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Agood read on why a coach should NEVER let up,
Eagles answer call
By Terry Bowden, Yahoo! Sports
October 26, 2007
The situation seemed hopeless.
The outcome looked bleak.
Thursday night in Blacksburg, Va., Boston College was struggling mightily on offense as Virginia Tech built a seemingly insurmountable 10-point lead. With 4:17 left in the game, BC found itself backed up to its own 8-yard line with every reason to believe it was going to lose its first ballgame of the season.
But as long as you are losing by less than 17 points you are never out of a game. There is still the mathematical possibility that you can come back and win no matter how much time is left. A touchdown and a two-point conversion, followed by an on-side kick, a Hail Mary pass and another two-point conversion can all occur in a matter of seconds. It isn't likely, but it is possible and it has happened before.
The question was did Boston College believe it could happen again and could the Eagles turn that belief into action and that action into results?
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Senior quarterback Matt Ryan, who had suffered through a miserable evening, throwing two interceptions (and narrowly escaping three others), answered that question with an emphatic "Yes!" With 2:11 left and the Hokies ahead 10-0, he threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Rich Gunnell. Then the Eagles perfectly executed an on-side kick to regain possession at their own 34. Finally, Ryan made one of those plays that only the great ones make. On a third-and-20 from the 24, after scrambling to the left to buy himself more time, he delivered an across the field aerial to a wide open Andre Callender who had slipped out of the backfield and ran down the right sideline for the game winning touchdown with 10 seconds left.
The Eagles believed. They never gave up. They came back to win.
You have to give a lot of credit to first-year head coach Jeff Jagodzinski. As a former assistant on last year's staff, he took over a program that did not need a lot of tinkering and did a good job of not messing anything up. That might not sound like much of a compliment but, I assure you, that is not as common as you would think. Often a first-time head coach will try to establish his own identity within a program and make changes just to put his own stamp on things. The immediate result is that the situation gets worse before it gets better. Coach Jag has done everything right and not only has BC continued to experience the success it had under previous head man Tom O'Brien, but it has taken its game to a higher level. Most importantly, these players believe in their new head man. They believe in the way he does things. And they have confidence that if they do what he says they are going to win – just like in the fourth quarter last night.
I have always felt that the first thing you better do as a new head coach is find a way to win one more game than they did the year before. Then, once you establish yourself, you can start to move in directions that you think will make long-term improvements in the program.
Having a senior quarterback like Ryan doesn't hurt, either. Before the season began and before Ryan was really on anyone's Heisman watch list, several NFL scouts told me he was the real deal. They felt that he might be the first quarterback taken and very likely a high first-round draft pick. Ryan is the kind of QB who can get you to another level as a football program if you just leave things the way they are and surround him with solid schemes and good fundamentals. That's another reason why Jagodzinski should get a whole lot of consideration for national coach of the year honors.
For the first time in three weeks the No. 2 team in the country acted like a No. 2 team and didn't allow itself to get beat. The Eagles could have given in to the pressure that comes with new-found success, but they did not allow the Hokies to take it from them.
That's why you can never give up on a game. It is as much about you believing that you can win as it is about actually winning. It is what dreams are made of. It is what leads to undefeated seasons and national championship possibilities.
Boston College has the most important ingredient that a champion can have … confidence.
That and a great quarterback.
Terry Bowden is Yahoo! Sports' college football analyst. For more information about Terry, visit his official web site.
Send Terry a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
Eagles answer call
By Terry Bowden, Yahoo! Sports
October 26, 2007
The situation seemed hopeless.
The outcome looked bleak.
Thursday night in Blacksburg, Va., Boston College was struggling mightily on offense as Virginia Tech built a seemingly insurmountable 10-point lead. With 4:17 left in the game, BC found itself backed up to its own 8-yard line with every reason to believe it was going to lose its first ballgame of the season.
But as long as you are losing by less than 17 points you are never out of a game. There is still the mathematical possibility that you can come back and win no matter how much time is left. A touchdown and a two-point conversion, followed by an on-side kick, a Hail Mary pass and another two-point conversion can all occur in a matter of seconds. It isn't likely, but it is possible and it has happened before.
The question was did Boston College believe it could happen again and could the Eagles turn that belief into action and that action into results?
ADVERTISEMENT
Senior quarterback Matt Ryan, who had suffered through a miserable evening, throwing two interceptions (and narrowly escaping three others), answered that question with an emphatic "Yes!" With 2:11 left and the Hokies ahead 10-0, he threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Rich Gunnell. Then the Eagles perfectly executed an on-side kick to regain possession at their own 34. Finally, Ryan made one of those plays that only the great ones make. On a third-and-20 from the 24, after scrambling to the left to buy himself more time, he delivered an across the field aerial to a wide open Andre Callender who had slipped out of the backfield and ran down the right sideline for the game winning touchdown with 10 seconds left.
The Eagles believed. They never gave up. They came back to win.
You have to give a lot of credit to first-year head coach Jeff Jagodzinski. As a former assistant on last year's staff, he took over a program that did not need a lot of tinkering and did a good job of not messing anything up. That might not sound like much of a compliment but, I assure you, that is not as common as you would think. Often a first-time head coach will try to establish his own identity within a program and make changes just to put his own stamp on things. The immediate result is that the situation gets worse before it gets better. Coach Jag has done everything right and not only has BC continued to experience the success it had under previous head man Tom O'Brien, but it has taken its game to a higher level. Most importantly, these players believe in their new head man. They believe in the way he does things. And they have confidence that if they do what he says they are going to win – just like in the fourth quarter last night.
I have always felt that the first thing you better do as a new head coach is find a way to win one more game than they did the year before. Then, once you establish yourself, you can start to move in directions that you think will make long-term improvements in the program.
Having a senior quarterback like Ryan doesn't hurt, either. Before the season began and before Ryan was really on anyone's Heisman watch list, several NFL scouts told me he was the real deal. They felt that he might be the first quarterback taken and very likely a high first-round draft pick. Ryan is the kind of QB who can get you to another level as a football program if you just leave things the way they are and surround him with solid schemes and good fundamentals. That's another reason why Jagodzinski should get a whole lot of consideration for national coach of the year honors.
For the first time in three weeks the No. 2 team in the country acted like a No. 2 team and didn't allow itself to get beat. The Eagles could have given in to the pressure that comes with new-found success, but they did not allow the Hokies to take it from them.
That's why you can never give up on a game. It is as much about you believing that you can win as it is about actually winning. It is what dreams are made of. It is what leads to undefeated seasons and national championship possibilities.
Boston College has the most important ingredient that a champion can have … confidence.
That and a great quarterback.
Terry Bowden is Yahoo! Sports' college football analyst. For more information about Terry, visit his official web site.
Send Terry a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.