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| Game Day :: two deep :: injury report :: SCOUTING REPORT :: stats | |
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SCOUTING REPORT :: BOSTON COLLEGE CBS Sportsline.com (Head to Head) Dennis
Dodd's Take # Michigan
State: DE Jonal Saint-Dic has 10 sacks, but just one over the last four
games ... RB Javon Ringer's 1,346 rushing yards rank fourth in the Big
Ten and 21st in the nation ... This is Michigan State's first bowl game
since 2003 ... CB Chris L. Rucker was cleared for full contact after having
three medical procedures performed on his eyes in the last two months
... The Spartans led the Big Ten in scoring with 34.1 ppg. "We
fell short of our ultimate goal, which was to win the ACC championship;
and that is extremely frustrating considering the amount of time and effort
we put into making it happen. We were so close. But (we had) a 10-win
season, the first time it's been done here in back-to-back years in forever." Expert Picks Boston Coll. Mich. St. Boston Globe: BC's Silva named first-team All-American Boston
College free safety Jamie Silva was named a first-team selection to the
Associated Press All-America team. Silva, a 5-foot-11-inch, 210-pound
senior from East Providence, R.I., is the 11th BC player to earn AP first-team
All-America honors. "It's great," said Silva, who was a finalist for this year's Thorpe Award as the nation's best defensive back and a first-teamer on the Walter Camp All-America and All-Atlantic Coast Conference squads. "This is what you always hope for, as far as a personal achievement." Despite playing the second half of the season with a fractured left foot, Silva managed a team-leading 115 tackles (75 solo, 40 assists) and had six interceptions, including one he returned 65 yards for a touchdown against Bowling Green. "A lot of it was luck and being in the right place at the right time," said Silva, who will play in the Jan. 18 East-West Shrine Game in Houston after BC's Dec. 28 contest against Michigan State in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando. "But it was also a lot of hard work and practice, and it feels good now that it's paying off." Game
Preview Boston College owns the nation's longest bowl game winning streak at seven games and will try to make it eight when it takes on Michigan State in the Champs Sports Bowl. Not to disparage the hospitality of the folks in Orlando, but this not where the Eagles wanted to be or thought they would wind up. For two weeks, on October 21st and 28th, Boston College was in second place in the BCS Standings. A miraculous comeback victory at Virginia Tech made the Eagles 8-0 and it looked like a national championship opportunity was their destiny. The next week, Boston College was upset at home by Florida State. The following week, Maryland drove the Eagles further down the BCS Standings to No. 17 and the only thing left to play for was an ACC Championship and a BCS bid. They made it to the conference title game, but Virginia Tech got its revenge with a 30-16 win. The question to be answered in this game is how the Eagles will rebound from losing three of their last five games and having prosperity slip through their grasp. Boston College doesn't need to look much further than the upbeat new head coach, Jeff Jagodzinski. After that, it can look for reassurance from Johnny Unitas Award-winning quarterback Matt Ryan. Alongside Ryan are 24 other seniors whose 38-12 record is the best four-year mark of any group to go through Boston College. Still, many can't help but wonder how back-to-back 10-3 records under two different head coaches can produce nothing bigger than a Meineke Car Care Bowl invitation last year, and a Champs Sports Bowl trip this year. The Chick-fil-A and Gator Bowls passed over the Eagles and selected Clemson (9-3) and Virginia (9-3), largely due to the scores of fans who were dressed as empty seats at the ACC Championship game in Jacksonville which reinforced the notion that BC's fan base won't show up in numbers. Those who do show up in Orlando may witness a 400-yard passing game from Ryan as he goes against a Michigan State team that ranks 71st in the nation in pass efficiency defense. However, these teams are pretty close offensively. Michigan State, 7-5 under first-year head coach Mark Dantonio, is 33rd nationally in total offense while BC ranks 27th. The Spartans are 40th in total defense while the Eagles rank 25th. Michigan State quarterback Bryan Hoyer ranks 27th nationally in pass efficiency, while the Eagles' Ryan only ranks 57th. Ryan threw for 4,258 yards and 28 TD's, but also threw 18 picks. Hoyer only threw for 2,594 yards with 18 TD's and 7 INT's. Michigan State's Devon Thomas led all Big Ten receivers with 1,226 