Things go from bad to worse as UConn beats BC by 15

In fairness, before the game I did say that UConn’s offense could have success against the Eagles due to injuries and inexpereince.

What most of us did not see coming, was 455 total yards for the Huskies and a 38-23 pull-away win thanks to a fairly dominant second half.

BC now limps into yet another primetime matchup next Saturday night, this time on the road against a 5-1 Louisville team that just went down to Miami and knocked off the No. 2 Hurricanes.

Here’s a few takeaways as the Eagles fall to 1-6.

Standing by my ‘firing O’Brien won’t do anything’ take

Ultimately, this is more of a talent and experience issue than a coaching issue in my opinion.

Can guys still tackle better? Absolutely. Can guys not leave receivers wide open across the middle? Of course. Can receivers fight harder to get open? Probably. Arguably, BC may have given Lonergan the keys to the car a little too soon, but that’s probably been the only true mistake made so far in terms of big picture topics.

The guys that have been out or missing for long periods of time are legitimate playmakers (Crouch, Jackson, Torrence, Skeete, Bowry, Hutchins was playing with a mitt on today…just to name a few). Their presence slots everyone else into a slightly different roles and takes some pressure off.

Now, any sports fan knows it’d be foolish not to think that conversations about certain coaching roles need to be on the table at some point, but I believe O’Brien is loyal to his guys and will wait until the end of the season to think about or make any actual staff changes. Mike Vrabel actually had an excellent answer about the human element of being fired the other day, which fans obviously don’t think about when things are going this poorly. Yes, it comes with the job and salary, but at 1-6, what’s letting a coordinator or assistant coach go really going to do?

As O’Brien continues to hammer (and he’s right), he’s in year two of a rebuild and it does take some time. This is still mostly a Jeff Hafley roster. The good news in all this is a lot of the young guys that are his recruits are getting experience you can’t replicate in practice because of the injuries. The bad news is more talented, more experienced teams (yes, that includes UConn) are taking advantage of the situation.

Firing Bill O’Brien only sets this program back further. He’s also not getting nearly enough support from people above him that don’t seem to truly care about winning. O’Brien continue to say the right things, but it’s just a fact.

It certainly shouldn’t look like this, but starting over again and going back into the coaching pool won’t expedite anything. As I’ve said before, you really can’t do much better right now.

James was good, not great (understandably)

Rusty (last start was last December, remember), missed some open receivers at times, struggled in the red zone, but you know what? He didn’t turn the ball over, first and foremost. James finished 16-28 for 204 yards and a touchdown. He was also sacked seven times, mostly due to a combination of receivers not being able to get open (it was glaring from up top at times) and both Eryx Daugherty amd Bowry being out. James did have some good protection at times though and you saw what he’s capable of when he did.

There’s also the whole rushing for 62 yards on 17 attempts thing. Lonergan simply doesn’t bring that element and James is a big guy who’s hard to bring down. When asked postgame if he’d be sticking with James, O’Brien was complimentary of the day he had and say ‘we’d evaluate,’ but I’d be shocked if James isn’t starting again next Saturday night. 23 points against UConn should have been enough.

Nice to see the run game get going

Along with James, Jordan McDonald had arguably his best game as an Eagle. That’s one area where this O-line was very, very good on Saturday too, was getting push up front. McDonald had 125 yards on 24 carries. O’Brien said he thought play calling was strong on Saturday and I think he’s right. BC did struggle in the second half at times, but the focus on getting that run game going early was great to see. Sticking with it was even better.

The only chance BC probably has against Louisville next Saturday night is to keep the Cardinals offense off the field and run the ball like 175 times. The receivers (except for Bond, who is still Mr. Third Down and just so reliable) had trouble getting open against the Huskies, who knows what’ll happen against that Louisville secondary. The Eagles are going to need McDonald, Turbo, Bo and who knows who else to tote the rock as much as possible. This was a good momentum builder for that.

Lombardo remains team MVP

Just nails. Absolutely drilled the 47-yard field goal and he’s still perfect on the year. Literally the most reliable guy they have right now.

What do you do on defense? (There’s not much that can be done right now)

Going back to what I talked about in the first part of this, the youth and inexperience is just a killer that teams are exploiting right now. You can’t replace the talent you’re missing with some injuries. There’s a reason those guys were starters. Also, at some point, as much as you can do tackling drills and have coaches teach guys, it has to get done on the field on game day. This can’t JUST be on the coaching. Players – especially on defense – aren’t performing, but again…many of them haven’t played meaningful football at this level yet.

I think this just is what it is for the rest of the year unless BC magically gets much healthier in the next five weeks on that side of the ball.

No quit, but it’s going to be a long final month & a half

James, McDonald and O’Brien were adamant postgame that there’d be no quit and I believe it. Clemson and this loss were not compete issues. It’s talent. BC won’t roll over, but unfortunately at this rate, final scores on the scoreboard may tell a different story.

Louisville, Notre Dame, SMU, Georgia Tech and Syracuse remain. Red Bandanna night could give the Eagles an emotional boost and getting up for Notre Dame is always easy, but the talent discrepancy may just be too big to save the season from being one of the worst (record wise) in program history.