Boston College Athletics
Photo by: John Quackenbos
W2WF: Return of the MAC
September 30, 2016 | Football, #ForBoston Files
The name's Eagles...Boston College Eagles
There was once a time when the Mid-American Conference was a mid-major staple on the Boston College football schedule. Over a span of nine straight seasons starting in 2002, the Eagles played a game against someone from the league.
But in 2010, scheduling the conference went idle before reigniting in 2014 with a game against Massachusetts. After beating Northern Illinois last year, the Buffalo Bulls are on the 2016 schedule, coming to Boston College on Saturday in what is a bit of irony; the Buffalo Bills are in town as well, setting up to play the New England Patriots on Sunday.
The MAC provides a solid Group of Five conference from which to schedule. The top of the conference historically is known as being able to compete among elite teams, something NIU did successfully in 2012 when they qualified for a Bowl Championship Series game. It's a good test and a logical step up for the Eagles after last week's FCS game against Wagner.
Buffalo enters this week coming off of an upset, 23-20 overtime victory over the Army Black Knights. It was a tangible step forward for the Bulls, who came within a game of bowl eligibility last year. It was also a watershed moment and a confidence builder.
"They've got a little confidence and a little momentum going with that win last week," said Boston College head coach Steve Addazio, "so they'll come in here and it'll be another good challenge for us to continue to play better and to grow and to get more experience - play hard and challenge ourselves with as high a level of execution that we can play at."
***
Three Things To Watch (James Bond Theme Song Edition)
Thunderball - Boston College is a power football program that is still looking to establish the running game. It got its legs under it last week a little bit, but the statistics inflated because it was against an FCS team.
Buffalo's given up at least 100 yards on the ground in all three games they've played. That included 231 yards against Nevada and 396 against Army. To be fair, Army is a triple option offense that the ball 67 times on the ground, but it proves there's some susceptibility if the offensive line can get snapping off the line against the Bulls.
"I believe we're improved from a year ago up front," said Addazio on the ACC coaches' teleconference, "but we're still kind of young, and young linemen don't play consistently. They make mental mistakes; their fundamentals break down. But I think we're really improving, and I know we'll continue to because I like the ability level of the guys we're playing with. It just takes a little bit of time, so I would say that we're really hammering away with it, and we're getting better each week. I think that'll bear out in the film."
You Know My Name (Casino Royale) - Daniel Craig is completely underrated as a Bond. He was handed the franchise to reboot, and he made it a completely different type of film. It was a welcome, refreshing change from the way the Pierce Brosnan era ended (Die Another Day ranks among my least favorite Bond flicks), and it reintroduced us to 007.
This is a game primed to reintroduce BC fans to redshirt sophomore Jon Hilliman. Given the likelihood of rainy weather and the Eagles willingness to pound the rock, Hilliman's going to get his fair share of touches. If the offensive line takes a step forward, it could be his time to step back into the spotlight and let everyone know that he's still a force to be reckoned with.
"(Having a healthy Hilliman) helps a lot," said Addazio, "plus we have Davon Jones and Myles Willis and Tyler Rouse and Richard Wilson. We've got a good stable of backs. They've all played a fair amount of football here. Davon, Rich, and John are big backs, and that goes part and parcel with the style of runs that we like to run."
Nobody Does It Better (The Spy Who Loved Me)Â - For the record, I don't like this song. But the title works for what I'm trying to get across, which is too bad for Goldfinger and Goldeneye.
Save for what feels like a broken play per game, the BC defense is exactly where it left off. They enter this week ranked 36th in the nation in scoring defense, a number that includes a bad 49-0 loss. They're the 14th best rushing defense in the nation, something that doesn't bode well for a Buffalo team that's been run-heavy to start the year. The Bulls average 181 yards on the ground but just 161 yards in the air. That plays right into the strength of the BC defense.
"On both sides of the ball, we tried to do too much with our team on the road in game three," said Addazio earlier this week. "So we kept it really simple on defense (against Wagner). We want to play fast physical with fundamentals. At the end of the day, there's 107 yards and I thought we played really strong once again. That's three out of four games that we've had dominating performances on defense, and the one that we didn't, there was a lot to that one."
Considering the weather forecast, this is going to be a game built from the ground up, which favors the Eagles.
***
Meteorology 101
There's something about playing Buffalo that brings out the worst in Mother Nature. 10 years ago, the Bulls last came to Chestnut Hill, their first game against BC since the Nixon Administration. Playing without Matt Ryan and with a monsoon, the Eagles notched notched 349 yards, including 207 on the ground, in a 41-0 blowout win.
Saturday isn't quite calling for torrential downpourds, but it's going to be wet and raw with occasional rain showers dotting temperatures in the 50s. Remember when we had 80 degree temperatures virtually last week?
***
Scoreboard Watching
BC's next opponent is a lot like Apollo Creed in that they need no introduction anywhere in the civilized world.
Clemson hosts Louisville in a Super Bowl-type matchup in the ACC Atlantic Division. After watching the BC-Buffalo game early in the afternoon, you'll have plenty of time to dry off, warm up, put on that Crockpot chili, and settle in to watch the #5 Tigers look to reassert their conference dominance against the #3 Cardinals. That's an 8 PM start, and it's must watch theater... at least until Friday night when Clemson comes here.
***
Bottom Line
I'm really excited to see where this game goes. From a pure football perspective, this is a step up, a better challenge after last week to get the ground game going. At the same time, it's a good chance to make sure the throw game keeps its legs under it. At some point, they'll hopefully be able to work the team under different conditions, whether it's bad weather or in-game decision making, something that they did against Wagner when they ran an up-tempo style for a drive or two.
