Gearing up for 2008

2008 is going to have some changes. Parking spot has been moved from the Beacon St garage to the Brighton Campus and the Section J element will be completely removed because I am giving up the hoop tickets after 20+ years.

Gallows Pole

I could not even make a post for the last game. Everything was so hectic that weekend leading up to the loss to the Terps I could barely catch my breath before I looked at the TV and saw we were down by 7 less than 3 miutes into the game. I knew it was going to be a long night. The team is on its heels right now and needs to get back to basics- running and tackling. If we can get back to fundamentals and stop with the outbreak of the 'dropsies' we might be able to pull this one out. Clemson will definitely have the speed edge, again, but hopefully some of the hurt guys are back- where are you Mr Dunbar???- and the penalties will not be an issue.

Death Valey is tough to play but maybe the boys just need the edge of being the underdog to correctly motivate them. It is starting to look like they have the hoops team issue of playing down to the oppositions level.

Florida State this weekend

Game has been moved to 8 PM so we can cash a big ESPN check. Hopefully it will be nice and cold so that we get a nice home field advantage. I am sure the place will be rocking because now every game becomes "That Game" where the entire season rests on the outcome. If the table is run- hello New Orleans and some serious beignets and jumbalaya. Any losses slide you further down to the Continental Bowl and its ilk. It will be harder to stay under the radar with the Sox winning it all so now the only competition will be the Patriots until we see what the Celtics are really made of.
Hopefully there will be no injuries this week and the O-line, Cherilus- ahem, can work on the penalties.

More to come.................

New BCS

http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=732233

Boston College is ranked first by four of the six computers and for the second week in a row has an average computer ranking of first. Ohio State is No. 1 in the other two computers and is tied for second with Arizona State in the average computer ranking.

Matty Ice starts the 2 minute drill

Victory at VTech!!!!!

Battle in Blacksburg!!!!

UNREAL! Only thing I can think of. I am still in shock from this game. BC could not have had more things going wrong on the offensive side of the ball- heavy rain, dropped passes, bad o-line blocking,etc. I will not even start on the ACC refs blowing another call- they are horrible and for any team to win in this conference they are going to have to do it on their own because the refs will not make the same calls consistently. Penalties were another big black eye but the defense showed its mettle in this one. Too bad they could not come up with a pick for a score because for 56 minutes it looked like the only way they could win was a defensive TD. As I was watching the game I was talking to a buddy about the odds of BC recovering an onsides kick against VT. I do not hink there is a name for a number that high. Sure enough- Lady Luck popped up and we were given one more shot to win. The first TD to follow was marred by the little yellow laundry on the left of the screen just before Ryan threw the ball so you knew two things: 1- there was going o be an easy catch for a TD and 2, it would not count. Ryan held the troops together and with a great scramble shut up those fans at VTech quick. Those fans deserve a lot of credit for sitting through this one in that weather. I am not sure why the 2 backs were constantly getting out of the backfield without trying to protect Matty Ice a little more especially on the second to last series where they had the 4th and 33 going in the shadow of theor own goal. Hopefully another little rest period will get the troops ready for the game vs. Florida State. I am still waiting to see when the game will be on since ESPN excercised their right to change times and has not announced kickoff yet. I am willing to bet it will be the 4 or 8 PM game so hopefully if it is that late we will have some normal cold weather up here.
Great job to the boys for playing all 60 minutes and keeping their eyes on the prize!

ND summary

Great trip out to Chicago. The Berghoff is open again! Trip through North Jersey East, (Gary, Indiana) then the cornfields to South Bend. Plenty of trash talking on the Internet from the ND faithful especially the student body. Campus was very nice, got to see the Grotto and the basilica, and the bands march across campus into the stadium. Very nice people with plenty of "Hi. Welcome to Notre Dame". The game itself- UGH. First major issue- the TV timeouts. After whoring out the soul for a TV contract they let NBC dictate the entire non-flow of the game. They must really need the money out there because all they did was show commercials. Maybe they just wanted people to forget that ND actually had to PLAY the game. Second issue- ACC Refs. Oh my. After the freakshow they caused poor Bobby Bowden on Thursday night you would think they would be on their A-Game- but this was not the case. Bad calls, non- make up calls, etc. There was no flow at all in this game directly resulting from these two root causes. Both defenses were pretty solid. ND continues to struggle on the ground but BC let them hang around too long. The stats tell a different story than the actual game. BC looks dominant on paper but the penalties came at the worst times and there were way too many 15 yarders. Holding is done on every play and only the really flagrant ones should be called. But if you do start calling it you need to go both ways. Cherilus was guilty many times as has been his curse for years but there were plenty of ND scrambles where BC guys were getting their shirts pulled and there were absolutely no calls (Until the TD saving one in the 4th quarter which got plenty of mock cheers). BC was running great in the first 1/4 then got away from it until the 4th for some reason. They did not want to pass over the middle with all the screens they were running to avoid the blitz from ND. Ryan had a few great reads where he was hitting the 3rd an 4th options when given the time. Hopefully we can clean up the penalties and the kicking game because there is no way we can just give away points to VaTech on special teams. We have 10 days to get ready for the Thursday night tilt and there will be a lot on the line depending on how other teams play as well. The ACC title is right there and the Orange Bowl with it. The checkbook will stay closed for travel unless it is a good bowl game (Or Clemson tickets pop up).

Finally!

Here we go.........

