Too much respect is being given to Boston College and not enough is going the other way to Kent State. Take the Golden Flashes and the points on Saturday afternoon.
"There are going to be problems with any job. No one needs to feel sorry for us and what I inherited. What I inherited was a great job at a great university, with great people and great players. Now, do we have our work cut out for us? Yes. Do we have a plan? Yes. Is the future bright? Yes. There's a lot of positive things."
That was how new Boston College head coach Frank Spaziani made his entrance, taking over a program filled with issues throughout (three head coaches in three years can do that). Yet the Eagles opened with a 54-0 lambasting of Northeastern, and the marketplace is treating them as though all is well this week.
It isn’t. Whipping an FCS team that lost 10 games last year does not mean a whole lot, and if anything it could actually be construed as a negative opener in that some of the key issues were not able to be addressed. So we gladly take the value being offered here.
The Eagles have problems on both sides of the ball. There is not a QB that has ever taken a snap in a lined game, and by using Jason Tuggle (red-shirt freshman), David Shinskie (playing football again after six years as a pitcher in the Minors, and not around for spring practice), Cody Boek (played FB and on the special teams LY) and Mike Marscovetra (true freshman) all on Saturday none of them got a chance to get the kind of reps needed to run the offense well. Having split the snaps through fall practice as well, the chemistry of the passing game is an awkward mix.
Meanwhile that usually staunch defensive interior has to cope with the loss of 1st round (B. J. Raji) and 2nd round (Ron Brace) NFL draft picks, and injury and illness has taken away key LB’s Mark Herzlich and Mike McLaughin, with starter Will Thompson also missing Saturday, though he should return this week. Without Thompson they started two freshman and a sophomore at LB, and since Thompson is only a soph himself they are extremely untested.
And while established programs can often look to veterans to help steady the ship while young players develop, BC only has seven senior starters, and only two more on the second unit. This is a team that will be a work in progress, and there is absolutely no scoreboard urgency here, with a brutal cycle of six straight games against bowl opponents on deck, starting with a revenge affair at Clemson next week.
This is not all anti-Boston College, however. Kent State brings play-on potential in several areas, with a veteran OL leading the way for the cut-back runs of Eugene Jarvis, which can be especially effective against young LB’s; an emerging offensive weapon in freshman WR Tyshon Goode (six catches for 84 yards in his debut); and the defense has a chance to be vastly improved.
Michigan transfer Cobrani Mixon quickly made his presence felt at MLB, earning MAC Defensive Player of the Week honors in his first game with the Golden Flashes, while Kevin Hogan (third in career sacks at Kent) adds a pass rush up front, and there are six members of the secondary with starting experience. They should never lose contact with a favorite that lacks the explosiveness, cohesion and any real intent to get this one by a big margin.
Free Pick: Kent State +21½ (-110)