yards. The Spartans have the upper hand in the running game with Jevon Ringer amassing 1,346 yards and 6 TD's. When Michigan State sniffed the goal line, Jehuu Caulcrick crossed it 21 times while gaining 813 yards himself. Boston College will counter that running threat with the top-ranked rushing defense in the land. The Eagles only conceded a paltry 68 yards per game and 8 touchdowns on the ground. Michigan State let John L. Smith go as head coach at the end of the 2006 season as the team once again failed to live up to expectations. According to the Congrove Computer Rankings' preseason projections, the Spartans underperformed 3 of the last 5 seasons under Smith, matched expectations once, and exceeded them just once (2003). In Dantonio's first season, Michigan State is three wins ahead of the computer's projections. As a result, the Spartans are returning to a bowl game for the first time since 2003. The fans in East Lansing are now hoping to see something they haven't seen since 2001 - a bowl victory. The Boston College Eagles and the Michigan State Spartans meet in Orlando’s Champs Sports Bowl, a pair of programs that improved under first-year head coaches this season. Boston College’s rise to claim the ACC Atlantic title under new man Jeff Jagodzinski may have been the bigger surprise. The Eagles lost former coach Tom O’Brien to division rival North Carolina State. O’Brien led BC for 10 seasons and a seven-game winning run in bowl games, the nation’s longest current streak. Jagodzinski’s first college head coaching job was made easier by the presence of upperclassmen throughout the Eagles’ lineup. None was more important than senior quarterback Matt Ryan. Ryan came out gunning, leading the Eagles to an 8-0 start. He led an amazing comeback win in the dying minutes at Virginia Tech at the end of October that served two purposes: it placed Boston College No. 2 in the national rankings and made Ryan the favorite for the Heisman Trophy at the time. Eagles-fever died down in November and December, when Ryan threw more interceptions than touchdown passes and BC slumped to a 2-3 finish. The Eagles had a shot at an Orange Bowl berth but lost their rematch with the Hokies in the ACC Championship game. The Eagles’ anticlimactic conclusion to the season doesn’t diminish how threatening they are to opposing teams. The team’s offensive numbers are pass-heavy. That’s a natural reaction to having an NFL-ready quarterback running the show behind an experienced line that excels in pass protection. Boston College’s senior backfield duo can make plays when needed. Andre Callender caught the game-winning touchdown pass against the Hokies, one of 72 catches he made on the year out of the backfield. Callender also ran for nearly 1,000 yards. One of the only offensive glitches for the Eagles is former walk-on kicker Steve Aponavicius, who hit only 65 percent of his field goal attempts and missed four extra points this season. Defensively, the Eagles could use the healthy return of shutdown cornerback DeJuan Tribble. However they excelled all year at stuffing the run. Boston College was the top school in the nation against the ground game, allowing opponents only 68 rushing yards per game. There lies the battle for the Spartans, who come to Orlando boasting one of the country’s top ground attacks. Javon Ringer and Jehuu Caulcrick were a nightmare lightning-and-thunder duo for opponents this year, combining for 2,159 yards and 27 touchdowns, all rushing. MSU’s new head coach Mark Dantonio rode Ringer and Caulcrick to an early-season winning record, something Dantonio’s predecessor, John L. Smith, had no problem doing. The Spartans overcame their reputation for late-season collapses by shifting focus away from the run. They recognized that receiver Devin Thomas is as dangerous a player as you’ll find in the Big Ten. The Spartans delivered a pair of upset wins to close the season 7-5 as quarterback Brian Hoyer looked Thomas’ way early and often. Thomas, who doubles as a kickoff return threat, caught 17 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns in the final two wins. Michigan
State will need all the offensive balance it can muster to keep up with
Boston College. The Spartans’ defense rarely slowed down its conference
