A Needed Break and the Next Few Weeks

BC needed this by week.  The past six weeks have seemed like nothing except bad news was coming out of the program.  Between losing games, the loss of Montel Harris for the season, and the constant stream of excuses coming from Spaz and Gene, being a BC fan was becoming downright depressing.  Furthermore, I am sure that the players needed the break.  It can't be easy to be giving your absolute maximum effort week  in and week out, only to lose to inferior opponents.  My hope is that the weekend off gave the players a chance to catch their breath, rest, and relax.  Sometimes all a team needs is a minute to step back and refocus themselves and things can turn around.

My hope is that BC can turn things around after their bye week.  Before the season started many people, including myself, saw the rest of the season after the bye week as a Murderer's Row.  Seven weeks in, while certainly a difficult stretch of games, Murderer's Row has become more of an "Aggravated Assault Row."  When looking back at the first half of the season, you begin to realize that BC was just one or two key plays away from winning games.  With the exception of the UCF or Clemson games, BC was often no more than a touchdown away from victory in the games we lost.  Although I have no reason to believe that the coaching staff has made the necessary adjustments and made the most of their two weeks to prepare for Virginia Tech, there is the hope that the weekend off gave the team a chance to catch their breath and realize that they are close to where they need to be.

The rest of the schedule is not easy, but there are games that are winnable.  NC State and Maryland can certainly go either for or against BC.  I think Spaz will step up to beat his former boss when NC State comes to Chestnut Hill.  Maryland, although they looked good against Clemson, has struggled.  Alumni Stadium, on a cold Thursday night in November, could be a stumbling block for a Florida State team that just isn't as good as people thought they were.  Against Notre Dame and Miami, well, funny things happen in rivalry games.

I have no reason to believe that BC will be able to turn things around for the second half of the season and, if I am honest with myself, expect us to lose most, if not all, of our second half games.  But, each new week brings hope and my hope is that a week off to rest and refocus will give BC the chance to get things back on the right track.