More Potential BC Uniforms

If I Were Boston College's Next Athletic Director...

Boston College football is a sputtering program with such promising potential. Everyone knows what football could become in Chestnut Hill, but most have resigned to the understanding that it simply isn't happening any time soon. The culture calls for sending good people through the program, doing things the right way, and having class. All great things, but winning is supposed to be the fourth part of that equation. It hasn't been in a few years.

If I was the new athletic director succeeding Gene DeFilippo, I'd introduce these uniforms. Look at schools like Oregon. How do they build their football programs? They look fresh. They sparkle. They have what the younger generations would call swag. Players envision themselves in that jersey, that helmet, those complete uniforms, and they want to be a part of it. Everything is about the image. Just my two cents, but if I was the AD, I'd put these into action and watch my Eagles soar once again.

Boston College Football — Predicting the Rest of 2012

When Friday morning rolls around, I'll be boarding the Boston College Eagles' charter that takes off from Logan Airport and lands in Chicago. The following morning, BC will square off with Northwestern for the third game of their football season.

My attendance is rather unimportant — I'll be doing the play-by-play commentary for Boston College's student radio station, WZBC 90.3 FM — but the game is of massive importance for the Eagles.

Boston College (1-1) is coming off of a blowout 34-3 victory over the Maine Black Bears, an FCS opponent whom the Eagles dominated for their first win. On Saturday, BC will look to notch their first win against an FBS opponent on the young season and prove that they are once again contenders in college football.

Ten games remain on their schedule. Here are my optimistic predictions for how this thing will unfold.

Game #3 — September 15th at Northwestern
As I've just mentioned, this is a statement game for the Eagles. Chase Rettig has led an impressive offensive attack thus far, and the defense — albeit against an FCS offense — looked stellar last weekend. The Eagles hung around with the Wildcats in last year's opener. I see them doing better than that this year. With their three-pronged running attack and revamped passing attack (Might Bobby Swigert be returning soon?), they get a big win against a good opponent. Boston College 27, Northwestern 20.

Game #4 — September 29th vs Clemson
BC's bye week comes after the Northwestern game, so they'll have two full weeks to prepare for Clemson. Sadly enough, that isn't going to matter. All the optimism in the world cannot logically bring me to suggest the Eagles will beat the Tigers. Clemson is absolutely loaded, and if you ask me, they could be competing for a national title come January. No harm, no foul — not a soul expects us to win, anyway. Clemson 42, Boston College 20.

Game #5 — October 6th at Army
This will be a pretty cool game for anyone lucky enough to attend it. Army is a good venue for obvious reasons, and it will surely be a hard-fought game. I suspect they may be too one-dimensional to hang with an Eagles team that brings their A-game. If they do bring that A-game, Boston College rolls. Boston College 34, Army 14.

Game #6 — October 13th at Florida State
Not quite as easy as last week. This will be Boston College's most difficult road game of the season, without question. FSU is always talented, they're an ACC opponent, and midway through the season it will be a critical game. I've said many times that I feel like the Eagles will beat one of the three big powerhouses on their schedule (Clemson, FSU, Notre Dame). It isn't Clemson, and it's not Florida State. Florida State 28, Boston College 14.

Game #7 — October 20th at Georgia Tech
Rounding out a three-game roadie, BC heads to Georgia Tech for another ACC matchup. Even though GT was impressive against VT, I think that is partially because VT is overrated. Like usual, it will be a dog fight. But let optimism prevail. Boston College 20, Georgia Tech 17.

Game #8 — October 27th vs Maryland
Maryland is God awful. We even beat them last year. Boston College 31, Maryland 12.

Game #9 — November 3rd at Wake Forest
It would be outrageous to assume that the Eagles will win all of their winnable games, just like it would be outrageous to say they're beating Clemson on the basis that they could... possibly do it. This is one of those games that the Eagles will drop. An easy win against Maryland behind you and a huge match-up with ND ahead of you — BC lets their guard down and drops a game they could have had. Wake Forest 30, Boston College 17.

Game #10 — November 10th vs Notre Dame
The game of the year for BC and their fans. It will almost surely be under the lights at Alumni Stadium. By my count, BC will enter the game with a record of 5-4. That means they're competing for bowls. And this place will be jacked up. Notre Dame — already an overrated squad — will struggle. BC gets a huge win by executing in the passing game and protecting the football. Boston College 24, Notre Dame 21.

Game #11 — November 17th vs Virginia Tech
I'm telling you, VT is an overrated football team. Logan Thomas is good and all, but they always seem to have problems putting the whole package together. BC is a good team with some flaws. They're still not at the point where they're a true contender in the ACC yet. But they're damn close, and they'll get a signature win after their biggest win the week prior. Boston College 38, Virginia Tech 35.

Game #12 — November 24th at NC State
I could group this game into the same category as Wake Forest, but the difference is that it's the last game of the season. There's an outside shot — albeit unlikely — that this game could still give BC a shot in the ACC. They may be playing for entry into a bowl game. There's a lot on the line. For those reasons — and because BC has a tendency to finish the season on a high note — I think the Eagles close out their campaign on a very impressive three-game winning streak. Boston College 28, NC State 17.

