Boston College

 I was 14 years old and the booming metropolis of Homer in Upstate New York. My birthday had passed but Christmas was coming. My parents were about a sneaky as a blind bulldog, so I knew that if I searched long enough I could usually scope out what my “surprise” presents would be. And yes, those of you who are being super judgy right now, search I did. Behind the walls of the basement, Mr. & Mrs. Claus has squirreled away the box for an huge air hockey table. Yessiree Bobcat, this was going to be an awesome December. So, the big morning arrived and as my sister and I waited on the top of the stairs for my baby makers to get ready for the big reveal, I was cool as the other side of the pillow. My sister was bouncing up and down like Tigger on crack with anticipation, but not this cat. Sure, when we arrived at the loot, I gave my best look of amazement and appreciation, but it was assuredly not an Oscar performance. Then after all the gifts were opened, we headed upstairs to breakfast, and as we sat down on the table, my dad opened the blinds to the backyard. On top of the obligatory 3 feet of late December snow was a brand new Ski-Doo. Oh Snap! There was no faking this surprise. I went out in my pajamas and started that baby up in 10 degrees and took off like it was my job…The ultimate surprise that day worked out ok huh?

Kids, I have poking behind the walls for you for two weeks on our issues with back end communication, and we finally had a qb who had the wherewithal to exploit us. The wide open dudes in the middle of the field on every 3rd and a cab ride are somewhat of a lingering issue. You hear coaches talk all the time about being multiple on defense. We make vanilla look exciting right now with our looks. Every down in a 4-2-5 and we eschew any twists or stunts up front. A qb that can move invariably has multiple gaps to choose if they want to escape straight ahead. Meanwhile, we insist on playing zone on long down and distances, so just avoid the corners and attack the lb or lost safety in coverage. Jamie Robinson covered up all of these problems last year, but he ain’t here…Coach Fuller has to start mixing up some 3 lb looks, because the only time we are getting home with all this line talent is on blitzes. Verse and Payton have combined for zero sacks this season. What? Surprise us coach with a good game plan next week.

The second not so subtle surprise this week was a running game without any bite. I know we have a bunch of serviceable big lumberjacks, but the combinations are not chopping wood right now. Let’s see if we get a healthy first team out there soon. Benson is hitting holes like he is wearing snowshoes, and LT decided to donate a football to the red bandana cause. Only Rodney Hill looked like a game breaker this week, and he only had a few touches. With everyone in Chestnut Hill wearing garnet afraid Jordan was going to knock himself out for the season, defending the run became even easier. Again, this pattern has been in play most of the season, and I feel like the emphasis on more zone blocking and less counter is a huge setup for “better” opponents, Which leads to the negative snowmobile surprise moment for me…the head coach’s playcalling. 

Our leader is not just a good play caller, I think he is elite. The first half setups are all purposeful, and you see over and over in the second stanza the payoff. His scripts to start games are brilliant and the adjustments he makes in game are really, really good. All of which had me shaking my head for maybe the first time in his tenure at what in the world we were doing late in that almost upset. You have elite talent in #4 and you have already shown multiple times that Bell was an easy mismatch on drags. Running an indecisive Trey and recently snowball dropping LT into a stacked box and hoping for the best was just crazy. Supplement that with Jordan insisting on low percentage long sideline throws when the flat receivers were open like Christmas morning. It was a complete failure over a team that had no business shutting down your offense for the last 20 minutes of the game. 

Now it is time to breathe. because the best surprise of all is that this mess was probably a huge blessing. Every great team has a game or two like this in a season and if the humble pie is eatable, then a Holiday feast is coming. This was a game that without the literal record number of home team penalties could have been a season killer. Thank you for the 10 presnap calls, and especially for the face mask. I mean it. Huge props for being completely undisciplined. We love you for it. When Keon finally touched the ball, and decided that he would rather save his body rather than cut upfield and get a first down, or when Trey studder stepped to nowhere for the 8th time, we needed all those 180 penalty yards. Phew…love ya Eagles. But, you know what? In two weeks or ten years, this is still a win. Proof of concept - Jameis to Kenny Shaw to close halftime saved the last trip to Chestnut Hill for that bunch. We remember that as just another notch on the 2013 domination train. This time, it was a supposed storm that kept 20,000 BC fans home, two simulating snap calls and wonderful Yuletide facemask. The coaches are sharing in this whipped cream disaster with the players, and there is growth to be had all around. In a college football anomaly, most of the good teams on our upcoming slate feature somewhat statuesque signalcallers, so even without a scheme adjustment, some serious overtime chalkboard work with Coach Surtain should bring some improvement with the safeties. Trust the four very good corners you have to play their roles and put Knowles and Brown in a place to succeed. 

So, we escape maybe our last ever trip to Beantown. Sad, because this is an absolutely great city to visit, and the Sam Adams beer garden with all unique drafts is always crazy fun (3 cheers to Pumpkin Pie Ale!). But, we wanted to get out of September no worse than 3-1 to have all of our dreams still on front of us. Yes, we are greedy right now and thinking bigger, but getting out of this clunker with a dub is still ok. So, maybe we get surprised again this week! In a good way…Go Noles!