The numbers are even starker now. A 1-3 record, which after last season’s 4-8 mark is not good for peace of mind nor job security.
But there are other numbers and facts which Boston College football coach Frank Spaziani must deal with as well.
Your name is Aaron Murray and you are the starting quarterback for Georgia and you had a highlight afternoon throwing for 278 yards and a pair of touchdowns which were the keys in the Dawgs’ wild 51-44 win over Kentucky on Saturday.
Surely, you will lead the highlight tapes on the college football round ups on Saturday night.
Well…
This time there were no excuses. No fumbles inside the Red Zone. No “what ifs”, “if onlys “. The bottom line for Boston College on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium was simple.
The Eagles weren’t good enough to beat Clemson.
Aren’t good enough.
The speech that Boston College coach Frank Spaziani gave the Eagles earlier in the week will basically be the same one he will give his team before it plays Clemson on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.
Spaziani, who has had a bunker mentality for most of the season as he tries to turn the Eagles back into a winning program in a matter of weeks, will tell his team…
Not much in terms of marquee games and attractions. Thank heavens we have the Ryder Cup and the Yankees and Orioles stare down contest as alternatives.
How ironic is it that the Red Sox, who stagger to the end of a horrendous season, can help both the Yankees (the Sox are in Baltimore this weekend) and the Orioles (the Sox finish the regular season in New York)?
Anyway, back to the weekend of college football.
No great games, but some interesting match-ups. We really like Georgia-Tennessee for a number of reasons.
The primary one?
We think Georgia is good.
Really good.
If the Atlantic Coast Conference wants a seat at the grown-ups table of the BCS, it needs to do something more than show up.
It needs a statement game–OUTSIDE the conference. While other conferences such as the SEC–Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and LSU– the Pac-12–Oregon, Stanford and USC– the Big 12–Texas, West Virginia, Kansas State and Oklahoma–can still flex their muscles and be talked about as serious contenders for the BCS title game, the ACC still is looking for the respect that must be earned.
Who’s No. 1 is always the ongoing question in college football at the start of the season and obviously at the end, when it really matters.
Notre Dame, despite its 11 national championships, has not been part of that conversation in January since 1988 when Irish Coach Lou Holtz capped a 12-0 season with a 34-21 win over West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl.
In the BCS era–starting in 1998–the Irish’s highest ranking has been No. 3–twice– in 2002.
That could be changing this season
It is getting close to crunch time on a decision to find the next athletic director at Boston College. The first step could come as early as Friday when the Boston College Board of Trustees holds a regularly scheduled meeting, with a prime topic of discussion being the candidates to replace outgoing BC Gene DeFilippo who will retire on Sunday.
BC President Father William Leahy reportedly has discussed the candidates with a focus group composed of several people, including BC VP Leo Sullivan, Andy Boynton, the Dean of BC’s Carroll School of Management and Fr. Jack Butler, BC’s newly appointed Mission Minister VP and a leading contender to replace Father Leahy when he retires.
That group, with Sullivan being the point man in the search, has identified 3 areas of concern for the next AD.
Does any one think Alabama is going to lose a game this season? Does anyone think that Alabama is going to play a team that can even slow down the Tide?
Or do we have to wait until the Nov. 3 meeting in Baton Rouge against LSU?
Maybe. We don’t think it’s going to happen this week.
There will be no official ceremony this week at the Clemson game. Just another day (next to last) at the office for Gene DeFilippo and then he will move on to a new office on the other side of campus and away from the constant traffic flow of information, controversy and plans which moved in and out of his office on a daily basis.
In the next few weeks–hopefully–Boston College will have a new athletic director and we are still booking on Wisconsin Deputy Athletic Director Sean Frazier as the choice, but, until the deal is done, nothing is guaranteed.