FINAL RECORD: 8-4 (4-4)
Most fans around here would be thrilled with an 8-4 season from the Eagles. I think that their opening loss to Miami will end up being very costly as they compete for the ACC title. As I said, they're still a few pieces away from competing for that conference championship. But this is a good group of players. You'll see it this year. I'm telling you that much. You'll see these players start to win ballgames. When Bobby Swigert and Chris Pantale come back to add two huge weapons to the passing game, Chase Rettig will be that much more impressive. And when Al Louis-Jean comes back as the team's top cornerback, you'll see a defensive unit with more stability and skill.

I may be optimistic suggesting that the Eagles will win eight games this season, but I don't think I'm crazy. I've watched this team start the season, and saw most of them play last year. There's something to work with here. As Doug Martin settles into his new role as offensive coordinator and guides Rettig to multi-touchdown games every week, the limit will continue to rise for the BC Eagles.

And there is still the slightest bit of hope that this team can become relevant in college football once again.

UPDATE -- Optimism can be an embarrassing thing.
      

Who Said Boston College's Luke Kuechly Wasn't Big Enough, Fast Enough, Strong Enough?

Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly was a ball-hawking tackling machine during his three seasons as an Eagle. In his junior season last fall, he smashed his own school record for tackles in a season by racking up 191 of them. That total helped him break the ACC record for tackles in a career, etching a final tally of 532 into the books. His stellar season helped him reap several awards, including the highly renowned Butkus Award for being the best linebacker in college football.

Despite all of these accolades, NFL scouts have maintained their doubts about Kuechly's size, speed and strength in his move from the college scene to the NFL.

After Kuechly's eye-popping performance at the NFL Combine on Monday, however, many of the critics are starting to eat their own words.

Everyone knows that the former BC Eagle has an uncanny nose for the ball and an astronomical football IQ. His athleticism, though, was on full display during his combine workouts. In fact, Kuechly proved to be one of the most athletic among the linebackers — and all positions, for that matter — present at the 2012 combine.

After many emphasized the disadvantages of his small stature, Kuechly measured in at 6'3" and an impressive 242 pounds, showing that he has bulked up since the end of the college football season.

In the 40-yard dash, Kuechly ran a blistering 4.58 time, slating him third among linebackers.

On the bench press, he performed 27 reps — a very impressive number for a guy who was deemed to lack strength and muscle. His total placed him sixth among linebackers.

Kuechly's vertical jump notched a height of 38 inches, good for third-best among linebackers.

His broad jump distance of 10 feet, three inches ranked him fifth among his fellow linebackers.

His time for the three-cone drill (6.92 seconds) placed him fourth among linebackers, his 20-yard shuttle time (4.12 seconds) ranked him third, and he notched the best time among all linebackers in the 60-yard shuttle (11.43 seconds).

Pretty good for a kid who lacks athleticism.

For the local fans here at Boston College and throughout New England, there was never much doubt that Kuechly would translate to the NFL level. We've seen him play, we've seen his commitment, and we've seen his instincts in action. For some of us at the Heights, we've even seen his study habits and his profanity-free language choices. As Boston College coach Frank Spaziani and the rest of the Eagles refer to him, he's "Superboy."

The combine spread that same belief around the nation. After his impressive performance on Monday, it's a certainty that Kuechly will be drafted in the first round. I'd be stunned if he isn't gone by the 15th selection (Philadelphia). He might even go at No. 11 to the Kansas City Chiefs or No. 13 to the Arizona Cardinals. I suppose he could go to anyone — who wouldn't want Superboy?

There's one thing that I've been sure of for a while — and others are becoming convinced of it this week — Luke Kuechly is going to be a very good inside linebacker in the National Football League.

I look forward to purchasing his jersey... unless it's one of those teams from New York.

Welcome to Beantown Chowder

Ladies and gentlemen, the show has returned. Some of you likely remember the days of Ultimate Boston and the memories that came with those times. Our readership wasn't all that big, but we had a good group of faithful readers who interacted and sparked some interesting conversation. This time around, we're hoping to grow a little bit further.

It won't be easy, and it won't happen overnight. But we love the blogging game nonetheless, and we live and die by the Boston sports scene. It won't be all sports analysis all the time, though. We will be looking into some ways to get new, creative segments that can be featured on somewhat of a regular basis. Remember Who Dat? and Cage Fight posts? Those creative types of things with a touch of humor should be coming back around. For those of you who gamble, we have our sports gambling specialist — Bobby Booze is the name — who will drop the tips for you to bring in the cash. The kid won three hundo last summer, including a victory on Keegan Bradley in the US Open. Who the hell bets on one guy to win a golf tournament from the start? Bobby Booze does.

You'll get all of this and more. My name is DRob, and I'm the creator and founder of the site. I may be the one who writes a majority of the posts, but my fellow writers will be contributors, too. Average Joe was a member of the Ultimate Boston team, and he will be on board for Beantown Chowder as well. We might be interested in adding some more writers, so make sure you visit the Become a Writer application. Give us something unique — a reason why you're worth a shot.

Let's get this party started. You can visit the Chowdah Shop through the link at the top of the page. The shop is the same as the old Ultimate store, but we will add more new products in the future. I'm looking forward to kick-starting blogging career part two.