Playing the second half without star Rakim Sanders, who suffered an ankle injury, the Boston College Eagles dropped an 84-80 decision to St. Joseph’s University on Friday in the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

BC’s Reggie Jackson missed a lay-up with three seconds remaining that would have tied the game. The Eagles (2-1) took a 40-39 lead into the locker room at halftime but were outscored 45-40 in the second 20 minutes, as St. Joe’s improved to 3-0.

BC plays the loser of Purdue/South Dakota State on Saturday night.

What a long, strang trip it has been.

For the Boston College seniors preparing to make their final stand on Chestnut Hill this Saturday, those Grateful Dead lyrics ring true. These are some of the final players recruited by coach Tom O’Brien before he made the jump to NC State, who then lived to tell the story of the Jeff Jagodzinski era and come out on the other end as high flying Eagles with Frank Spaziani. These seniors saw Matt Ryan create a miracle against Virginia Tech in 2007 and subsequently lose to those same Hokies in the ACC Championship game. Twice.

They are a proud bunch who identify closely with the team mentality of what it means to play for BC. It was probably not the experience they thought they were going to have when they signed up (as most college students would probably say), but it has been a successful run through the years and they hope to finish strong and maybe have a chance to get back to the ACC Championship game. Hey, maybe this time they can even win it.

“It is a scary thought,” co-captain Rich Gunnell said about the last home game of his career. “I try not to think about it too much. Get ready for the real world. It might be emotional, I don’t know. It might be a spur of the moment thing.”

Gunnell, Matt Tennant, Mike McLaughlin, Marcellus Bowman, Austin Giles, Jim Ramella and Roderick Rollins are just some of the names of the Eagles moving on who are the heart of this year’s squad that have defied the pundits expectations and put together yet another solid run towards the top of the ACC. Not that this group ever cared what pundits think.

“This year more than ever we have taken a lot of pride in our success because it was not expected, more than normal,” Bowman said. “The predictors and experts normally do not pick us but this year they had all the reasons in the world not to pick us and we knew as a senior class that we had to step up more than normal. We had to step up more than normal. More than just making a play. Psychologically we had to step up and make sure the younger guys believe the philosophies that we have at BC. We all take a lot of pride of what we have done before and what we plan on doing.”

Saturday’s challenge against the North Carolina Tar Heels represents a catharsis for these seniors. Once again they come in as underdogs (3.5 points according to Bodog.com) against one of the best defenses in the country, despite the fact that they have not lost a home game all year and UNC can have trouble moving the ball. The seniors are focusing on winning the game but somewhere in the back of their minds they would relish the fact that they did not lose a game in front of their home fans in their final year on The Heights.

“Definitely. Any time we can achieve something like that, especially on your home turf, especially for the last one,” Bowman said. “Nobody wants to have a bad one in front of their home crowd and their family. So, it definitely means a lot to us to perform well and keep that streak alive.”

The Eagles are a relatively young squad. Of the 44 players currently listed on the two-deep depth chart, 23 of them are true or redshirt freshman or sophomores as opposed to 10 seniors and 11 juniors. One of the big questions heading into the season was how the seniors could convey what it means to be a BC football player to the legion of underclassmen and provide the leadership needed for the team to be successful. This was another question from the pundits who were looking at loss of Mark Herzlich for the season to cancer and yet another coaching change as negative blows that the team might not be able to overcome.

It turned out to be just another old hat.

“I think we are the model class for BC,” Tennant said. “This is what we should advertise. Look at these guys, these are the guys you want at BC. Three head coaches and are still winning games. In the end it is not about the coaches, it is about the players and the cohesiveness that we have as a team.”

Tennant said the turning point for this class was right after O’Brien and the players had a team meeting.  Former BC linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar said “it is not about the coaches, it is not about the fans, it is about this team and we have to stick together if we want to be successful.” Any time the Eagles faced a set back this year, such as the transfers of Justin Tuggle and Josh Haden or Herzlich’s illness, Dunbar’s message echoed around the team through the voices of the seniors.

“We’ve always believed in each other,” Gunnell said. “We don’t really pay attention to what people say about us. The guys in the room always know we work hard, no one knows how hard we work and then it really pays off on Saturdays.”

This group hopes all that work will payoff on one more Saturday on The Heights.

