Boston College Football

"This guy is playing like Superman—you have to know where No. 94 is at all times."

That was an unnamed college football announcer who spoke on Boston College's Mark Herzlich, the 2008 ACC Defensive player of the Year.

If you haven't heard of Mark Herzlich or his incredible story, you must have been under a rock for the past year-and-a-half.

In the spring of 2009, Herzlich was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, in his right leg. This news not only shocked Herzlich, his family, and Boston College, but was a concern for the whole college football world.

Besides being named the 2008 ACC Defensive player of the Year, Herzlich was also named a finalist for the Butkus Award (nation's top linebacker in college football). Boston College was losing their leader.

Like every strong leader, Herzlich wasn't going to let the cancer take him over, because just a few months later, in September 2009, while ESPN's College Gameday was hosting at Boston College, Herzlich announced he was cancer free.

Herzlich sat out the 2009 season, and in spring 2010, faced his second challenge as he suffered a stress fracture in his right foot. Fighting back from a stress fracture was nothing compared to fighting back from cancer, so Herzlich fought back and was ready for the 2010 season opener. 

Always known for his eye black, which is now dis-allowed by the NCAA, Herzlich came out to a screaming crowd, filled with joy, smiles, and happy tears. The team leader was back, and the defensive star was back, meaning headaches for the opposing offense. In the first game of the year vs. Weber St., Herzlich had five tackles in a victory for the Boston College Eagles.

His story is well known to almost everybody, his play is well recognized, but his motivation to not only cancer survivors but to young football players is unspeakable. Herzlich is the perfect example of a team leader overcoming life's challenges to prove that football is only a game, whether your good at it or want to be good at it. 

Herzlich is now in his senior season and ready to dominate. His video highlights have him doing it all: Tackles, sacks, interceptions, and forcing fumbles are all credits to his this young man's great playing style. 

Inspirational off the field, impressive on the field.

Herzlich not only brings heart, soul, and pride to the Boston College Eagles, he brings a love for football and life. If anything is truly clear, the Herzlich Eagle will be soaring to heights that have never been reached before. 

This article was not written until permission was granted by Mark himself, It will be sent to him via Twitter and I am very honored to have been able to write this wonderful story on an amazing player.

1. The Evolving QB Situation

QB Dave Shinskie did not exactly light it up last week against Weber State (10-20, 185 YDS, 2 TD, 2 INT) and continues to stoke the debate fire over whether or not he should be starting over sophomore Mike Marscovetra. Shinskie’s inconsistent play has become a bigger concern since he showed little improvement through last season and started flat against a FCS opponent.

It would be jumping the gun to assume someone with as little experience as Marscovetra could jump in to the lineup and be effective, but BC has ACC title aspirations and the mistakes will need to be eliminated before the meat of the schedule starts September 25th against Virginia Tech.

Look for Marscovetra to throw more than the three passes he attempted last week, which will give BC head coach Frank Spaziani and offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill a longer look at his ability to move the offense down the field.

2. The Non-existent Pass Rush

Generating very little pressure against Weber State had the BC diehards as concerned as the erratic QB play.  One sack, 381 yards of offense, and 20 points allowed (including 277 through the air) was not the type of performance that was anticipated upon LB Mark Herzlich’s emotional return to Chestnut Hill.

Senior DEs Alex Albright

and Brad Newman will have to continue to ramp up the pressure or defensive coordinator Bill McGovern will be dialing up LB blitzes far too often for the defensive backfield to withstand the heat.

Kent State RB Eugene Jarvis provides a balanced attack that will allow BC to test the effectiveness of a number of those aforementioned blitzes before they head into their bye week.

3. Defensive Backfield Depth

The transfer of CB Isaac Johnson this week leaves the Eagles with very little depth at cornerback.  Senior DeLeon Gause and junior Donnie Fletcher are leaned on quite heavily but have freshman C.J. Jones and little-used senior Chris Fox backing them up. 

An injury to either of the starters would create a situation where safety Jim Noel might have to be pressed into action at corner, where he played in high school but has not been used at BC.

Frankly, the experiments should already be underway for Noel, sophomore A.J. Currelly (two INTs in the spring game), or freshmen such as Dominique Williams to be pressed into action.  With Gause graduating after this season, there can be no holding pattern at the position. 

This is an "all hands on deck" scenario starting immediately, and it would be surprising not to see some new names out there this week.

Most people remember college as a fun and exciting time in their lives. Now, imagine your a good student and a starting football player in for the Boston College Eagles. Imagine being tagged as a future first round NFL draft pick. Now, imagine you've just been told you have cancer...

That's what Boston College linebacker, Mark Herzlich has been through. The diagnosis came on May 12th 2009. The tests on May 14th confirmed the cancer. Herzlich was told he had Ewing's sarcoma, a rare bone disease that often kills. In that moment, Mark Herzlich went from wearing a football jersey to wearing a hospital gown.

There was one bright spot on this sad and depressing day. From the moment they learned of the diagnosis, the Herzlich family had feared it was already too late to fight the cancer, but once they came to grips with what they were dealing with, they decided to find a way to battle it with their son.

And battle they did. This Saturday September 4th, Mark Herzlich will line up in his old familiar spot as the strongside linebacker for his beloved Boston Eagles. The senior linebacker had endured chemotherapy and radiation treatments in order to fight back against the cancer that had shocked and almost destroyed his body.

The 2008 ACC Defensive Player of the Year will be playing with a rod that was inserted into his left femur where the cancerous tumor was discovered just last May. Herzlich's conditioning will be the only thing keeping him from playing the entire game on Saturday September 4th.

Mark Herzlich's story is an amazing story of heart and character. Too many times we read about the spoiled athlete who expects to rule the campus and get away with everything under the sun.

Finally, there is an inspirational story of an athlete who is simply happy with his life and willing to give it everything he's got. No expectations, no excuses, no why me, just total enjoyment about the opportunity to rejoin his teammates back out on the field.

This weekend, Boston College head coach Frank Spaziani named Dave Shinskie the starting quarterback for the 2010 season. He won the job after an intense preseason competition featuring himself, sophomore Mike Marscovetra, and freshmen Chase Rettig and Josh Bordner.

Shinskie was the favorite for most of the preseason, but there was a chance that Rettig, a highly sought-after recruit, could earn the job. Marscovetra was also the favorite at one point, but that's a thing of the past.

This is Shinskie's team, and the 25-year-old late bloomer must make the most of his opportunity.

He started 10 games last year and was slowly given more responsibility as the season went on. Shinskie was not horrible, but he was very inconsistent. He had a sub-par 51 percent passing percentage and 14 interceptions. However, he did set BC freshmen records with 2,049 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Shinskie will have a chance to prove himself worthy on September 4th against Weber State. One game doesn't mean anything—especially a game against an FCS team—but it will give fans an idea how much he has improved.

With an extremely talented offensive line featuring Anthony Costazno as well as a potential All-American running back in Montel Harris, Shinskie has a lot of players surrounding him that will make things much easier.

Unfortunately, the receivers around him have a lot to prove. After Colin Larmond Jr went down with a season-ending knee injury, the position became very freshman- and sophomore-friendly. Hopefully, with youth comes talent.

He has very good mental focus as he was a professional baseball player for seven years. Boston College hopes that mental toughness translates to a big improvement on the football field in 2010.