After covering the 1st round of the MIAA playoffs tonight I got in my car and left Woburn as the TD drive before the half was starting. Walked in after Meterparel's 'Take a Bow!" call and got to enjoy that wild second half like everybody else.
Postgame pressers were downright stunning. Hafley acknowledged 'The Path' a few different times as did players. For a team that's so 'one day at a time' oriented I'm not sure how to feel about it. BUT, 9-3 is still very much alive (now 10-3 with bowl eligibility) and my own personal path towards a crap ton of 'I told you so''s' on here looks more and more likely each day now.
Anyways, here's a few things that stood out as BC has its longest winning streak in 13 years...
1. I still don't love Castellanos as a passer
Yes, I have to get the negativity out of the way first. He got away with a few late and still makes some pretty wild decisions in regards to where he goes with the football. He was 20-37 for 156 and the TD to McGowan without a pick, but at least two balls in the fourth should have been. 22 carries for 87 yards and a TD is cool, but now that the RB depth took another huge hit, he's got to be more careful going forward if he's going to have to throw more.
2. RB depth now an issue
Last bit of negativity, I swear. With Robichaux going down and Garwo seemingly now out for an extended period of time (will follow up Monday, we've all done a terrible job on that), Andre Hines might be asked to carry the workload for a bit. Hafley said postgame he was given a game ball, had tears in his eyes and was lifted up by his teammates. Awesome story, but this running game sorely needs Robichaux. Hopefully Broome isn't too banged up and Barfield can provide something too. Can't run Castellanos into the ground if you want to even think about an ACC title game.
3. This O-line is just relentless
They're taking last year personal still and you can see it on every drive pretty much. Gaping holes, pushing piles late (the Hines first down run late was all Jack Conley) and just wearing teams down. BC dominated possession time again 42:16-17:44 and you could just see the Orange were gassed late. This is one of my favorite 'I told you so's' this year because it's right there for everyone to see and there's no sign of them slowing down. Ran for 185 as a team tonight.
4. Secondary is suddenly lights out
Look, Syracuse may not have the most threatening talent at wide out, but what Elijah Jones and Co. are doing now is pretty damn impressive. The rip away/interception was just absurd and that's now three picks for the team in multiple games. Cole Batson and John Pupel each had a couple big plays and the tackling appears to be night and day from what it was in September. This was one of the biggest questions on this team and it's now becoming one of the more reliable groups.
5. Discipline baby, discipline
Two penalties for 22-yards. That's it. The Eagles are one of the cleanest teams in the country recently and it's no accident it's correlated with a five-game winning streak. Whatever Hafley and the rest of the staff did or said, it worked.
6. Fourth down is now a money down for the Eagles
3-4 on the night and (I believe) 21-28 on the year now. It's really cool to watch a team that will run the ball on 3rd-&-8 or 3rd-&-6 knowing they're just going to go for it on fourth down anyways. Now, the stuffed 4th-down was brutal and the third down play call to hand it off to Dino that drive was pretty absurd, but overall, the 'F it, go for it' Eagles are way more fun to cover.
7. Fake punts now?
Talk about a ballsy call. In your own territory? It's as if Hafley has suddenly flipped a switch like his players have. He's always had a confidence about him, but he's coaching at a different level right now too and it's awesome to see.
8. Everyone's a VT fan for one day on Saturday
How cool would it be if VT beat Louisville tomorrow and made next week's game in Chestnut Hill arguably the biggest game there since 2007? Louisville still needs to lose twice and Duke once (thanks Wake) with BC winning out for the path to be complete. Tomorrow might be the best chance for Louisville to get a loss in early before the home stretch of the season. If you root for or cover Boston College, you're a Hokies fan for a few hours tomorrow.
Having a blast following this pretty stunning run. I hope it goes all the way to North Carolina, but if not, at the very least next weekend and Miami the day after Thanksgiving will be pretty damn fun now. This team truly believes it can go nine or 10-3 and who's going to tell them otherwise at this point?