Boston is crazy about its sports teams. From Foxborough to Chestnut Hill, sport talk is what drives the region. At the same time, Boston is an academic mecca. When it comes to major collegiate sports, Boston College is the preeminent university in the region. Harvard may have a storied football program and Boston University may be great at hockey but BC is really the only program that makes an effort to put a competitive team in the arena in every sport.

BC can also argue that they are pretty good on the academic side as well.

The Eagles sports teams are near the top of the list in graduation rate for their athletes. The football team has a graduation success rate score of 91 is one of only six teams in the country higher than 90.

This Saturday will be the seniors final game at Alumni Stadium and many of them already have their degrees. It will be emotional for some while other look at it as just another game. Either way, diplomas in hand, they will be suited to jump from the field to the workforce when the time for play is over.

Here is the press release:

Eagles Lead the Nation in Graduation Success Rate Perfect Scores

Twenty-one BC teams receive perfect score; football score among top six in the country

November 18, 2009

Twenty-one Boston College sports teams received a perfect Graduation Success Rate score of 100, according to data released by the NCAA today.  That figure represents the most teams with a perfect 100 score of any intercollegiate Division I athletics program in the country.

In addition, BC football – with a score of 91 – was one of only six FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) programs in the country to receive a score of 90 or better.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment by our student-athletes,” Director of Athletics Gene DeFilippo said.  “This represents many hours of hard work by them, their coaches, our Office of Learning Resources for Student-Athletes and others.  We are unbelievably proud of our achievements in the classroom.”

The 21 Boston College teams that recorded a perfect GSR score of 100 score included baseball, men’s cross country/track, women’s cross country/track, men’s fencing, women’s fencing, men’s golf, women’s golf, men’s skiing, women’s skiing, men’s swimming, women’s swimming, men’s tennis, men’s sailing, women’s sailing,women’s basketball, women’s rowing, women’s ice hockey, women’s lacrosse, women’s soccer, women’s softball and women’s volleyball.

The six FBS institutions that received scores of 90 or better were Duke (96), Notre Dame (96), Navy (93), Northwestern (92), BC (91) and Vanderbilt (91).

The NCAA developed the Graduation Success Rate as part of its academic reform initiative to more accurately assess the academic success of student-athletes. The rate holds institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation rate. The Graduation Success Rate also accounts for midyear enrollees and is calculated for every sport.

The most recent Division I Graduation Success Rates are based on the four entering freshmen classes from 1999-2000 through 2002-03.  This year marks the eighth year that Graduation Success Rate data have been collected. The NCAA began collecting GSR data with the entering freshman class of 1995. The latest entering class for which data are available is 2002.

Though the Eagles, who claimed a blowout 89-58 win over Dartmouth in their season-opener on Friday, fell outside of the top 25 in both the AP and Coaches Polls, Boston College nonetheless registered a few votes in both. Interestingly, with six votes in the AP Poll and four in the Coaches Poll, BC ranked 46th in the country in both surveys.

For a complete look at the 2009-10 Eagles’ basketball team, click here for Ian Tasso’s season preview.

It was not pretty. The Eagles played a game filled with mistakes, penalties and turnovers but in the end they got what they needed.

A win.

The Boston College football team claimed victory  on the road for the first time this season and kept its ACC Championship game hopes alive by gutting out a 14-10 win against the University of Virginia, Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.

For the Eagles, it was live or die with freshman quarterback Dave Shinskie. In the end it was the denizens of Chestnut Hill who were able to stay above water despite their quarterback’s erratic play that involved a plethora of missed passes early in the second half and two interceptions, one a “pick-six” that led to Virginia’s only score of the game.

Shinskie will remember this game. Foremost, of course, because it was the first time in his collegiate career that he was able to lead his team to a victory away from Alumni Stadium, but also for the fact that he played poorly for significant stretches of the game yet was still the deciding factor in the final score.

After a shaky start in the first quarter, Shinskie was able to get the offense rolling a little bit in the second by stretching the Cavalier secondary and forcing them into mistakes. On a 3rd-and-6 Shinskie was able to hit senior co-captain Rich Gunnell for a 35-yard gain to keep the chains moving. Then he went for the deep to the end zone for Colin Larmond, Jr. who was able to draw a pass-interference call on Virginia cornerback Chase Minnifield to put the ball on the 5-yard line. A false start set BC back to the 10, but on the next play Shinskie was able to step up into a throw and hit senior Justin Jarvis at the goal line for the first score of the game.

