys - Motley Crue.
BC enters this week as one of only two schools in the entire football subdivision yet to play a home game in their own stadium. Of the three games they've played, two were conference games, including last week's defeat at Virginia Tech (widely regarded as one of the toughest places to play).
Let's try to put that into perspective: There are 124 schools in 10 conferences in the football bowl subdivision. Four additional institutions play without a league affiliation. Of the 127 schools not named Boston College, only Texas State in the Sun Belt Conference has not played a home game. That's 1.6 percent of all FBS schools. In contrast, over half of the Big Ten (including the entire West Division) hasn't played a road game.
At some point, that travel wears on a team. Sure, the Eagles were able to sleep in their own beds for the UMass game, but they still had to board buses and travel to dress in an unfamiliar locker room. They played the first game in Dublin. Last week was at one of the toughest places to play in all of college football.
"We've played some tough games to open the season," said head coach Steve Addazio earlier this week. "We opened up in Ireland against Georgia Tech. That was a tough game, a tough opener. I thought we played very, very well. I thought we played well offensively, and I thought we saw a real growth in our throw game. That was against an ACC opponent.
"Then we played on the road against UMass," he continued, "who was pretty athletic, and it was like the Super Bowl for them. I thought we showed signs of our passing game developing even more, and there was real signs of good things.
"To go down (against Virginia Tech), I just think we got behind a little bit here, got out of sync. I think the young guys in that environment got a little flustered, and it led to what it led to."
I'm not blind to this week's dynamic. Wagner is out of the Northeast Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). FCS schools aren't the most attractive opponent for fans and historically serve as FBS cannon fodder. Since 2007, Power Five schools are 59-26 against FCS teams.
BC in particular is 24-1 against teams from FCS/Division I-AA. It lost its first game after the NCAA split the divisions in 1978, a shutout loss to Massachusetts. Since then, BC is undefeated. In the Eagles' last six meetings, they've outscored opponents by a 210-point margin (240-30).
That doesn't mean, however, that this is a game to be taken lightly and ignored. Already this year, five FCS teams beat Power Five teams, including one over an ACC team (Richmond over Virginia) and one (North Dakota State) over a team ranked in the top 15 (Iowa).
Playing at home should be and is a big deal. For Boston College, the long and winding road is leading them right back to where it all began at Alumni Stadium. Regardless of the opponent, it's something all players look forward to.
This song is 100 percent pure adrenaline from start to finish. From Mick Mars' opening riff to the nonstop power to Vince Neil's iconic voice to Tommy Lee keeping the tempo going with some of his best drumming, it's one of those songs that's incredible.
This is a golden opportunity for the Eagles to start getting their legs back under them after last week's gut punch. BC's offense mustered only 124 yards. They ran only 57 plays, 20 less than the Hokies. Field position exasperated all of that, with four of Virginia Tech's six punts landing inside the Eagles' 20 yard line.
The defense gave up 476 yards and failed to get off the field on half the third downs they faced (Virginia Tech was 7-14). The Hokies averaged 6.2 yards per play, and as a team, BC gave up nearly 40 more yards on penalties, committing 12 for 93 yards compared to the hosts' seven flags for 55. Those are the numbers, and there's no running from it. The longer the game wore on, the more BC wore out, resulting in Virginia Tech's 21 third-quarter points and 11 minutes of fourth-quarter possession.
"It's a fact that the defense was on the field too long," said Addazio, "and (Virginia Tech) made some big plays early. We couldn't flip the field. We still played great run defense, we really did. But by the time we got down to the fourth quarter, the defense had been on the field too long, plain and simple."
Three games into the season, there's still plenty of time to turn that around. It started this week in practice, where the team returned with gusto. "You take a game like that, sometimes you learn what you can from it, you realize what happened, (and) you move on from it," said Addazio. "You move on. There's just too much football ahead, and I saw too many good things against good opponents early.
BC already said it would get back to basics in this game, so expect simplified schemes and play calling. In place of zone blocks or scheme type runs, expect something more straightforward - man-on-man blocking, moving the granite, and powering forward. Expect straight pass blocking and easier, simpler routes for receivers to run.
Against UMass, graduated quarterback Patrick Towles connected with sophomore wide receiver Jeff Smith with a simple post route. After breaking away from the defender, Smith ran straight for the end zone. The pass blocking stood up, held the rush up, and gave Towles time to step into a bomb. Smith caught it, then went back and did exactly the same thing.
Against Georgia Tech, redshirt sophomore running back Jon Hilliman broke off a run by watching the blocks develop, looking for a hole, and hitting the accelerator. It was straightforward, and it was nothing special. Expect more of that entering Saturday's game with Wagner as they go "back to basics" in their progression.
Primal Scream is one of the more underrated songs in the Crue's catalog. I've always felt the opening - which starts with Tommy Lee's drumming and introduces Mick's slightly darker riff - sets an angrier tone than other songs. The lyrics talk from the first person, as Vince talks about being kicked when he was down when he was younger. Now that he's older, he's ready to let the primal scream out.
Three games into the season, Boston College is still inexperienced as a team. The Eagles are still developing on the offensive line, and they're still developing with a new quarterback under a new offensive coordinator. The goal has always been to continue getting better, and as the season enters its second quarter, the development should start to really gel. They'll get kicked around a little bit (like last weekend), but eventually, they'll stop it by sheer determination and grit. Summed up nicely in the words of noted philosopher Popeye, "That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more."
At some point, it will happen.
Think back to 2013: Seven games into that season, BC was 3-4 with blowout losses to Southern Cal and North Carolina. The Eagles promptly won four in a row to become bowl eligible. If not for a comeback win by Syracuse in the season finale, BC would've finished the year 8-4.
In 2010, BC ws 2-5 after a loss to Maryland before rattling off five straight to finish the year bowl eligible at 7-5.
Those are just two examples of a team that came together and gelled. It takes time, especially for a building program with a number of young players who have barely played together in a system. When it does, the seeds of that success will be traced back to when a 49-0 loss knocked them down. There's plenty of football left to play, and it begins on Saturday with Wagner.
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