The Zany Preview: Boston College Eagles vs. UMass Minutemen
By Kyle Egan
Sep 14, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Boston College Eagles running back Tyler Rouse (35) runs past USC linebacker Kevin Greene (81) on his way to a scoring a fourth quarter touchdown at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
This is the first segment of a series Soaring To Glory is testing out this year to give a more “fan friendly” preview of Boston College football as a companion to the normal previews. It’s a work in progress of wacky commentary and a strange stream of consciousness. Be nice.
What a fun summer it has been!
A USC Trojan captain is taking cues from Carl Pavano in how to lie about injuries that you are embarrassed about using stories that could only be possible in a Michael Bay movie. Four Notre Dame players, who despite being students at a school well known for telling others how prestigious, are being investigated for academic fraud as if they were members of the Harvard basketball team. Hell, seeing Bobby Petrino in a neck brace wasn’t nearly as fun as what we are seeing now.
Of course the college football season’s excitement might be dampened by the fact that we don’t get to see Johnny Manziel being the personification of American jock arrogance and the awkward ten second camera hovers over Katharine Webb.
Look at it this way: Jameis Winston will still be lighting it up at Florida State, UCLA’s senior QB Brett Hundley could win a Heisman, and Notre Dame’s troubles can only conjure chuckles reminiscent of a Florida State Attorney. It’s a whole new season of pure amateur unpayed college football!! Catch the fever!
Speaking of that, it seems with the O’Bannon ruling that FBS colleges are as close to paying their athletes just like their SEC counterparts. It’s amazing that it took so long to come to this point. It’s not like it will actually help the sport. College football fandom is based on individuals seeing their classmates participate in athletics, not the paid employees of the University.
Some will bring up the fact that the neurological effects of football were hidden and now players need to compensated to play. It’s not like a little extra insurance is a bad thing (and that should exist), but saying that you were willingly ignorant to the logical long term effects of digging your helmet into the bodies of athletic 300 lb men is hilarious. This is a money grab in the same vein as ISPs’ fracturing of net neutrality.
Paying players is a slap in the face to many brilliant students at FBS universities where the grand majority will not even earn a dime for their abilities until they graduate. Focusing on the actual education of student athletes is where FBS athletic departments should pour more dollars. The answer is not paying players. At that point, why not skip the rigors of school and join a possible NFL development league?
Experts from all around the land have been very down on Boston College leading up to this season. Many believe that the departure of the senior class including the magnificent Andre Williams, Chase Rettig, and Kevin Pierre-Louis are the nail in the coffin for the 2014 season.
However these experts fail to realize that these departures can allow the Eagles’ coaching staff to insert some dynamic folds to benefit the squad. Florida transfer QB Tyler Murphy is a Steve Addazio disciple who will give the Dazzler the dual threat quarterback that Rettig, with all of his knee braces, could never be.
Even more intriguing than the quarterback situation is the plan to replace the production of Andre Williams. Not taking anything away from Williams’ Heisman finalist season but his presence limited the choices that the Eagles had on offense. Williams had 355 carries last year compared to Myles Willis’ 60, the next highest on the Eagles’ roster. This year will feature a rotation of Myles Willis, four star recruit Jon Hilliman, Marcus Outlow and Tyler Rouse. The various iterations that offensive coordinator Ryan Day can roll out will keep opposing defenses on their heels.
The defense, especially the secondary, is certainly a work in progress but many Superfans trust in the ability of defensive coordinator Don Brown to piece together a scrappy squad from the ruins of the former coaching staff.