Following Up: Boston College's Inability to Hold Off Second Half Rallies is Proving Fateful
As a team that at one point this season could easily stake claim to being one of the best second half teams in the country, Boston College took a sharp turn downwards in that respect once conference play began.
The problem has only gotten worse for the Eagles, as was evidenced in the team's Friday night loss to Louisville on its home turf no less. Boston College entered the locker room at the halftime break with a 20-7 lead only to watch it dissipate behind a 24-point second half effort from the Cardinals.
For first year head coach Bill O'Brien, that has to be an alarming statistic, especially when looking back at the Eagles' last three games. Virginia, Virginia Tech and Louisville all scored more points than Boston College in the fourth quarter of each game. In fact, if it weren't for Boston College's 21 point third quarter against VT, the Eagles would have been outscored in each second half among those three games.
On Friday, O'Brien spoke about his team's second half shortcomings in a short press confefence.
"[We] can't do it," said O'Brien. "[We] can't play for 60 minutes. [We] can't coach them well enough to get them to play for 60 minutes. [We've] got to coach a lot better, got to watch the tape and figure out how to fix it. Terrible."
Quarterback Thomas Castellanos also spoke to the media postgame and said that when Louisville stopped the run game, the Eagles found it hard to make any kind of offensive progress in the second half.
"[Louisville] stopped the run," said Castellanos. "They had a lot of guys in the box, and offensively we just couldn't get anything going in the second half. I don't really think it was more of what they did, I think it was more us. We started fast, we just couldn't sustain it for 60 minutes."
Castellanos further elaborated on the team's shortcomings in the second half.
"The first half, I feel like we played good football, good complimentary football, good team football," said Castellanos. "It's the same thing ocurring over and over again. We've got to find a way to finish when we do start fast. Maybe we've got to practice harder or get out there harder, something."
It seems like, then, that both the coaching staff and the leadership within the locker room realize the problem over the course of the last three contests. The question now is how will they respond to it. It can't be overstated that the road lying ahead is tougher on paper than the road behind, and that poses a real problem for BC.
No "tune up" games remain on the schedule, and with its record now at 4-4 (1-3) Boston College will more than likely enter those games as an underdog. Now on a three game losing skid, Boston College looks to right the ship in some way, shape or form against either Syracuse or SMU. Both of those teams could finish the season well inside the AP Top 25 if trends continue.
That set of circumstances brings with it the reality of the situation. After starting the season 4-1, there is an incredibly realistic chance that Boston College misses out on bowl season entirely, which is a circumstance Castellanos, O'Brien and everyone else involved with the program hopes to avoid.
Boston College will look to regroup this week on a bye before playing host to the Syracuse Orange on November 9.