Earlier this week, Coach Addazio said that a team that plays too vanilla eventually has it catch up with them. He's stressed the need to continue building, climbing the ladder and making sure that the team doesn't go up and down to the extremes. This week, BC gets a chance to take the next step on that reboot against a veteran team from a good conference.
But in 2010, scheduling the conference went idle before reigniting in 2014 with a game against Massachusetts. After beating Northern Illinois last year, the Buffalo Bulls are on the 2016 schedule, coming to Boston College on Saturday in what is a bit of irony; the Buffalo Bills are in town as well, setting up to play the New England Patriots on Sunday.
The MAC provides a solid Group of Five conference from which to schedule. The top of the conference historically is known as being able to compete among elite teams, something NIU did successfully in 2012 when they qualified for a Bowl Championship Series game. It's a good test and a logical step up for the Eagles after last week's FCS game against Wagner.
Buffalo enters this week coming off of an upset, 23-20 overtime victory over the Army Black Knights. It was a tangible step forward for the Bulls, who came within a game of bowl eligibility last year. It was also a watershed moment and a confidence builder.
"They've got a little confidence and a little momentum going with that win last week," said Boston College head coach Steve Addazio, "so they'll come in here and it'll be another good challenge for us to continue to play better and to grow and to get more experience - play hard and challenge ourselves with as high a level of execution that we can play at."
***
Three Things To Watch (James Bond Theme Song Edition)
Thunderball - Boston College is a power football program that is still looking to establish the running game. It got its legs under it last week a little bit, but the statistics inflated because it was against an FCS team.
Buffalo's given up at least 100 yards on the ground in all three games they've played. That included 231 yards against Nevada and 396 against Army. To be fair, Army is a triple option offense that the ball 67 times on the ground, but it proves there's some susceptibility if the offensive line can get snapping off the line against the Bulls.
"I believe we're improved from a year ago up front," said Addazio on the ACC coaches' teleconference, "but we're still kind of young, and young linemen don't play consistently. They make mental mistakes; their fundamentals break down. But I think we're really improving, and I know we'll continue to because I like the ability level of the guys we're playing with. It just takes a little bit of time, so I would say that we're really hammering away with it, and we're getting better each week. I think that'll bear out in the film."
You Know My Name (Casino Royale) - Daniel Craig is completely underrated as a Bond. He was handed the franchise to reboot, and he made it a completely different type of film. It was a welcome, refreshing change from the way the Pierce Brosnan era ended (Die Another Day ranks among my least favorite Bond flicks), and it reintroduced us to 007.
This is a game primed to reintroduce BC fans to redshirt sophomore Jon Hilliman. Given the likelihood of rainy weather and the Eagles willingness to pound the rock, Hilliman's going to get his fair share of touches. If the offensive line takes a step forward, it could be his time to step back into the spotlight and let everyone know that he's still a force to be reckoned with.
"(Having a healthy Hilliman) helps a lot," said Addazio, "plus we have Davon Jones and Myles Willis and Tyler Rouse and Richard Wilson. We've got a good stable of backs. They've all played a fair amount of football here. Davon, Rich, and John are big backs, and that goes part and parcel with the style of runs that we like to run."
Nobody Does It Better (The Spy Who Loved Me)Â - For the record, I don't like this song. But the title works for what I'm trying to get across, which is too bad for Goldfinger and Goldeneye.
Save for what feels like a broken play per game, the BC defense is exactly where it left off. They enter this week ranked 36th in the nation in scoring defense, a number that includes a bad 49-0 loss. They're the 14th best rushing defense in the nation, something that doesn't bode well for a Buffalo team that's been run-heavy to start the year. The Bulls average 181 yards on the ground but just 161 yards in the air. That plays right into the strength of the BC defense.
"On both sides of the ball, we tried to do too much with our team on the road in game three," said Addazio earlier this week. "So we kept it really simple on defense (against Wagner). We want to play fast physical with fundamentals. At the end of the day, there's 107 yards and I thought we played really strong once again. That's three out of four games that we've had dominating performances on defense, and the one that we didn't, there was a lot to that one."
Considering the weather forecast, this is going to be a game built from the ground up, which favors the Eagles.
***
Meteorology 101
There's something about playing Buffalo that brings out the worst in Mother Nature. 10 years ago, the Bulls last came to Chestnut Hill, their first game against BC since the Nixon Administration. Playing without Matt Ryan and with a monsoon, the Eagles notched notched 349 yards, including 207 on the ground, in a 41-0 blowout win.
Saturday isn't quite calling for torrential downpourds, but it's going to be wet and raw with occasional rain showers dotting temperatures in the 50s. Remember when we had 80 degree temperatures virtually last week?
***
Scoreboard Watching
BC's next opponent is a lot like Apollo Creed in that they need no introduction anywhere in the civilized world.
Clemson hosts Louisville in a Super Bowl-type matchup in the ACC Atlantic Division. After watching the BC-Buffalo game early in the afternoon, you'll have plenty of time to dry off, warm up, put on that Crockpot chili, and settle in to watch the #5 Tigers look to reassert their conference dominance against the #3 Cardinals. That's an 8 PM start, and it's must watch theater... at least until Friday night when Clemson comes here.
***
Bottom Line
I'm really excited to see where this game goes. From a pure football perspective, this is a step up, a better challenge after last week to get the ground game going. At the same time, it's a good chance to make sure the throw game keeps its legs under it. At some point, they'll hopefully be able to work the team under different conditions, whether it's bad weather or in-game decision making, something that they did against Wagner when they ran an up-tempo style for a drive or two.
Earlier this week, Coach Addazio said that a team that plays too vanilla eventually has it catch up with them. He's stressed the need to continue building, climbing the ladder and making sure that the team doesn't go up and down to the extremes. This week, BC gets a chance to take the next step on that reboot against a veteran team from a good conference.
Players Mentioned
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