It would not get much better than that for the rest of the game.

In the third quarter the BC coaching staff must have thought it could beat the Virginia secondary, the strength of the team, down field and let Shinskie loose to carve it up.

Well, in theory anyway.

Shinskie threw seven passes, completed one and then was intercepted by senior cornerback Chris Cook who took the ball back 58 yards for the touchdown.

The Eagles got back to basics again in the fourth, giving Montel Harris the ball and letting Shinskie make throws only when needed. Almost immediately, that was the case. The offensive line committed two penalties in a row –a block in the back by Rich Lapham and a false start Emmett Cleary – that set BC at a first-and-25 near midfield. Shinskie went to work, hit tight end Chris Pantale for 10 yards then Larmond for 13 yards. Harris then took two plays for the final two yards and the drive continued until BC faced another fourth-and-1 . . . this time from the 1-yard line. The offensive line pushed and Shinskie squeezed through for the game-winning score.

Shinskie’s numbers on the afternoon were not great — 12 for 26 for 147 yards with the touchdown and two interceptions. Yet, he picked his team up and led them to the victory. What we really learned today is that the Eagles are good enough to claim a victory, no matter how narrow and error-prone that it was, against a weak ACC opponent on the road despite their quarterback. Yet, in the end, it was him that led  the way after all.

Here are four other things we learned from Boston College’s first road win of the season  . . . .

Defense Made The Plays

The Virginia did not break the goal line the entire game (its lone touchdown was courtesy of Shinskie) with its only score via a 38-yard Robert Randolph field goal in the third quarter.

Now, there are two reasons for this: Foremost, the Cavaliers just do not have many play-makers on the offensive side of the ball. Their quarterback, Jameel Sewell, is mediocre at best, a poor man’s Tyrod Taylor. Their best mover, Vic Hall, pretty much plays out of position on every snap (he is listed at wide-receiver, quarterback and gets some time at tailback) and their primary running back, Rashawn Jackson, is a lumbering full back with big play potential but better suited for short yardage.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly for the Eagles, is that they continued their general theme of the season on the defensive side — do not break. Especially at the end.

BC gave the ball back to Virginia with 2:22 left in the game, basically banking on the defense to hold up against the Cavalier offense. For head coach Frank Spaziani this was a logical gambit. It became a little hairier than he probably wanted as Sewell and company moved down the field at a pretty good rate, setting up a fourth-and-long with :26 seconds left with Virginia needing to gain the 12-yard line for the first down. Sewell dropped back but went straight for the quarterback draw and the first down marker. He was gang tackled near the first down line but a measurement and subsequent replay showed that he was two chain links shy of the first.

This has been a theme for the Eagles this year. Goal line stands and holding opponents out of the end zone at the end of the game. More than anything else it has been this ability by the BC that has led to its surprising 7-3 record. A slip here or a break there and the Eagles could easily be 4-6.

But that is not the case.

O-Line Holds Up Well For Harris

The offensive line drove the offense for BC all day. Early in the game it was able to give Shinskie plenty of time to look downfield and connect (when he could) for first downs. On run block it tore the Cavalier defensive line to shreds making way for a big day by Montel Harris (38 carries for 158 yards).

The Horse earned his nickname today. Perhaps one of the reasons that the Eagles went to a pass first offense in the third quarter was to spell Harris, who was in the vicinity of 25 carries at the time. Shinskie could not hold it up so BC went back to the ground in the fourth with Harris picking up the bulk of the yards in the final drive that was capped off by Shinskie’s touchdown sneak from the 1.

Harris went over the 1,000 yard mark on the day to end with 1,058 for the season. His 38 carries were a career high, topping his previous high of 27, which he has done twice with the last time in the previous game against Central Michigan. It looks like the diminutive running back is holding up but depth at the position could become a concern if Harris is to go down with injury.

Gunnell Reaching For Records

With only three receptions today its look like senior co-captain Gunnell’s quest for the all-time receptions mark at BC will fall short. He started the game with 161 career catches, 29 behind Pete Mitchell’s (1991-94) 190. Gunnell did move into a tie for second place with former standout tight end Mark Chmura (1987-91) with 164.

