BC-Louisville preview - Boston Sports Today

The Jeff Hafley bandwagon is a lonely place right now. Can you blame his critics and doubters? Last week was a disaster. Florida State is good, but we were inept on Offense and wore down on Defense. I don’t know where to start on Jurk. I drank the Kool-Aid, but I am not alone. He was on various watch lists and the Senior Bowl people were at the FSU game to scout him for their showcase game! This is a total regression that can’t be pinned solely at the feet of the OLine. Phil deserves some heat, but Hafley should carry the brunt of it. The mismanagement of the Offensive Line in the offseason and the transition from Cig to McNulty’s playbook and play calling has squandered some elite playmakers, set back a potential pro QB and put the D in huge holes. I trust Hafley to find and develop talent. He has done it before. But if he wants to stick around to coach this talent he has to make some tough and smart decisions now. He has to salvage any positivity and respectability he can out of this season. In the offseason he needs to figure out what his offense is and who he trusts to coach and execute that vision.

What’s on my mind (not totally related to this game)
As the games slip away, there is always someone on Twitter who says we never should have fired Addazio. I don’t understand that logic. Even if you think Addazio is better than Hafley (I don’t), he had seven years to show he was more than a .500 coach. He was never going to be anything more than that. BC athletes and the BC community deserve better than that. Will Hafley exceed Addazio’s ceiling? I don’t know. But if he can’t then BC needs to move on again. Great programs move on from mediocre coaches.

Three Simple Keys

1. Establish the run early. Even if it feels Addazio-ish with run, run, pass, punt, I think BC needs to be stubborn and purposeful early. It will help the D, the Oline and even Jurk.

2. Get Jurk involved in the running game. This is sort of related to Key 1. Jurk can move. We run the read option, but he never keeps it. Having him run will move the chains and set up play action for him later in the game.

3. Allow fewer explosive plays. This means disciplined and smart tackling.

Gambling Notes

— Hafley is 0-4 against the spread this season

— Louisville is 3-4 all time at Alumni

— Louisville is 2-2 against the spread this year

The current line is BC+14.5

Factoid
This is BC’s 141 regular season ACC game.

Scoreboard Watching
FSU-Wake Forest. I think we made FSU look better than they are. If they throttle Wake then we know they are actually “back.”

What I hope to see…

A non offensive touchdown. I don’t care how it comes: punt return, pick 6, scoop and score. I just would love to see something go our way and create some excitement.

BC is in trouble if…

We go down early. Hafley even said so himself. Execution and talent are the biggest issues right now, but the mental aspect of this all is also part of the problem. We have zero confidence and show little fight. If we get down early, I think this team could be in for another beat down.

Bottom Line
This is a bad time in a coaching tenure. I can’t even talk myself into a win. I want it. I want to believe. I still like Hafley. But I have little faith in the offense being able to manufacture enough points to win the game.
Final Score: BC 17, Louisville 27