BC vs Northwestern Thoughts

After watching from the last row and letting it stew for a couple days, here's what I think...

• We learned nothing about Chase Rettig. He put up some great numbers, but looked indecisive all day. He can't be blamed for all of it, as I thought the play calling didn't give him a chance to shine. The constant play action seemed to distract him more than it helped him. He's an athlete and he has a good arm but I think he needs to calm down a bit mentally. He also missed some wide open receivers and reads. I liked the fact he took the blame for the false start, but you have to make sure you're all on the same page in that situation.

• The play calling was conservative and uninspired. We were told Kevin Rogers brought a big, wide open playbook with him. It seemed he left that at home a decided to use Gary Tranquill's playbook instead. I think this comes back to Spaz not wanting to take any chances. He wants the offense "managed" while the defense makes plays and gets the win. I love Spaz, but I'm starting to think he's in over his head as the head coach. Also, I thought we were done throwing screen passes on 3rd and 10. Tell me when was the last time that worked for BC? Also thought they could have gotten the TE's, especially Pantale more in the game.

• Why is your number 1 receiver playing special teams? Momah tore his ACL and is out for the season. When your roster isn't packed with playmakers, you have to protect the ones you have.

• Very up and down game for the defense. They came up with some huge stops and the big interception, but they also let Northwestern walk all over them on the scoring drives. The CB's have to stop lining up in Brighton.Teams realize they can throw underneath all day long. Can't remember the last time I saw a BC DB body up to a receiver on the line. KPL and Keuchly looked good and Sylvia looks like he deserves more playing time.

• Tackling. Its one of the most basic skills, yet they've never been a good tackling team with Spaziani here. 

So what do we know after the Northwestern game? Not a lot. Hopefully Freese's bad game was just a bad day and he comes back to play like he did last year. Swiggert looked good and aggressive on kick returns. Quigley's punting looked good. If they can clean up some of the mental mistakes, get Rettig to relax, open up the playbook and have Swiggert, Larmond and Pantale step up with the injury to Momah I think they can pull out some wins in a not so strong ACC this year. If not, it could be a long season.