I am hesitant to say that Boston College football has reached rock bottom since losing to Wake Forest this weekend, but that's only because I don't think we've reached it yet. BC has now gone 1-4 in its first five games, the easy part of the schedule. Many predicted that BC would be able to go, at worst, 3-2 through this stretch, while some even thought 4-1 or 5-0 was possible. BC is losing games at a rate unprecedented in recent memory and it may only get worse in the coming weeks. Looking at the schedule, the only games that seem winnable right now are against Maryland on October 29 and NC State on November 12 but then again, most people expected Northwestern, Duke, and Wake Forest to be winnable games.
The problems that have been in place all season were still present this weekend. The offensive line play is sloppy. Although Chase Rettig made more mistakes this weekend than he has in past games, it still doesn't help that there are defensive ends in the backfield from the moment the ball is snapped. The defensive line is still not getting the penetration needed to force opposing quarterbacks to make mistakes. For what it's worth, however, I thought that they did play better against Wake Forest but I am not sure whether to attribute that to Wake's offensive line or our defensive line.
The lone bright spot this weekend was the return of Montel Harris. Yes he played last week, but we saw him return to true form this week. Montel made a display Saturday of turning nothing into something, a talent that has become his trademark since playing at BC. On his way to registering a 108 yard rushing performance, Montel also surpassed Derrick Knight as BC's all time rusher, with a total of 3,735 yards to this point.
With the loss to Wake Forest, BC is traveling down a very dangerous path. 1-11 is a very real possibility this season. The damaging effects that a 1-11 season could have would not just effect our chance to make it to a bowl game this season. A 1-11 season would effect recruiting, donations, and Athletic Department revenues. The Athletic Department is already having difficulty selling tickets. Group-on has been used to sell tickets to the public. Prior to the season starting, season ticket holders were offered four additional tickets to either the Northwestern, Duke or UMass games, for free. Trouble selling tickets means less people in the seats, which means less people buying concessions, buying souvenirs and making use of BC facilities. Donations have also taken a hit over the last few years. Many people I have talked to have stated they will not donate to the Flynn Fund until changes are made at the top of the program, myself included. Recruiting can also suffer. If a team isn't winning, high school players are not going to want to play there. As a result, the talent level will dip making it that much more difficult for the team to compete in the ACC.
The threat of decreased revenues and donations, recuiting difficulties, to say nothing of the possibility of current players transferring or leaving early for the NFL (Kuechly) is what Boston College is currently facing if we continue down the path toward a 1-11 season. Changes need to be made if there is a hope that things can turn around for Boston College. Right now, I fully expect BC to be facing a losing season this year. How bad this season could be is yet to be seen. My hope is that a win this weekend in Clemson will be the turnaround the team needs to finish the season strong. The reality could be a far different story
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