Crunch Time

Matty Heisman

Touchdown Jesus

Betting trends

BETTING TRENDS
BOSTON COLLEGE
Boston College is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Boston College is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Boston College is 11-5 SU in its last 16 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston College's last 5 games on the road
Boston College is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Notre Dame
Boston College is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Notre Dame

NOTRE DAME
Notre Dame is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games
Notre Dame is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Notre Dame's last 7 games
Notre Dame is 1-7 ATS in its last 8 games at home
Notre Dame is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Notre Dame's last 7 games at home
Notre Dame is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing Boston College
Notre Dame is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing at home against Boston College

Stats for season BC-ND

ND Injuries

NOTRE DAME
PLAYER
POS
DESCRIPTION
Demetrius Jones
QB
Out For Season (transferred)
David Grimes
WR
Questionable Week 7 (leg)

BC Injuries

Injuries:
BOSTON COLLEGE
PLAYER
POS
DESCRIPTION
B.J. Raji
DT
Out For Season (academics)
Brian Toal
LB
Out For Season (shoulder)
Wes Davis
S
Questionable Week 7 (head)
James McCluskey
FB
Questionable Week 7 (leg)
Damik Scafe
DT
Questinable Week 7 (hamstring)
Brady Smith
DT
Questionable Week 7 (knee)

From Bodoglines.com

- The Boston College Eagles and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will both be gunning for a victory on Saturday when they meet at Notre Dame Stadium.
Oddsmakers currently have the Eagles listed as 14½-point favorites versus the Fighting Irish, while the game's total has not yet been posted.
Boston College forced six turnovers in Week 6's 55-24 win over Bowling Green, covering the 19-point home spread. The 76 points scored were OVER the posted total of 59.
Matt Ryan was 24-for-32 for 312 yards and four touchdowns, and Justin Jarvis added 102 yards and a score on four catches for the Eagles.
The Fighting Irish scored 17 points in the third quarter last time out, as they upset the UCLA Bruins 20-6. The 26 points were well UNDER the posted total of 48.
Jimmy Clausen threw for 84 yards and completed 17-of-27 pass attempts with one touchdown.
Current streak:Boston College has won 6 straight games.
Team records:Boston College: 6-0 SU, 4-1 ATS Notre Dame: 1-5 SU, 2-4 ATS
Boston College most recently:When playing in October are 8-2When playing on grass are 6-4After outgaining opponent are 8-2When playing outside the conference are 10-0Notre Dame most recently:When playing in October are 8-2When playing on grass are 5-5After being outgained are 5-5When playing outside the conference are 3-7
A few trends to consider:Boston College is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games Boston College is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Notre DameThe total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston College's last 5 games on the roadBoston College is 11-5 SU in its last 16 games on the roadThe total has gone UNDER in 6 of Notre Dame's last 7 games Notre Dame is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games at homeThe total has gone UNDER in 5 of Notre Dame's last 7 games at homeNotre Dame is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing at home against Boston College
Next up:Boston College at Virginia Tech, Thursday, October 25Notre Dame home to Southern Cal, Saturday, October 20

Ryan on SI.com

Previews

ESPN.com http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/preview?gameId=272860087


Rivals.com
Boston College (6-0) at Notre Dame (1-5), 3:30 p.m., NBC
The buzz: BC is off to its best start since 1942. Coincidentally, the Irish were good that season, too. The line: BC by 13.5. The pick: BC 28-13


Damian Strohmeyer/SI.com
Flight Of The Eagles
Ah, to be a Boston sports fan right now. The Patriots are rolling, the Red Sox look World Series-bound, the Celtics have a star-studded lineup -- and Boston College is off to its best start (6-0) in 65 years. The Eagles have their highest ranking ever (fourth) and boast arguably the best quarterback in the country in Matt Ryan. So why aren't people buying into BC? Granted, the Eagles' biggest win was against Georgia Tech, but first-year coach Jeff Jagodzinski, who was previously Brett Favre's offensive coordinator with the Packers, has proven a perfect fit for Ryan (1,857 yards, 15 touchdowns) and the Eagles defense has been stifling in allowing 49.7 rushing yards a game (third nationally). The second half of the season heats up with four road games (Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Clemson and Maryland) and Florida State and Miami at home. Say what you want about the ACC, but don't sleep on this very real contender to reach the national-title game.

Weather for Saturday in South Bend

Sunny
High61°F
Precip10%
Wind: WNW 14 mph
Max. Humidity: 61%
UV Index: 4 Moderate
Sunrise: 7:55 AM ET
Avg. High: 63°F
Record High: 86°F (1975)
Mostly Clear
Overnight Low40°F
Precip10%
Wind: NW 1 mph
Max. Humidity: 71%



Sunset: 7:07 PM ET
Avg. Low: 43°F
Record Low: 26°F (1909)

Gettin ready for ND

Only a few days at work separate me from my first trip to South Bend. I was relieved that ND finally won over UCLA this weekend- but then crushed when I saw the line open at 14!!!! Not the kind of motivation you want for the Irish bulletin board. With all the upsets this year I do not want to show up on that list. The D had a lot of picks but gave up a ton of yards. I guess we got so used to the Patriots 'bend don't break' style that it does not worry us as much anymore to see numbers like that as long as we win. I will be real happy with a nice sunny day in the low 60's- getting cold and dark by the 4th quarter. Real East Coast football weather. No major injuries I saw during the game and Larkin came back strong. Kicking game is still a big worry unless it is the greatest game of possum ever. Way too many bad kicks and return yards still week after week. The long field goal calmed some nerves but the D was real soft over the middle all day long. Hopefully the news stays all calm and good for the week so Friday night will be relaxing to watch the Sox play to get ready for the trip to Indiana on Saturday morning.

Here is the D