Birmingham Bowl: Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

A look at some of the individual performances from yesterday's loss to the Bearcats

Boston College didn't stand a chance yesterday as they were soundly defeated 38-6. Cincinnati Bearcats executed at an high level on both offense and defense in the Birmingham Bowl, beating up the Eagles up front. It's tough to break down a game and find positives where the Eagles were so soundly beaten on both sides of the ball.  But we will do our best. Let's look at some of the individual performances and give some thumbs up and and thumbs down

Thumbs Up

Mike Palmer: Watching the defense yesterday I would be hard pressed to find a true thumbs up, but Palmer was the closest. He had a few good hits at the line of scrimmage, eight tackles, along with the blocked punt that led to the lone Boston College points. Palmer had a tough 2019 season, but ended it on a stronger note in the Birmingham Bowl. 

Isaiah McDuffie: Losing Max Richardson for the game was a major blow for the defense, but even if he did play it probably wouldn't have made that big of a difference. However, a healthy McDuffie probably prevented the huge explosion plays which would have made this game even worse. Led the Eagles with ten tackles. 

It's Over. When the final seconds ticked off the clock, Boston College could officially move on from the Steve Addazio era. Now new head coach Jeff Hafley can bring in his new coaching staff, work on transfers/recruiting, and mold Boston College in his vision. Having Hafley's hire hovering over this game made this game sort of palatable, because there is a tangible light at the end of the tunnel. Even after this brutal loss, the new hire has led to an infectious positive aura around the program. 

Thumbs Down

Dennis Grosel: Instead of pointing out all his mistakes or what he can and can't do, let's just say this: Grosel isn't the future at QB at Boston College. Whether it's Anthony Brown, Daelen Menard or a transfer, the Eagles need to find another quarterback for 2020. Grosel went 8/17 for 87 yards, and never really got anything going either through the air or on the ground. 

Third Down Offense: Boston College went 0/11 on third down. Yes, you read that correctly, the Boston College Eagles did not convert a single third down against Cincinnati. 

David Bailey and the offensive line: Brutal day for both, Bailey only ran the ball 8 times for 35 yards, while the offensive line was pushed around by a dominant Cincinnati defensive front. Starter John Phillips did not play in the game due to a hip injury, and was replaced by Dwayne Scott. Not the kind of game many had hoped for out of a unit that had played so well for the majority of the season. 

Tackling/Third Downs: Instead of selecting an individual on defense, let just dissect two of the major issues in the Birmingham Bowl. First off, the Boston College couldn't tackle. There were countless plays where the Eagles had Desmond Ridder or Michael Warren II wrapped up, but couldn't finish the tackle. This led to easy first downs, drive extensions, and at least two of Ridder's TDs. Hopefully tackling is something the new defensive coordinator works on for next year because it killed the Eagles this year. 

Cincinnati went 11/19 on third down (and 2/2 on 4th) as the Eagles couldn't get off the field. This wasn't a case like Kansas where players were out of place, this was due to just getting flat out beaten by a better team. And you can't just point to one unit, the secondary allowed receivers to get open, the defensive line lost containment at the line of scrimmage and the linebackers couldn't match the speed of the Bearcats.