BC came into this game the heavy favorite, ranked unanimously at #4 in the country and sporting an undefeated record more than halfway into this season. The Irish, on the other hand, have had a terrible start and now hold an embarrassing 1-6 record in what has been written off as a rebuilding year. Despite this disparity between one of the most notable rivalries in college football, the BC fan base was up for this game and many made the trip to South Bend to see the game. The campus was a ghost town this weekend and an eerie silence overtook the mods, the hub of BC's nightlife.
BC didn't disappoint as they rolled to a 23-14 victory. A few quick observations about the game.
1) Matt Ryan threw alot of passes over the heads of his receivers, but he still put up some respectable numbers on the day and the win helped him further his Heisman aspirations.
2) Ryan bounced back well from the interception he threw that was returned for a Touchdown, I like that kind of unflappable confidence, or as he termed it "temporary amnesia".
3) The Irish seem to be figuring themselves out. Their backup junior quarterback Evan Sharpley played sharpley (I couldn't resist...sorry) after he took over for starting quarterback Jimmy Clausen.
4) BC running back Andre Callender had another good game for the Eagles, it's nice to see the run can get it done when the defense is keeping Matt Ryan from making big passes.
5) There were a massive amount of questionable penalties called over the course of this game, most against the Eagles. I found it amusing when Charlie Weis was exclaiming from the sidelines that every call had gone the Eagles way, shortly after the commentators noted that the Eagles had been charged with nearly twice as many penalties as the Irish. The final numbers were 15 penalties for 131 yards against the Eagles, 7 penalties for 64 yards against the Irish. Nice try Charlie...don't get too worked up, not with that bum ticker...
Next week's game against Virginia Tech will be a real test for the Eagles. The Hokies were the victims of 48-7 shellacking by LSU down in the Bayou, but other than that they've been a very strong team. They put up an impressive win against Clemson two weeks ago and have clawed their way back up to 12th in the polls and are tied with Virginia at 3-0 in the coastal division of the ACC.
Wins don't come easy out of Blacksburg.
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