2012 Record: 2-10 (1-7 in ACC)
Head Coach: Steve Addazio (first year at BC, 13-11 All-Time)
Last Bowl Game: 2010 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: lost to Nevada 20-13
Stadium: Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, MA (capacity = 44,500)
Home Field Advantage: ranked 66th out of 69 BCS teams
Schedule Glimpse:
Non Conference Games: 8/31 vs Villanova, 9/14 at USC, 10/5 vs Army, 11/9 at NMSU
Swing Games: 9/6 vs Wake Forest, 11/23 at Maryland, 11/30 at Syracuse
Toughest Conference Games: 9/28 vs FSU, 10/12 at Clemson
Statistical Snapshot:
Stats to Fear: converted on just 29.27% of third downs (last in ACC), scored TDs on 41.46% of red zone trips (123rd in Nation), sacked the QB six times in 2012 (last in ACC)
Stat to Cheer: they have a new coach (that's a stat, isn't it?)
Advanced Stats (Football Outsiders 2012 FEI Ranking): 86th out of 124 teams
Personnel:
Phil Steele's Returning Starters: Offense: 8, Defense: 10, Special Teams: 2
Key Defensive Returnees: LB Steele Divitto (92 tackles), FS Sean Sylvia (86 tackles), LB Kevin Pierre-Louis (85 tackles)
Key Offensive Returnees: QB Chase Rettig (3055 yds pass, 54.2% completions, 17 TD, 13 INT), RB Andrew Williams (584 yds rush, 4.49 ypc, 4 TD), WR Alex Amidon (78 rec, 7 TD)
Top 2013 Recruits: DT Tevin Montgomery, QB Mackay Lowrie, LB Jack Cottrell, WR Drew Barksdale
Verdict:
The Frank Spaziani era, or as Boston College fans probably refer to it 'error', is over after four years. Spaziani's teams saw decreasing wins every year both overall and in conference as they bottomed out at 2-10 last season while winning just one conference game. Former Florida assistant, and more recently Temple head coach, Steve Addazio has been tabbed as the new coach. Addazio had a fabulous debut year with Temple in 2011 as they went 9-4 but last year when the Owls moved up in competition and joined the Big East, they fell back to a 4-7 record.
Under Addazio, the Eagles will look to run a balanced offense and will have a senior QB in Chase Rettig to help him out in year one. The Eagles also return their leading rusher and receiver but quality depth at those positions is not where Adazzio wants it to be. The offensive line returns 70 career starts but is thought of as one of the weaker lines in the ACC (ranked by both Athlon and Phil Steele as #11 in the conference).
There was not a team in the Nation that sacked the QB less last year than Boston College. They got to the QB just six times. The defense also gained just 19 turnovers, which was next to last in the ACC. Adazzio has brought in Don Brown to run the defense. Brown spent the last two years at UConn. Last year UConn allowed 19.8 ppg and had 32 sacks but like BC they struggled to create turnovers. There are a lot of upper-classmen on this defense (LB Steele Divitto, LB Kevin Pierre-Louis, DE Kasim Edebali, DE Mehdi Abdesmad, S Sean Sylvia, CB Spenser Rositano) so it will be interesting to see what Brown can do with this group.
Their out of conference schedule gives them three very winnable ball games (Villanova, Army and NMSU) and they get Wake Forest at home so this should be a team that most likely will be able to double their win total at worst. The key stretch will be the final three games as they face NC State at home and then travel to Maryland and Syracuse. How many of those can they get? The jury for me is still out on Adazzio but I'm interested to see how he does at BC. He has to surround himself with the right people and Don Brown is a step in the right direction. This is not a hire that will be judged after this year as Adazzio has to rebuild the roster and get his people in Chestnut Hill. Look for improvement this year but maybe because the rest of the division (except FSU and Clemson) is reshuffling as well.
Prediction: 5-7
Previous 2013 Pre-Season Previews:
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