Saturday, September 13, 2014

Trampling the Trojans

When I wrote about what BC needed to do in order to get back in a bowl, I said we had to steal a game from one of the big boys on our schedule. We didn't steal anything Saturday night. We beat USC by overpowering them and running the ball down their throat. Steve Addazio and his staff did a great job in their first year adjusting to the roster they inherited. This season's roster is a mix of young kids and some surprising transfers and they just beat a Top 10 team at Alumni. Calling the win huge would be an understatement. Right now it is clearly Addazio's signature win and hopefully the first of many.

There is still a long season ahead and this team still has clear limitations, but this win does two things. It gives the players confidence and it gives the staff a blueprint of how they can play with any team in the country. BC Football is fun again and playing to win makes all the difference.

I will have my grades and second viewing thoughts up late Sunday and maybe another post before celebrating the game and the win.

28 comments:

blist said...

Fantastic!

lbkjj said...

Was this the Welles Crowther effect? Great, convincing win.

BCDoubleEagle said...

WE ARE BACK

mod34b said...

ATL, as promised, you ARE A GENIUS for predicting a BC win. You might have been the only person in the country to make such a prediction.

That was a great game. Best game since Matty Ice at Blacksburg in 2007.

eagleboston said...

Mod, this is way bigger than Blacksburg '07. This is the biggest win since we beat #1 Notre Dame in 1993 in South Bend. You could also make an argument for the '02 upset of #4 Notre Dame.

Love Will Farrel, but glad to know he has to fly back to Hollywood deflated.

Do we go with the red bandanna unis the rest of the year?

mod34b said...

i think not, Eagle boston

in 2007, VaTech was ranked #8 ans BC was ranked #2.

Scott said...

I attended the USC Stanford game, and left sour & scared .. realizing USC had regained it's Swagger and physically man-handled Stanford's vaunted lineman on both sides of the ball. I expected worse than last year, because Sark has his talent focused.

Cannot believe BC beat USC using the same script that failed Stanford. The difference, BC put it on the line and challenged the strength of USC. Those Somoanian interior OL/DTs & LBs were supposed to be infallible. Even Stanford shied away from it's signature power plays and stout pressure D.

Regardless of how many times BC stumbles going forward ... And we will given our youth ... we found our identity, and kids and coaches believe it will work.

That was an astounding win.

Not to take away from the 93 Wins over ND in FB or UNC in BB ... Or Matty Ice's run ... but those were senior led team taking down hype ... Thus was a band young misfits taking down experienced NFL talent. I can't think of a suitable analogy other than miracle on ice.

Bravesbill said...

I will say that Sark had a terrible game plan today. He was way too conservative in his play calls and refused to start chucking the ball all over the field. Great win by BC though.

CT said...

Ok. Hyperbole much?

Miracle on ice. Um, ok.

Experienced NFL talent. They play on Sundays in LA?

This Oline and QB are not young.

The difference was Murphy. Making good decisions. Not throwing. Staying ahead of down and distance.

Rarely will a team give up 31 and you go, "you know, the defense played well today." Amazing what tackling can do.

USC is overrated but so what? Daz might be building something. I know Hilliman is a stud.





Scott said...

CT, you're probably right to call out my excitement, but not sure any level of compliment qualifies as over the top given how young we are, and how inferior (on paper) we are to the Stanford team (our supposed role model that is stacked and experienced) that was manhandled at home.

But in all seriousness, Sark is a great coordinator and recruited a star studed staff. And USC's 2012n& 2013 classes boast measureables, credentials, and lineage characteristic of NFL lottery picks. On paper, BCs guys don't compare ... Obviously the game isn't played on paper.

eagleboston said...

Love the emerging freshmen, Hilliman and Alston.

Eagle 1 said...

It's scary to think what our O could do if we develop a passing game.

On the D side, we need to develop a more consistent pass rush. Even with five sacks, it felt like USC had all day to throw in the 2nd half.

Great job, Eagles!

Hoib said...

Wow, a Dazaling victory!

Big Jack Krack said...

We are beginning to put the days of the Two Stooges to bed.

Congratulations Boston College - it was an awesome night.

dmyankees said...

Wow! What a game! Star of the game is obviously Murphy, but what about the front seven of the BC defense? They got in USC's face, particularly in the second and third quarters.

When was the last time you were this excited after a BC win? The shutout of Notre Dame at home six years ago??

Unknown said...

I like this coach, @ shades of Coughlin.

eddierock said...

Awesome win. What a difference a week makes. The tackling last night was incredible. The defensive line was awesome and the secondary played the best game I have seen in years. As for offense, you can see it starting to take shape. Boy will it be fun to watch. Tyler is a smart runner and knows when to get down or step out of bounds. If he can stay injury free, this will be a memorable year.

eagleboston said...

