Beat BC!

More of this, less of what we saw in the 4th quarter against the Terps.

Today in Chestnut Hill, our Hoos will wrangle with the Eagles of Boston College.  Our season essentially ends today, for all intents and purposes --- we cannot attain bowl eligibility, and anyone who thinks we stand a chance against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg next Saturday needs to put down the crack pipe.

I don't want to see the season end with four straight losses, after what looked like a potential breakthrough victory against Miami on October 30th.  But the deck is certainly stacked against us today.  Consider:

• Virginia has struggled to stop the run all season long, and especially since the Florida State game.  Boston College's stud running back Montel Harris leads the ACC in rushing yardage (1129 yards, 112.9 per game, 4.6 ypc, 7 TDs).
• Virginia's top runner and arguably its biggest weapon on offense (and arguably its best player overall), Keith Payne, is OUT of this game with an injury.  Boston College leads the ACC -- and the nation -- in rushing defense.
• In four tries, Virginia has never beaten Boston College.
• Virginia has lost its last 11 games in the month of November.  (The last November win for the Hoos was in 2007, helping Miami to shut down the Orange Bowl by handing them their asses in a 48-0 romp.)
• At 5-5, BC needs this win to become bowl-eligible.  Their last game, at Syracuse, looks much tougher than it did earlier this season.  The Eagles will come into this game hungry for the win.

So yeah, the deck is stacked against us today.

A loss would send us to an inevitable 4-8 record, with losses in the last four games and in five of the last seven.  It's hard to sell the fact that the program is headed in the right direction if recruits don't see some tangible results (read: wins) on the field.

It's a big game.  I had a gut feeling we'd beat Maryland last week.  I have no such feeling today.  And I'll take that as a good thing.  My gut is a filthy, rotten liar.

Let's hope the Hoos play some inspired football today, that Marc Verica has one last upset in that right arm of his (because we'll need to move the ball through the air), that Perry Jones can channel his inner Mikell Simpson circa 2007, that the team finally moves past its penchant for picking up stupid penalties, that the D finds a way to stop or at least slow down the run, and that we can somehow pull out the W.  It would be a big one if we can get it done.  Huge.

Beat BC!

GO HOOS!