opponents, allowing 33 points per game in Big Ten action. Saint-Dic and fellow end Ervin Baldwin may, in fact, be the keys to the Champs Sports Bowl. If they can find ways to hassle Ryan, the Spartans could surprise. If Ryan has time to set up and throw downfield, however, the Eagles could recapture their early-season winning ways. ESPN - from the Associated Press Boston College is looking to extend the nation's longest active winning streak in bowl games. This certainly is not the game the Eagles hoped to do it in. Having blown chances to play in either the BCS national title game or the Orange Bowl, the Eagles must settle for a Dec. 28 trip to the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando as they try to avoid having Michigan State spoil their perfect bowl record this decade. That would be little consolation to a team that opened 8-0 and was ranked No. 2 as late as the Oct. 28 poll, with quarterback Matt Ryan a Heisman Trophy candidate. The No. 14 Eagles (10-3, 6-2 ACC) had their perfect season ruined with a home defeat to Florida State, and also lost the following week at Maryland. They did manage to win the ACC's Atlantic Division, only to lose out on an Orange Bowl berth by dropping the conference title game 30-16 to Virginia Tech. A win over the Spartans (7-5, 3-5 Big Ten), though, would give the Eagles eight consecutive bowl victories. They've reached a bowl game in nine straight years, having gone unbeaten since a 62-28 loss to Colorado in the 1999 Insight.com Bowl. Utah has a chance to tie BC's bowl winning streak at seven when the Utes play Navy Dec. 20 in the Poinsettia Bowl. BC's streak reached seven with a 25-24 victory over Navy in last year's Meineke Bowl on a 37-yard field goal by walk-on Steve Aponavicius as time expired. That win is part of a 38-12 record by the Eagles' seniors, who comprise the winningest class in school history. But that class has only played in the Continental Tire Bowl, the MPC Computers Bowl and the Meineke Bowl. This season, BC ended the regular season with hopes of making a more high-profile bowl, such as the Chick-fil-A Bowl. But Clemson was chosen despite finishing second to BC in the Atlantic Division because the Eagles' fans aren't known to travel in large numbers. BC also missed out on the ACC's Gator Bowl berth, which went to Coastal Division runner-up Virginia. "I don't think you look at it as a consolation," first-year BC coach Jeff Jagodzinski said. "I'm looking forward to taking my team to a bowl." Many of his players see it differently, especially since they had a chance to beat Virginia Tech. BC led 16-7 in the second quarter, but had an extra point blocked and returned for a safety that swung the momentum in the Hokies' favor. The Eagles didn't score after that, and Ryan threw two interceptions while down a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, including one that was returned for a score with 11 seconds left. "It's hard to put this one in words," BC senior linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar said. "We wanted to go to the Orange Bowl as bad as we wanted the ACC title. It's a setback in terms of this program, our team goals and our personal goals." The Spartans' seniors, on the other hand, are just happy to play in a bowl. Michigan State last played in the postseason in 2003, losing the Alamo Bowl to Nebraska 17-3. Unlike BC, Michigan State earned the berth based on a good reputation for travel after bringing 25,000 fans to Orlando for the Florida Citrus Bowl in 2000. First-year Spartans coach Mark Dantonio was an assistant in that game as they beat Florida 37-34. "It's a chance to begin taking the steps towards getting to where we eventually want to be, which is a championship," Dantonio said. "... It gives us proof that we're heading in the right direction." Michigan State started 4-0, only to drop five of six to open Big Ten play and put itself on the bowl bubble at 5-5. But wins in the Spartans' final two games ensured a bowl berth and they closed the regular season with a 35-31 home win over Penn State on Nov. 17, erasing a 31-21 fourth-quarter deficit. The Spartans will have their work cut out for themselves defending Ryan, the ACC player of the year. Ryan is fifth in the nation with 327.5 passing yards per game, and won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the country's top senior quarterback. He also set school passing records with 4,258 yards and 28 touchdowns this season. Michigan State allowed 26.8 points per game this year, while BC's offense averaged 28.6. "I've watched them play on TV a couple of times," Spartans safety Travis Key said. "They have a great team. And Matt Ryan is a great quarterback. You have to be pretty good to be on the Heisman Trophy list the way he was. But I know our coaches will get us ready to go." Michigan State won its last two games despite allowing 31 points in each and a combined 872 total yards. In their last five games, the Spartans have given up an average of 179.8 yards on the ground, meaning BC senior Andre Callender (956 yards rushing) has a good chance for his first 1,000-yard season. But led by a trio of juniors, the Spartans also can score. Brian Hoyer is second in the Big Ten with a 138.9 quarterback rating, Javon Ringer