I think the tackling difference was illustrated on one play. Kessler dumped the ball out to the left and the receiver had nothing but green in front of him. Manny Asprilla fought off a block, dove at the receiver and just tripped him up by swiping at the receiver's legs. The receiver stumbled to the ground for a 2 yard loss. Manny was the only thing between the receiver and a TD and he came through for BC.

USC may turn out to be a dud but they did beat Stanford at the Farm last week. Now, Clemson, Louisville, and Va Tech all appear to be beatable. Not saying we will, but I don't fear them like I did a week ago.

And our offense has to be frustrating for defenses. You know we are not going to pass, and yet if you stop the running backs, Murphy will burn you. You also know you will be physically hammered. Love this style of football.

mod34b said...

Aaahh..Sunday morning after a historic win....so nice

Hillman! wow. WOW. that kid has talent. Did you check out how many offers he had??? might be our best recruit in some time.

Hillman has 4.4 speed
Sherm Alston - 4.4 speed
Murphy - 4.4 speed

BC got around the corner and into the win column with SPEED. SPEED and BC. nice to say.

Drops? I could not believe we still had drops...at least 3 bad ones. something to fix.

Let me compliment the Offensive Coordinator Named Ryan Day. Marvelous play calling Mr. Day. good to see it.

Let me compliment Coach Brown. good job coach. You improved your boys in a week in a way no one thought possible. Against Pitt the secondary showed some glimpses of improvement. That carried over to the USC game. Secondary is improving....still needs work but getting better

Dazz.. thank you for turning BC around. I hope i don't see your name of any coaching "vacancy" lists

blist said...

As concerned as I was bout Murphy last week, he was just amazing last night. How many mistakes did he make? One, the pitch at the goal line. If our receivers caught the ball early this game wouldn't even had been close.

dmyankees said...

This may be getting ahead of things, but Maine, CSU, and NCSt should all be wins. That would put BC at 5-1 before hosting Clemson. Wow!

JBQ said...

One More Time: For Boston, for Boston, we sing our proud refrain. For Boston, for Boston, Tis wisdom's earthly fame. For here are all one and our hearts are true and the towers on the heights reach the heaven's own blue. For Boston, for Boston, til the echoes ring again.

lbkjj said...

Didn't realize the lyrics were changed, appropriately in the 1980's. ( per Google)
As an " old" grad, 1960, we sang " for here the men are men and their hearts are true"

Goberry said...

lbkjj, I'm a 2000 grad, but my mother and father went to BC before I did and I grew up with, and still sing, the "old" lyrics out of habit.

Lenny Sienko said...

Having been at Alumni in person in 1988 when Rodney Peete, ran through and around us and threw over us, I thought it was karmic payback that he was on the sidelines last night to watch our BC mobile quarterback get back some of our own.

That drubbing in '88 has smarted for along time...now I feel better.

eagleboston said...

Lenny, that was my senior year. They completely destroyed us that night.

Colin said...

Amazing night all around.

Must say though, Shea Field situation was quite unfortunate. They did utilize the wrist bands, and people were passing them through the chain-link fence to friends/family so they could get in. My friends and I did eventually make it on, and to be honest it was not that crowded. I've seen MUCH bigger crowds at previous ND games, etc, so I'm surprised where the push to limit access is coming from.

EL MIZ said...

what an awesome game. watched at a BC wedding with 6 college friends, all hunched around one smart phone. isn't that what its all about? when Alston broke into the free and turned on the after burners, i think that was the first time in my life i can remember a BC football player "out athleting" a team with the 4/5 stars. for the 90s and 00s at least we were the hard nosed, over looked, blue collar players. we are still, by and large, but it is awesome to watch what the team looks like with a guy like Alston or Hilliman thrown in - legitimate elite athletes who can make guys miss and win foot races.

and Murphy, man, what a game. on that last TD run when he put his head down and turned it on, that was so great. Alumni looked like it was a freaking mad house. cannot wait to get up there for the Clemson game, when we are (hopefully) 5-1 and building some good momentum. i don't think Murphy should throw more than like 10x in a game for the remainder of the season. our o-line can block, our QB/RBs can run. Day called a great game.

lastly, not that its an impressive win but Pitt rolled FIU and James Conner broke Tony Dorsett's school record for most rushing yards in the first 3 games. that Pitt loss may not look so bad in 2 months. Conner may be the best RB in the country.

BC ranked 36th in the AP, 44th in USA Today. lets keep winning and keep climbing. GO EAGLES