BC fans on speed

posted by LW, Thursday, September 17, 2009

It seems that with Boston College fans, the term "speed" might as well be a four-letter word.

Ranks right up there with: "Jags."

You can understand why they might have some issues with it.

They're used to being told their team is going to be wiped off the field by teams from other regions (mainly the South) that have more of that all-important speed.

In some senses it's a lame stereotype because of assumptions that 1) There's no one in the Northeast that runs fast, and 2) That Boston College doesn't have access to talent outside the Northeast.

The Eagles have had quite a few players drafted in recent years, and not all of those players have been offensive tackles. So there's speed up there, and probably more than you'd think.

Nevertheless, it's pretty clear Boston College fans don't want to hear anything about speed being a disadvantage to their team.

I participated in a Q&A with the fine blog Eagle in Atlanta and gave my take on Saturday's game.

In my view, last year was the first year that Clemson's speed advantage really materialized against the Eagles with C.J. Spiller running wild and the defense limiting the Eagles to less than 250 yards.

Earlier this week I watched the first half of Boston College's win over Kent State, and the Eagles indeed do have some speed. Their two tailbacks (Harris and Haden) are very good. Their receivers (Gunnel and Larmond) are more athletic than you think. And they have some speed in the secondary.

In light of Spiller's abilities, I tried to zero in on BC's linebackers. I saw a lot of youth and not a lot of speed. Maybe it's just me.

Anyway, that's one of the things I cited in my breakdown of the game and eventual prediction (Clemson 24, B.C. 13).

Judging from a lot of the comments at the bottom of the Q&A, the fans don't want to hear it.

I'm certainly not offended by being second-guessed by these folks. Disagreement and debate is what makes this whole fan-interaction thing fun.

But man ... I mention the word "speed" twice in the entire thing, and you'd think I were nominating Jeff Jagodzinski for the Hall of Fame.


But seriously, Eagle in Atlanta is an excellent site for studying up on B.C. We'll have an insightful Q&A with their publisher in the next day or so.

Looks like Justin Tuggle will be the starter at QB for the Eagles Saturday. But you'll certainly see Dave Shinskie as well.

And here's a story on a possible future star in Chestnut Hill: WR Colin Larmond Jr.

Big game tonight in Miami. Looks like the Canes know Georgia Tech has a defensive end named Derrick Morgan who's pretty good.

Speaking of Georgia Tech, Paul Johnson explains last week's fake field goal.

"What we did, is we had our offense on the field," Johnson said. "They blew the ball ready for play, so everybody was inside the numbers. Then we ran the extra point team on the field, with 10 guys, and the offense off the field. Bey-Bey Thomas has been a wing on the extra point team at times, so he just came all the way out, and split out right inside the line judge. He looked at the guy, the guy said, 'OK, you're on the line.' We snapped the ball and threw it.

"The ACC after the game interpreted that as a violation. Alright, well, we're in the league. If that's illegal, we won't do it anymore. But I've done it before and it hasn't been a problem. I know that here is a rule about deception with substitution. My thing on that is, what are you doing when you huddle up with 40 guys on the sideline, and you run in and you snap the ball? ... Clemson did exactly the same thing to us -- not with the extra point team, but with substitution and left a guy over on the sideline. So in my mind, we should've seen the guy."

Johnson said he was surprised by the ACC's ruling.

"If you've got a trick play before the game you tell them what's going to happen, and I told them," Johnson said of the officials. "If it had been illegal, they should've told us then."

Honestly, I'm ready to close the book on this thing because it's become headache-inducing. Still, though: not as cut-and-dried as the ACC makes it sound.

Looks like Wake Forest is returning to its bread-and-butter: using the WR end-around to open up the offense.

Here's an update on Virginia's Cavman, who fittingly preceded last week's beatdown against TCU by getting planted into the turf.

In case you missed this priceless episode, here's a video clip.

And another.

In The State, a story on the reunion of Jamie Harper and Montel Harris.

And I like the concept of this SEC/ACC poll, but I'm not sure Clemson fans like the concept of South Carolina being rated five spots above the Tigers.

In the Independent-Mail, the Tigers look for help from their secondary receivers.

In The ACC Sports Journal, Part 3 of the Q&A with Dabo Swinney. Who came up with those brilliant questions?

Back to Miami: Here's a feature on former Clemson DC John Lovett.

One of John Lovett's first full-time jobs was driving an 18-wheeler, hauling cargo from one end of the country to the other.

It turned out to be good preparation for a life in coaching.

Since beginning his coaching career in 1978 as a $500-a-year assistant at Union (N.Y.) College, Lovett has made more stops than he did on his old truck route. Over the past three decades, Lovett has changed jobs 14 times. He has never been anywhere longer than four years and held one position for only three months.

"I don't know that a truck driver moves around that much," said Lovett, 58. "At least he has a home base."

And finally, a boy named Suh is making his way east. But he's staying away from Death Valley, and a few Clemson interior O-linemen should be thankful for that.


LW

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