2008 Boston College Eagles football team

Last updated

2008 Boston College Eagles football
Boston College Eagles wordmark.png
ACC Atlantic Division co-champion
Music City Bowl, L 14–16 vs. Vanderbilt
Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
DivisionAtlantic Division
Record9–5 (5–3 ACC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Steve Logan (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani (10th season)
Captains
Home stadium Alumni Stadium (capacity: 44,500)
Seasons
  2007
2009  
2008 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
Atlantic Division
Boston College xy  5 3   9 5  
No. 21 Florida State x  5 3   9 4  
Maryland  4 4   8 5  
Wake Forest  4 4   8 5  
Clemson  4 4   7 6  
NC State  4 4   6 7  
Coastal Division
No. 15 Virginia Tech xy$  5 3   10 4  
No. 22 Georgia Tech x  5 3   9 4  
North Carolina  0 4   0 5  
Miami (FL)  4 4   7 6  
Virginia  3 5   5 7  
Duke  1 7   4 8  

Championship: Virginia Tech 30, Boston College 12
  • $ BCS representative as conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
  • y Championship game participant
  • North Carolina vacated 8 wins, including 4 ACC wins
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2008 Boston College Eagles football team represented Boston College during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was Boston College's fourth season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Eagles were led by Jeff Jagodzinski in his second and final season as Boston College head coach. Boston College has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference's (ACC) Atlantic Division since joining the league in 2005, after leaving the Big East Conference. The Eagles played their home games in 2008 at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, which has been their home stadium since 1957.

Contents

Season recap

Boston College had to replace Matt Ryan, who was drafted third overall in the 2008 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Senior quarterback Chris Crane was the starter at the beginning of the year to take over the starting quarterback position. In the November 22 game against Wake Forest, Crane broke his collar bone, and was replaced with Dominique Davis. Other big losses that had to be dealt with from the 2007 season include tailback L.V. Witworth and running back Andre Callender. True freshman Josh Haden was assumed to be the starting running back, but true freshman Montel Harris later turned out to have the starting job. BC finished the year with one of the best defenses in College Football, with the most Interceptions in all of FBS Football, and allowing the fifth fewest yards.

The team had its first loss in a home game against Georgia Tech. It went on to lose two more games against the North Carolina and the Clemson before winning four games in a row to take the team to its second ACC Championship Game in a row, which again, put the Eagles against the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Eagles lost the game 12–30, and placed the team in the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee. The Eagles lost the game to Vanderbilt, which not only ended the Eagles bowl winning streak, which was the longest in the nation, but gave Vanderbilt its first bowl win in over 50 years. On January 5, 2009, Coach Jagodzinski was fired by Boston College, for apparently interviewing for the head coaching vacancy for the NFL New York Jets despite being warned not to. He was later hired as the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
August 306:30 p.m.vs. Kent State * ESPNU W 21–010,788
September 612:00 p.m. Georgia Tech Raycom L 16–1940,106
September 201:00 p.m. UCF *
  • Alumni Stadium
  • Chestnut Hill, MA
ESPNUW 34–741,267
September 271:00 p.m. Rhode Island *
  • Alumni Stadium
  • Chestnut Hill, MA
ESPN360 W 42–032,628 [2]
October 412:00 p.m.at NC State RaycomW 38–3155,652
October 188:00 p.m.No. 17 Virginia Tech
  • Alumni Stadium
  • Chestnut Hill, MA (rivalry)
ESPN2 W 28–2344,127
October 2512:00 p.m.at North Carolina No. 23RaycomL 24–4548,000
November 13:30 p.m. Clemson
ESPNUL 21–2741,863
November 88:00 p.m. Notre Dame *
  • Alumni Stadium
  • Chestnut Hill, MA (Holy War)
ESPN W 17–044,500
November 158:00 p.m.at No. 20 Florida State ABC W 27–1779,792
November 223:30 p.m.at Wake Forest ABCW 24–2130,373
November 293:30 p.m. Maryland No. 20
  • Alumni Stadium
  • Chestnut Hill, MA
ABCW 28–2142,767
December 61:00 p.m.vs. Virginia Tech No. 18ABCL 12–3053,927
December 313:30 p.m.vs. Vanderbilt No. 24ESPNL 14–1654,250
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

[3]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP RVRVRVRVRVRVRVRV23RVRVRVRV2018RVRV
Coaches Poll RVRVRV252220RVRV
Harris Not released24252019Not released
BCS Not released211724Not released

Roster

2008 Boston College Eagles football roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Head coach

Assistant coaches

Drafted Players (2009 NFL Draft)

2009199 B. J. Raji Green Bay Packers DT
2840 Ron Brace New England Patriots DT

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References

  1. 2009-10 Boston College Record Book Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine pg. 114
  2. Mark Blaudschun (September 28, 2008). "Led by Harris, BC batters Rams". The Boston Globe. p. C13 via Newspapers.com.
  3. "2008-09 Results/News Releases". Boston College Athletics. Retrieved November 28, 2012.