The Confidential

Boston College Stuns Miami!

The Boston College Eagles have been a punching bag for most of the football season.  To be sure, they were on a bit of a hot streak heading into their finale against Miami–having beaten Maryland and NC State to get to 3-8.  Meanwhile, Miami was 6-5, but coming off a (correct) decision to forego a bowl appearance this year as a self-imposed punishment for possible NCAA violations.  With Miami hosting Boston College, the collective wisdom was that Miami would take out its frustrations on Boston College.  Instead, Boston College turned the tables on Miami, defeating them 24-17.

The story of the game for Miami was turnovers.  Although the Hurricanes were able to move the ball as competently as Boston College, they committed 4 turnovers.  In fact, Boston College’s Luke Kuechly was able to return an interception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, which provided the final margin for defeat.  In fact, during the game, Kuechly set Boston College record in a career.  He also broke his own ACC record for tackles in a season.  Quite a game for him.

For Miami, a difficult season comes to a disappointing end.  The season started with suspensions due to possible NCAA violations in the Nevin Shapiro scandal.  With a limited roster, Miami lost to Maryland in what would turn out to be the highlight of the Terrapins even worse season.  Although bowl eligible, the Hurricanes will miss a bowl game for the first time since 2007.  Nevertheless, credit Al Golden for keeping this team competitive all year despite the distractions.  Miami did–extending his contract through 2020.

For Boston College, the difficult season ends on a positive note.  The Eagles will not play in a bowl for the first time since 1998.  The Eagles began the season by losing to Northwestern, Central Florida, and Duke.  Those teams are 14-20 overall, with only Northwestern headed to a bowl game.  After beating FCS Massachusetts, the Eagles then lost their first three ACC games to stand at 1-6.  But  credit the Eagles for finish strong–beating Maryland, NC State, and Miami to finish with a conference record of 3-5.  One has to think that the strong finish will improve the chances of Boston College retaining head coach Frank Spaziani.  The team did not quit on him.