- Gameball goes to Jay Butler because our team was bigger, stronger, and better conditioned than Boston College. All those early morning workouts paid off Saturday. Was surprised at how long BC valiantly held out , but our physical superiority ultimately won out, especially on the last drive, when we ran the ball 11 times for at least 96 yards, and there was nothing they could do about it. Was very reminiscent of the 2nd half of the Michigan game last year, but Saturday, we finished. BC was a tired team in the fourth quarter, which is why we held them scoreless, while we scored 10 points.
- Kyle Monangai is my offensive MVP for his tough running between the tackles
- Wesley Bailey is my defensive MVP for his two key sacks and key fumble recovery which led to a TD. Wesley was a 2 or 3 star recruit, yet is playing like a 5 star after 2 years of development.
- Christian Izien had a monster game finishing with 10 and multiple tackles for loss. Played in the box most of the game, read his keys, was quick to diagnose plays and positioned himself to make the play. Very smart player with excellent sense of anticipation and nose for the ball, who stopped plays before they had a chance to develop. Clearly did a lot of film work. Future NFL safety following in the footsteps of Devin McCourty and Joe Lefeged.
- Jennings was also very productive and finished with 6 tackles and 1 TFL
- True Freshman Kenny Fletcher played a lot on third downs, which was a surprise
- Every offensive player has become an especially strong blocker on running plays. Previous years, our WRs weren’t that great at it. This was the attention to detail missing before Schiano. On the last play of our last TD drive, every player executed their assignment, and took out their man. It reminded me of a Bo Jackson Tecmo Bowl Touchdown run. BCs defense was annihilated on that last play. In particular, LT Willie Tyler, who struggled at times, pancaked his man, while TE Victor Konopka sealed the edge. This made it easy for Al Shadee Salaam to use his talent to waltz into the end zone, untouched. Tyler seemed like he was acclimating to this level, and will get better.
- Konopka stepped in for an injured Alaimo, and we didn’t miss a beat.
- The kid QBs did great, making their share of mistakes, but thankfully not too many. They played well enough to win, and that’s all that matters. I like the platoon, and it makes sense to roll with it, given the caliber of competition, the next two games
- Harris got in trouble but don’t know for what. Schiano spent a good 3-5 minutes speaking with him during the first quarter after his screwup, which I found unusual. (Schiano doesn’t speak to kids that long during a game unless they screw up). They spoke right in front of me. According to the play by play report , he had one catch for 9 yards, in the 2nd half, which probably happened while I was in a long concessions line. Hope to see him bounce back next game, because we need his talent to beat Iowa. We are not going to be able to bully them the way we did Boston College, and will need to be more productive in the air. He could be our Flowers, whom we couldn’t stop.
- Great win. Should coast the next two games, setting up for a big clash against Iowa, which hopefully will be a night game sellout. How long have we waited for that!
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