ranked third with 1,346 rushing yards and Devin Thomas topped the conference with 1,226 receiving yards. The Spartans average 34.1 points, and have compiled 841 total yards and 83 points their last two games. BC's defense was ranked fifth in the ACC (331.4 yards allowed per game), and features All-America safety Jamie Silva, who returned an interception for a touchdown in the ACC title game. The Eagles are 3-1-1 all-time against Michigan State, but the programs haven't played since 1995. That year, the Spartans earned their only win against BC, 25-21 at home. The last time the schools played in any sport was in last season's hockey national championship, which Michigan State won 3-1. BC won the Champs Sports Bowl when it was known as the Carquest Bowl and held in Miami on New Year's Day 1994, beating Virginia 31-13. Boston College
Offense vs. Michigan State Defense INSIDE SLANT "I think it will be a great trip," All-American quarterback Matt Ryan told the Boston Globe. "We want to continue the bowl streak (BC has won a nation's-best seven straight bowl games). For the fifth-year guys, it will be the last time we put on a BC uniform. "To get to 11 wins is something special which hasn't been done in some time (since 1942). So there are a lot of things to motivate us." The Eagles, once No. 2 in the country, are No. 14 and Ryan said beating Michigan State could vault his team back into the Top 10. The Eagles (10-3) always seem to get the short end of the stick because their fans don't travel in droves and will be facing the seventh-place team from the Big Ten. That doesn't make the game any less important in Ryan's eyes. He said former BC coach Tom O'Brien taught the players that, "You always have to respect your opponent. We know what's at stake. We will be pumped up." A win in the bowl game would make Jeff Jagodzinski the all-time winningest rookie coach in ACC history. NOTES, QUOTES SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: Michigan State scored 83 points in beating Wisconsin and Penn State to close the regular season. The Spartans have the No. 22 rushing attack in the country, just No. 58 through the air. But MSU is 24th in the country in scoring offense, so the Spartans can put points on the board. The BC defense should be able to use the four weeks to get healthier than it has been since forever. MATCHUP TO WATCH: QB Matt Ryan against the Michigan State pass defense -– The Spartans are just No. 43 in the country against the pass, so Ryan could have a big game. This is his college finale, and he wants to put another stamp on a brilliant college career. QUOTE TO NOTE: "We fell short of our ultimate goal, which was to win the ACC championship; and that is extremely frustrating considering the amount of time and effort we put into making it happen. We were so close. But (we had) a 10-win season, the first time it's been done here in back-to-back years in forever." BC tight end Ryan Purvis as his team prepared for the Champs Sports Bowl. STRATEGY
AND PERSONNEL PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Matt Ryan The pre- and postseason Player of the Year in the ACC, Ryan was also the league's Offensive Player of the Year. He has broken Doug Flutie's BC season record for touchdown passes and also authored some real Flutie magic. He was unable to pull it off in the ACC title game, though, which is why the Eagles are in Orlando and not Miami. RB Andre Callender –- The real unsung hero of this team. Callender comes into his final college game needing 64 yards for his first college 1,000-yard rushing season. He has run for nine touchdowns and is also BC's leading receiver, with 72 for 705 yards and six more scores. FS Jamie Silva -– He had a huge game against Virginia Tech in the ACC title game, with his sixth interception and a 51-yard romp with a ball he ripped out of the hands of Tech QB Tyrod Taylor. He was one of the three finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back. LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar -– He's been playing on a sprained ankle and the time off before the bowl game should help him bounce back and be healthier than he's been in some time. ROSTER REPORT: LBs Jo-Lonn Dunbar and Tyronne Pruitt, both hobbling on bad ankles in the ACC title game, have improved and are listed as starters for the bowl. CB DeJuan Tribble (knee sprain) expects to return but his status remains uncertain. Callender is BC's leading receiver, but Rich Gunnell is the leading pass catcher among receivers, with 58 catches, a team-high 793 yards and five touchdowns. FS Jamie Silva leads the Eagles in tackles with 115. BC has won 10 games the past two years, the first time in program history that has happened. |
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