The Tailgate: Pittsburgh

Joe Marinaro is the last of a dying breed.

The high school running back from the Minneapolis suburbs wasn't expected to secure a future at the bowl subdivision's highest level, but his bloodline as the son and nephew of former Division I football players offered him an internal pathway towards achieving his most far-fetched goals. Being a Boston College legacy kept him in line with potentially arriving in Chestnut Hill at a school with the academic background for a high school validation, but it never meant he would run out of the Alumni Stadium tunnel once, let alone for four years.

Even with scant opportunities, Marinaro excelled at Boston College because of an unrelenting motor and undying commitment to the team. Offering even a sacrilegious comparison, he is something of a real-life Rudy for the BC program because his work earned him recognition within the program over his first few years. Four years after he first redshirted as a walk-on, head coach Bill O'Brien awarded him a full scholarship for his final year with the Eagles.

Few stories in college football matched his perseverance and workmanship, but his blue-collar dedication to a football team is slowly exiting college football after a NCAA ruling capped roster sizes at 105 players. The number of scholarship players increased dramatically, but days of discussing walk-on heroes is starting to find an end stage horizon as the sport grows higher and higher profile.

"It's going to be harder and harder to have guys like Joe Marinaro, who, in my opinion, are heart and soul guys," said O'Brien during his weekly press availability. "Joe Marinaro is what college football is all about. For him to go out there and do what he did in the last, [with an] injury, playing hurt, just a tremendous effort. But because of the 105-rule, there are going to be less chances and less opportunities for those guys."

Walk-on players are similar to undrafted free agents in their ability to freely latch onto programs where they aren't tied to scholarships, and several, including former quarterbacks John Fadule and Dennis Grosel, own special status in the BC program for their ability to take advantage of the team's depth chart. Doug Flutie infamously started as a seventh-string quarterback for the only team to offer him a scholarship, so anybody toiling deep into the third string and scout team periods in practice are revered in Chestnut Hill.

Limiting the number of players cuts opportunities for those players while simultaneously created shallower depth charts for injury-addled teams. Adding scholarships helps deepen the talent level on teams seeking to build their roster through recruiting and the transfer portal, which is a very good thing, but losing walk-on stories removes one of those aspects of college football that's wholly for players who banked on themselves.

"Some of the veteran coaches in this profession, walk-ons mean a lot to our program," said O'Brien. "They help us practice. There's a big difference between having 120 guys on your team and having 105, and the biggest thing is that those kids lose out. They pay to go to school, so why can't they walk on the football team? It makes no sense to me, and that's why I'm happy when guys like Joe Marinaro [succeed]."

Like the rest of the senior class, Marinaro runs out of the Alumni Stadium tunnel for the final time on Saturday afternoon. The former walk-on awarded a scholarship for his dedication to the team is one of those heart-and-soul players that will receive the cheers and claps from the pregame crowd. He'll hug his parents and his coaches before taking a picture and returning to the tunnel for one last run-out with a story deeply embedded in the bleachers and turf surrounding his final home game.

Here's what to watch when BC hosts Pitt on Saturday afternoon:

****
Game Storylines (Bull Durham Edition)

Crash: He's throwing a two-hit shutout. He's shaking me off. You believe that? (turns to hitter) Charlie, here comes the deuce. And when you speak of me, speak well.

Last week's win over North Carolina slammed the door on the quarterback conversation and fully transitioned BC into the Grayson James Era after the newly-installed starter beat the Tar Heels with 192 yards passing, another 38 rushing and two total touchdowns. His memorable block placed him between a would-be tackler and BC's double-reverse touchdown run, and his rallying point enabled a 34-point lead before two late scores tightened UNC's final rally.

"He got in the way," said O'Brien of James' block. "I wouldn't call it a block, but he definitely does a good job. He did a really good job on that play and was able to shield the defender."

O'Brien quickly pointed out the commonalities between James and former quarterback Thomas Castellanos, but those shared values within the quarterback room illustrated the growth within BC's game over the course of the season. Maybe James found some type of notoriety in getting out in front of a linebacker, but the ability to find 11 players working as one unit helped the Eagles build their leads through those October losses.

Finding consistency is a bigger part of BC's success over the past couple of weeks. Pounding the rock through defensive teeth is a bigger piece of the team's strategy than many people realize, but Kye Robichaux's per-rush average stands among the full exhibits towards BC's win. Consider that in September, he scored two touchdowns while running 202 yards on 4.1 yards per rush. In October, those numbers dipped to 71 yards on 23 carries and 3.1 yards per rush with a long run of eight yards (compared to the 35-yard run from September).

Regaining that explosiveness in November produced 381 yards on 72 carries and a 5.3 yards per carry average with five touchdowns, but that's hardly because BC changed its quarterback. More likely is a balanced cohesion between the different units and an ability to flip the field on opponents.