Gunnell’s quest for the all-time receiving yards mark was did not take a significant blow on the afternoon. His 75 yards moves him past Brian Brennan (1980-83) for third place on the career list with 2,207 yards. He is now a very attainable 161 yards short of the yardage mark. One decent game from the senior will give him the record.

Penalties Hurt And Help

BC entered the game as the second least penalized team (behind NC State) in the ACC, averaging five penalties for 39.8 yards per game. Yet, the Eagles continually tried to shoot themselves in the foot with more than double their season average with 10 penalties for 85 yards. Shinskie and the offense were called for two delay-of-game penalties and the offensive line was called for two false starts as well as an illegal man down field and block in the back.

As bad as it was for BC, Virginia hurt themselves equally on the penalty front. On both touchdown drives the Eagles were helped by pass interference calls in the end zone that brought the ball within the 10-yard line. The Cavaliers were flagged 8 times for 97 yards on the day.

It seems that Boston College has forgotten that it has a pretty good running back on its team in the form of Montel Harris. The Eagles have come out throwing in the second half against Virginia, trying to work the center field against the stout Cavalier secondary to absolutely no effect.

At one point in the middle of the third quarter seven of eight BC plays were passes. Shinskie missed all but one and that for short yardage. The only way the Eagles were able to keep the ball moving was a pass interference by Dom Joseph on tight end Chris Pantale and then a roughing the kicker when Ryan Quigley tried to punt deep out of his own end.

Shinskie then served one up. He tried to go down field but senior corner back Chris Cook stepped in front and returned the interception 58 yards for the touchdown.

The momentum is on Virginia’s side as the BC offense has completely stalled in the in the third quarter.

3:00 left in the quarter.

Boston College 7 Virginia 7

Dave Shinskie found the formula to crack the Cavalier corners early in the second quarter.

Go deep.

The freshman quarterback almost hit the big play when  play-action created space for sophomore Colin Larmond Jr. down the field. Shinskie hit Larmond in the hands but the speedy wide out could not hold onto the ball. On the ensuing third down Shinskie had plenty of time to work, shuffled around the pocket and found senior co-captain Rich Gunnell for a 35 yard first down. The Eagles put the ball within the Virginia 5-yard line when Larmond was able to draw a pass interference call on sophomore corner Chase Minnifield. After a BC false start Shinskie then hit senior Justin Jarvis for a 10-yard touchdown pass for the games first score.

Montel Harris has been able to find the seems, get small and explode to move the chains for BC. On the afternoon the sophomore has 15 carries for 60 yards, good for 4 yards per carry and a long of 11 yards.

The Cavaliers offense has not been prolific but they have had scoring chances. They missed a field goal in the first quarter and drove into BC territory late in the second before senior quarterback Jameel Sewell rolled out to his right and tried to go deep back across the field. He sailed it and senior Roderick Rollins stepped in front for the interception.

Halftime: Boston College 7 Virginia 0

Here are the numbers:

Total yards

BC 180

UVA 120

Passing

Shinskie 7-15 95 yards, touchdown, interception

Sewell 8-17 66 yards, interception

Rushing

Harris 17 for 86 yards

Jackson 12 for 47 yards

3rd Downs

BC 2-7

UVA 3-7

Time of possession

BC 14:53

UVA 15:07

David Shinskie has not had a great start against the Virginia secondary. Boston College was able to move the ball in its first drive of the game with Montel Harris picking up 37 yards on seven carries before the drive stalled at the Cavalier 8-yard line. Shinskie tried to force the ball in double coverage in the end zone and was picked off by junior corner back Ras-I Dowling.

Shinskie was 2-5 for 30 yards in the first. He has had time to throw but has not been able to really crack the strength of the Virginia defense between Dowling and Chris Cook.

The Cavaliers missed a field goal to end the first quarter.

Start of the second. 0-0.

Let’s make a trade. New England will take them remnants of tropical storm Ida from the soaked mid-Atlantic region and in return send our premier college football team south. Sounds fair, yes?

Hence, Boston College travels to Charlottesville, Va. today looking for its first road win of the season against the Virginia Cavaliers.

