BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES O:6 D:6

The Eagles inaugural campaign in the ACC has to be considered a success even though the bowl committee screwed them by sending them out east to play on the “Smurf Turf”. Nevertheless, Head Coach Tom O’Brien’s club went on to win nine games overall, and handed Boise State a rare home defeat. The bowl victory was the Eagles sixth in a row and that’s the longest streak in the nation. This year’s squad returns 12 starters, six on both sides of the ball. QB Matt Ryan is back to lead the offensive charge after throwing for 1514 yards and eight TDs last season in only five starts. His WR corps loses a major impact player, but has solid depth and talent overall. The RB corps packs a solid punch with the solid duo of Andre Callender and LV Whitworth. The O-Line could prove to be the problem area where a pair of All ACC hogs has to be replaced. HC O’Brien always fields a solid O-Line, but it looks like this years might be a bit weaker and the offense will suffer because of it. There’s a pair of gigantic holes to fill on defense at DE and LB with the departure of Mathias Kiwanuka and Ray Henderson. LB Brian Toal will take on more of a load defensively, as well as be BC’s short yardage carrier on offense. The secondary looks to be in fine shape with ’05 leading tackler Jamie Silva, Ryan Glasper, and DeJuan Tribble all back. It will be hard for the Eagles to match the 16 PPG they gave up a year ago, but this will still be a solid unit. Special teams should also rebound from a down season as O’Brien usually puts forth above average units on the field.