Skip: You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? LARRY!
Larry: Lollygaggers!
Skip: Lollygaggers.

Going deeper into Robichaux in particular, his success in particular sections of the field perfectly shows just how BC's offense wears down opposing defenses. He's been exceptional at four yards per carry between the 20-yard lines, but he's barreled through opponents for nearly seven yards per carry in plus territory ahead of the red zone. Breaking that down even further, he's gaining 7.1 yards per rush on third down and around seven yards per carry on third-and-anything-less-than-long.

"We have great runners," said offensive lineman Ozzy Trapilo. "They're hard runners, and they make it really easy sometimes when it's not always blocked perfectly. They make us right and run through guys or make a guy miss here-or-there. We can really just focus on being physical, being downhill and letting them do the rest of the work."

The addition of a secondary option in Jordan McDonald hasn't exactly hurt. The junior transfer from Central Florida entered this season with less than 100 yards on 29 career carries before following his Syracuse performance with 115 yards on 21 rushes against Southern Methodist and North Carolina. Like Robichaux, he's burly enough to cause issues for defenses that struggle between the tackles and guards, which is why he's averaging 5.5 yards per carry over those two games.

Larry: Excuse me, but what's going on here?
Crash: Well Nuke's scared because his eyelids are jammed and his old man's here. We need a live…is it a live rooster? We need a live rooster to take the curse off Jose's glove and nobody seems to know what to get Millie or Jimmy for their wedding present. Is that about right?
(Everyone nods)
Crash: We're dealing with a lot of [stuff].
Larry: Okay well, uh…candlesticks always make a nice gift, and, uh, maybe you could find out where she's registered and maybe a place-setting or maybe a silverware pattern. Okay…let's get two!

So why make a big deal out of the running game? Truthfully, Pittsburgh is an exceptional defensive team, but the Panthers are particularly stout against the run. Even without defensive lineman Nakhi Johnson after he announced his intention to enter the transfer portal, the front four runs deep at both ends and interior tackle positions with linebackers who understand how to attack a back end.

Sophomore Kyle Louis is particularly difficult as a two-way defender, and he ranks first among FBS linebackers with 15.5 tackles for loss while becoming the first linebacker to grab four interceptions since 2004. Safety Donovan McMillon, meanwhile, is on the verge of a second consecutive 100-tackle season, which hasn't happened for the Panthers since linebacker Scott McKillop broke the century mark in 2007 and 2008 - long before they joined the ACC.

*****
Question Box

Who sees more snaps for the Pitt offense?

Quarterback Eli Holstein started the season with 300-yard games in four of his first five starts with three touchdown passes in each of those games after transferring to Pitt from Alabama. His absurd production produced seven straight wins and the best start since the Dan Marino era in Pittsburgh, after which the 7-0 start crashed into four straight losses and an unhealthy quarterback situation with incumbent Nate Yarnell.

Yarnell played against BC last year and accounted for 231 yards and two touchdowns in the 24-16 win over the Eagles, but his struggles led to redshirt walk-on David Lynch finishing last week's game against Louisville after Holstein sustained a leg injury. Holstein had been carted off the field, but encouraging news put him in line for a potential appearance despite Yarnell throwing for 350 yards on 34-for-54 passing against Clemson.

The offense won't change with either quarterback, but who plays against BC is a turkey shoot to determine if the decision is successful or not.

Can O'Brien win one for Mick? Or is Bob Griffin about to own Brunonia once more?

It's been seven years since Brown University last won the Governor's Cup over Rhode Island, but maybe Bill O'Brien has an opportunity to score a victory for his alma mater by beating Pat Narduzzi. Both were on opposite sides of the Ocean State's preeminent football rivalry during their tenure as players in the early-1990s, but the closest O'Brien ever came to beating the Rams occurred in 1991 when Mickey Kwiatkowski's Bears scored 30 points for the second time in his first 13 games as head coach during a two-point loss. The 38-36 loss followed a 23-3 loss in 1990, which was one year after Narduzzi's final season as a URI player.

URI's current winning streak is actually the longest such run since both O'Brien and Narduzzi were on opposite sidelines during the Rams' five-game streak that broke a 7-2 run by Brown, though neither were around for Brown's embarrassment of riches during the World War I and World War II eras.

*****
Meteorology 101

I'll never forget standing in Brother Gilbert Stadium for my last Thanksgiving Day game as a Malden Catholic High School senior. It was 22-odd years ago, but a freak snowstorm pummeled the stands and buried the field in a winter wonderland that rarely occurred at that time of year. It really ruined the groundbreaking on the new football stadium construction that started shortly after the season ended.