“We’ve got to get out of the confines of Alumni at one point,” senior co-captain center Matt Tennant said. ” We’ve got to understand that we are not always going to be playing here and, you know, it is very important. We are not going to be playing our bowl game here and we are at Maryland too. So, we definitely need to get it done.”

The road has not been a friendly place for the Eagles this season. They were horrible in Clemson, horrendous at Virginia Tech and heart-broken at Notre Dame. Against the Irish they were at least competitive, battling back and forth before freshman quarterback Dave Shinskie’s interception in the final moments sealed BC’s fate.

There are a variety of reasons for the road blues. Young, inexperienced team. Maturing quarterback. Then quality competition taking advantage of those factors. Yet, in the 10th game of the season, BC hopes that the youngsters have made enough progress to get the job done and Shinskie is a much different (better) quarterback than he was at the beginning of the season.

“I am not trying to make excuses for anything,” Tennant said. “But, guys haven’t experienced it. They are new games. We are getting up and driving to Clemson and Virginia Tech. You know, you have to get used to not being in your comfort level. You are not going to be in your hotel, eating the same thing. It is part of growing up, you have to understand, it is going to be different everywhere you go.”

The situation may be a little different this week. Whereas in Clemson and Virginia Tech players said they had an hour on the bus before getting to the stadium, in Charlottesville they are staying at a Double Tree hotel that is, at most, 15 to 20 minutes from Scott Stadium. That

Then there is the competition.

The Cavaliers (3-6, 2-3 ACC) are a constant enigma in the ACC. They bring in a lot of NFL caliber talent (Matt Schaub, D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Chris Long) and then proceed to snap defeat out of the jaws of victory. Al Groh’s squad is a annual source of headaches in central Virginia because there is always hope that usually becomes squashed with bitterness and disappointment as the season progresses. This year, where they were picked to be dead last in the ACC (right below where BC was supposed to be) they have lived up to the billing.

Virginia was stunned in its opener by losing to Colonial Athletic Association also-ran William & Mary before getting blown out by then No. 16 Texas Christian University and then traveling to Southern Mississippi for a wild 37-34 loss. The Cavaliers then pumped hope into the Wahoo fan base by squeaking a win against North Carolina, blowing out Indiana and handling Maryland. At 3-3, maybe things would not be so bad after all.

Then, in the manner of Virginia teams, the bottom dropped out again with three straight ugly losses to Georgia Tech, Duke and Miami. In an odd scheduling quirk, the Eagles and Cavaliers have not had a shared opponent yet in the season. BC’s last two games are against North Carolina and Maryland while Virginia has Clemson and Virginia Tech. Hence, comparison along the lines of commonality is kaput.

The Eagles defense should be able to handle the anemic Virginia offense led by senior Jameel Sewell. The Cavaliers are second-to-last in the ACC (Maryland is last) in scoring offense (15.8 points per game) and rushing offense and 10th in passing offense. Their defense, which has its moments, is middle of the road — sixth in scoring, 11th against the run, fifth against the pass. Shinskie joked earlier in the week that it would end up being a passing game for BC because last time they faced a team with a defensive strength NC State was tops in the conference in rushing defense when BC faced them, Montel Harris set a BC school record for rush yards and touchdowns. Shinskie will have to contend with two quality cornerbacks in Ras-I Dowling and Chris Cook but the Eagles have a chance to set up a solid play-action if Harris can get uncorked against the soft Virginia line.

Kick off is about an hour from now in Charlottesville, stay tuned to The BC Blog for highlights throughout the day.

Boston College doesn’t match up that often against Dartmouth. In fact, the last time these two teams did battle, it was back in 2005.

That’s good news for the Big Green, who once again couldn’t handle anything the Eagles threw at them. In front of an announced crowd of 4,277, BC rolled to a decisive 89-58 victory over visiting Dartmouth, an even larger margin than the 80-61 win back in ’05.

Playing without two of their starters, Rakim Sanders and Corey Raji, who along with Cortney Dunn were suspended for two games due to team rule violations, the Eagles didn’t miss a beat, shooting the lights out from whistle to whistle. BC fired an impressive 60 percent from the field, led by senior Tyler Roche, who started in place of Raji and went off for a career-high 30 points. Roche hit 10-of-12 shots, including 4-of-5 3-pointers, and added a career-high five blocks.

