Monday, December 31, 2007

BC's Line was Offensive - No BCS

After watching a slew of college football bowl games over the Holidays, it is a shame that the Boston College Eagles did not make it to a BCS bowl game. Earlier in the year they were undefeated, had a Heisman trophy candidate, a senior team, and were ranked #2 in the polls but then everything went south and instead we were forced to watch an over matched Hawaii team and a barely above .500 Michigan team play on New Year's Day.

With all the accolades that have been thrown towards first year BC Coach Jeff Jagodinski this past season, why hasn't anyone mentioned the ineffectiveness of the offensive line? Sure Coach Jags brought a Favresque looseness to the offense this year but his major impact was to to slim-down the lineman in an effort to make them faster and more productive in his new zone blocking schemes.

In the past, BC was known for their large, dominating offensive fronts. A line so big that they would wear down the opposition in the second half of games. This year not only were they giving up a multitude of sacks but they were the ones wearing down in games often forcing Matt Ryan to roll out of the pocket and throw or run for his life.

I appreciate Coach Jags enthusiasm but one could argue that if it weren't for his offensive line tweaks and schemes, Ryan may have had a lot less INTs and BC may have had an ACC Championship, another Heisman trophy winner, and a BCS bowl bid.