This year's Thanksgiving was pummeled by a similar nor'easter, but the overcorrection to warmer weather in the 40s kept the rain from converting to snow. That was a good thing, but the ground saturated pretty quickly at the end of those Thanksgiving Day football games.

Two days later, the cold conditions are turning those fields into ice blocks. The 40-degree day on Tuesday made the driveway and yard a little slicker than usual, and overnight lows on Friday are likely to turn Alumni Stadium into a freezer for Saturday's season finale. Starting a game at 3 p.m. likewise impacts the conditions for people filing through the turnstiles because whatever warmth exists at kickoff should evaporate - no pun intended - by halftime.

Remember that first game when the temperatures reached 90 degrees and the churning air conditioners couldn't suck enough humidity out of the air? This is the polar opposite. Bring jackets, blankets, gloves, hot chocolate and boots - and enjoy the absolutely nuts out of the day. I'm all in on winter weather.

*****
BC-Pitt X Factor

You can be as nice as you want off the field, but when you're on the field, you're going to do everything you can to win. -Luke Kuechly

Pitt running back Desmond Reid hasn't broken the 100-yard rushing mark since gaining 120 yards against California, but the problems at quarterback highlighted a need to increase snaps for a Western Carolina transfer with a near-1,000 yard season in each of his two years with the Catamounts. A former SoCon Freshman of the Year, he crushed The Citadel last season for 167 yards on 18 carries with five touchdowns and finished the season as a two-way threat that needed to help the Panthers rebuild a backfield with few returning players.

The lone back to return from last year, Rodney Hammond, Jr. is a secondary option coming off 700-plus all-purpose yards in 2023, and LSU transfer Derrick Davis, Jr., while seldom used, returned home to Pittsburgh to augment an offense with three or four decent playmakers at the wide receiver position.

Pitt needs to figure out its issues at the quarterback position, but Holstein wrestled the position away from Yarnell because of the raw talent that drove him to Alabama. Yarnell is more experienced within the offense, but if neither is successful, Reid's the ticket to Pitt winning a game that's going to be a bit more black and blue than usual.

*****
Dan's Non-Football Observation of the Week

Growing up in a Jewish household meant Christmas lights were never a thing. My parents never hung lights on our house, though our neighbors power-surged the entire Eastern seaboard with their Griswold-like tendencies, so I never had an opportunity to get into an argument with a man standing on a freezing ladder in the middle of December.

I married into an Italian Catholic family, so Christmas quickly transformed into a Super Bowl-type event after we started dating. I stepped over the line by suggesting a fake Christmas tree purchase during our first year living together, and my in-laws now hang a stocking with a Star of David above their fireplace (shoutout Auntie Lee for stitching it by hand…that woman is outfitted for sainthood). Also, the Feast of the Seven Fishes. No wonder I can't lose weight.

Let's get back to Christmas lights for a second. My older daughter asked for Christmas lights on the house this year, and while I've been able to avoid it for about 10 years of marriage, her request forced me to move past the driveway candy canes and the yard-based Christmas trees for the icicles and light clips.

I'm spending next week on a ladder. My brother-in-law is coming to help me because I trust a firefighter to walk on my roof over the tech geek who would rather program the lights to do something fun. I'm guessing there's going to be an argument or three before I settle into a self-loathing afternoon on the couch.

As long as my kiddo is happy, it'll be worth it. Santa Magic is real. Happy Holiday season to everyone.

*****
Pregame Quote and Prediction

I was told in high school that the last game during your senior year stays with you forever, which is true. -Jim Otto

I graduated high school in 2003 but vividly remember swimming my final lap of my high school career for a relay that finished in last place. The circumstances stuck with me forever: I took my first lesson at the Melrose YMCA, and Malden Catholic's final meet of the year was at Melrose, which swam its home meets at the Y. My last lap was in the place where I swam my first lap, and I remember purposefully outlining the entire pool before I finished that lap and climbed out of the water for the final time in my competitive life.

My Senior Day emotions hung thick in the air that day, so I've always tried to keep everything in perspective for a senior day. As much as all of this is about the players, the parents who brought them to camps and practices, who spent hours and dollars and years of their lives making sure their sons played a sport out of love and passion, Senior Day is about them as much as it's about the game itself.

For so many reasons, everyone is eventually told to stop playing sports. Time is undefeated. So for the seniors - soak everything about Saturday afternoon into your soul. It doesn't matter the level of sport that it ends. You've earned your last game.

Boston College and Pittsburgh kick off on Saturday at 3 p.m. from Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Television coverage is set for The CW with Thom Brennaman and Max Browne handling broadcast duties from the booth and Treavor Scales on the sidelines.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Thomas Castellanos

Grayson James

Joe Marinaro

Jordan McDonald

Kye Robichaux

Ozzy Trapilo