“He’s a senior on the club, and he’s got a great understanding of our offense and what we need to do,” BC coach Al Skinner of the New Hampshire native. “He has continued to make improvements throughout his college career. … Tonight he had some good opportunities and was able to put the ball in the basket.”

In a game in which BC was expected to roll, it was a pleasant showing from Roche, who suggested that he will give the Eagles a legitimate scoring threat off the bench. Between Roche and Reggie Jackson (16 points), the first game without the graduated Tyrese Rice went pretty smoothly. Granted, playing against Dartmouth also helped.

Nonetheless, the first game can provide a good indicator of how a team will compete as the season rolls on. Yes, it’s a very early sign, and it was against a Dartmouth team that is 1-11 overall against BC, the lone victory coming all the way back in 1963. Nonetheless, the Eagles showed quite a few positives in their first game of the 2009-10 season.

Here are three things we learned from BC’s season-opening victory:

ROCHE IS MORE THAN A VIABLE OPTION OFF THE BENCH

If there’s any silver lining that comes from seeing three players suspended for the season-opener, it’s that players who normally come off the bench get a chance to see some serious minutes.

Roche was one of those beneficiaries in Friday’s skirmish against Dartmouth, and he certainly took advantage of it.

Roche not only took control of the scoring department for BC but also electrified what otherwise may have been an unenthused crowd that watched the rout of the Big Green.

“I knew some extra minutes were coming my way, so I just mentally prepared myself to play in the game,” Roche said. “I’ve gotten a lot more confident over the years, and tonight I just felt really comfortable and I just gained confidence as the game went on.”

The best part about Roche’s explosion of points? When BC gets that kind of contribution from beyond the arc, it makes everything inside it that much easier. Guys such as Josh Southern, Joe Trapani and Jackson get significantly more space when Roche takes off from downtown.

Case in point Friday night: Southern and Trapani combined for one point in the first half. Roche started heating up midway through the game, and by the time the final horn blew, Southern and Trapani finished with 20 points between them.

Again, it’s important to remember who the Eagles were playing. Even so, when someone drops an 80 percent night from long range, it really doesn’t matter who the opponent is — they’re going to pay.

REGGIE JACKSON CAN PLAY

That much is for certain. After posting 16 points and dominating the offensive court for the Eagles, Jackson made it clear that he has the skills to bring the rain. Though he scored 16, one of the most impressive things on display from Jackson was his ball-handling. The sophomore was able to use his explosive speed and quick handle to help create separation that not only allowed him to get open looks but also gave some very nice lanes to Roche, who took advantage.

“We all know what we can do,” Jackson said. “Sometimes I feel like I take it upon myself that if we’re in a slump then I feel like I can get a bucket. Obviously, tonight Roche was the guy. … But I have a lot on my shoulders and the team depends on me each and every night.”

The one question Skinner and most of the BC staff had about Jackson before the season began was his mental toughness, suggesting in an ESPN preview that Jackson “still needs to continue to grow.”

A season-opener against an overmatched Dartmouth team isn’t exactly a good measure as to a player’s mental toughness. Those tests will come down the road against opponents such as Michigan (Dec. 2), Clemson (Jan. 9) and Duke (Jan. 13). But for now, at least the Eagles can rest assured that when Jackson sets foot on the floor, he brings the explosiveness that BC will need against elite opponents — and it should only get better.

FROM THE OUTSIDE, IN

Most teams use a definitive inside presence to set up their outside shot. And the rest of the teams would prefer to, for a multitude of reasons — the big one being, a dominant inside game is much more consistent. Sometimes the long balls will clink and clunk, but it’s tough to go in slumps shooting from 4-8 feet.

But sometimes there are nights where it just doesn’t work like that. Last night was one of them.

Dartmouth made it clear that its objective was to shut down the Eagles’ inside game, specifically Southern and Trapani. After the first 10 minutes, during which Southern racked up just one point and Trapani had a goose egg, it appeared the Green were succeeding.

But then again, that’s why there are five guys on the court at once. Enter Roche. The second Roche started lighting up the building with a barrage of deep balls, Dartmouth was forced to move more men outside to defend the perimeter. Naturally, that allowed both Southern and Trapani to get some good looks down low, and they converted on nearly every one of them.

On most nights, the Eagles are going to want to start inside and work it out. But it has to be refreshing for them to know that when things don’t work out the way they want, they can adjust.