Cupcakes Are Full of Empty Calories

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

I have bad news to report to Eagle fans everywhere:  BC only has an 11-game schedule this season.

You may have seen recent typos in the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, or New England newspaper of choice that on Sept. 5, Boston College defeated cross-town opponent Northeastern by a score of 54-0.  It even might have mentioned that 33,000 or so fans were at this game on a beautiful day at the start of the college football season.

I don't believe it.  I'm sure the news outlets were trying to write that BC defeated Northeastern 5-4 in a hockey game.

Because, no offense to Northeastern, what occurred on Saturday was nothing that resembled a football game.

Now, I know that in the first few weeks of a season, teams schedule "cupcake" games.  Heck, college football is not the only guilty party.  Can anyone remember the last time the University of Connecticut's basketball team did not have a de-facto Nutmeg State Championship Tournament held in Storrs during the months of November and December?

Many teams across the country were guilty of doing it, but not all cupcakes are created the same.

For starters, the Colonial Athletic Association went 2-1 against the ACC opening weekend.  William & Mary defeated UVA, and defending FCS Champion Richmond defeated Duke.

The relative weakness of the bottom of the ACC is a topic I shall indulge in at another time, but to be sure the "top" of the FCS can compete with the bottom to middling levels of the BCS Conferences.  Northern Iowa for a long time has been a good team at the FCS level, and despite prolonged time in a pink locker room they almost took down the Iowa Hawkeyes in Kinnick Stadium. 

Appalachian State (whom need no introduction) took Eastern Carolina down to the wire (the same ECU who gave fits to ACC teams last season).  Rarely does one see Montana or Delaware take on a "big boy" in the season anymore.

Just like how not all FBS teams are created equal, neither are FCS teams.  Which brings me to my point:  Northeastern was so bad, so unequivocally untalented that this game was little more than an excuse to tailgate in the wonderful Labor Day weather.

Iowa, ECU, Duke, and Virginia had varying successes against FCS opponents, but they all received something in common—lessons.  A practical education of the strengths and weaknesses of their respective teams.

BC is predicted to finish last in the ACC Atlantic Division.  The Eagles entered week one surrounded by the most questions of just about any ACC team.  The questions were a result of an offseason filled with controversial news (ex-coach and ex-Buccaneer Offensive Coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski), tragic news (Mark Herzlich's battle with cancer), and just plain bad news (Dominique Davis' academic suspension and subsequent transfer from the program).

The game that was played out on Alumni Stadium was a farce.  I do not mean to disparage Northeastern fans.  I have all the respect in the world for our friends down Huntington, and I am a firm believer that the co-op education and programs down there do not get the credit it deserves on the national scale—but the Husky football team is bad.

Not just FBS vs FCS bad, but FCS bottom-dweller bad.

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