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Published Oct 5, 2024
Initial Thoughts/Reactions From Horrendous Loss vs. UVA
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Kevin Stone  •  EagleAction
Staff Writer
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@kstone06

Yikes.

For about a quarter and a half on Saturday it looked like BC might roll over UVA. Then, the rest of the game happened.

The Eagles head into the bye week limping (literally and figuratively) at 4-2 after the 24-14 loss to the Hoos. Bill O'Brien was obviously pissed in his postgame presser, cutting off a few questions and ripping into his team, his staff and himself.

""Awful. Awful. Bad coaching, bad coaching, bad execution combined. Awful," he said. "Give Virginia credit, they did a great job, We did not do a good job, Thank god we've got 12 days before our next game. Maybe we can get some things corrected."

Here's what stood out to me (and I'm sure everyone else)...


Undisciplined for the first time all season

BC had eight penalties for 85 yards and Castellanos turned the ball over three times. This was a VERY well coached team the first few weeks, but this was a 'three steps back' scenario as the Eagles reverted back to the team we've seen the last few seasons.

Tommy Turnovers

As cool as the 11-11 start for 135 yards and 2 TD's in the first half was, we saw TC's limitations as an overall quarterback in the second half. Fumble, batted ball that turned into a pick and then the under thrown interception late too. He finished 22-30 for 254 yards and the pick with the TD's to Skeete and Morales, but I still believe he's not a great passer. I hope I'm wrong moving forward for all of our sake, but right now he's a runner that happens to play QB and when he's not running (10 carries for negative 9 yards is absurd), he's average.

Third down still a massive issue

UVA was 7-16 on third down and the worst part is they were all like 3rd-&-10 or 3rd-&-9, never mind the 3rd-&14 BC gave up.

Lack of run game is confusing

Looked like they were establishing it early and then got away from it completely again in the second half. Turbo led the team with nine carries for 51 yards. McGowan, Ward and Robichaux combined for just 10 carries and 23 yards. Inexcusable with the offensive line this team has. Lawing had a great first half play calling but it wasn't pretty in the second.

At least Morales and McGowan were more involved

Thought for sure Morales would be more of a weapon this year. You can see what he brings on that TD pass. Same thing with McGowan. Still haven't used either of them nearly enough. O'Brien has preached game plans and that the offense isn't going to just force targets to certain guys. I get it, but they're valuable pieces that need to be integrated more.

O'Brien puts targeting call on coaching

Questionable call on Johnson, but he got face mask. Here's what O'Brien said about it:

"It doesn't matter. If the crown of his head goes down, that's the issue. We gotta understand the rule. if you're hitting with the top of your head, it doesn't matter where you hit him. It's the top of your head. It's a safety issue...I don't think I'm doing a good enough job of explaining that to the players. We have to see the tackle."

Injuries concerning

The Amari Jackson one would obviously be a huge blow and Horsely is seemingly banged up every week now. Part of me thinks UVA's turf was an issue because Bond and others limped off at one point too. But, losing Jackson would be killer for this secondary. Need Kye to get 100% healthy too, different team offensively when he can wear defenses down.

The halftime drives are killers

Second straight week where BC gave up points at the end of a half because of a long drive. This one started at the UVA three and should have never happened (third down killers again). 14-3 compared to 14-6 may have made a big difference given the game flow at that time.


I'm pretty sure that covers the main issues. It'll be very interesting to see how O'Brien and the staff handles the bye week in terms of intensity. I think we'll still only get the Tuesday practice this week, but hopefully the Eagles look in the mirror and can figure things out because the schedule appears tougher by the week with the way games across the country are playing out.

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