Boston College Eagles 2011 Season Preview

Frank Spaziani is entering his third season and is 16-11 overall and 9-7 in ACC play. The last time the Eagles did not make a bowl game was in the ’97 and ’98 seasons when Tom O’Brien first started. It is clear right now that Chestnut Hill has missed Matty “Ice” Ryan and just his presence around the team is something they dearly miss.

However, the new sheriff in town has been Montel Harris who has rushed for exactly 3,600 yards through three years and he is only 1,002 yards away from breaking the all-time record (Ted Brown ‘78).

Harris would be receiving more hype than any back in America if he were on that sexy, publicized team such as an Alabama, Oregon or Oklahoma. Instead, he is stuck being a Boston College Eagle.

Harris is a solid bowling ball at 5’10”, 200-pounds and has been more productive than any back returning to college football. He may not have all the talent in the world and may not become a first or second round NFL Draft pick, but what he has done is nothing short of spectacular thus far in his collegiate career.  

Harris is most likely going to miss the first few games after having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Replacing him in the opener and possibly would be either Andre Williams and or Tahj Kimble. Williams recently injured his ankle and his status may be in jeopardy for the opener. Hopefully, the Eagles injury bug stops sooner rather than later.

The offense as a whole returns nine starters and they should be just fine if the line can step it up. Their line has paved the way for Harris, but there are only three starters returning and two players have never started a game in their careers. Right tackle Emmett Cleary is the only linemen who may make All-ACC.

The receivers as usual are a bit slow and not explosive enough to contend for the best unit in the ACC, but tight end Chris Pantale is capable of carrying this core into a respectable one. Alex Amidon and Bobby Swiggert are solid enough options to help the running game just enough.

The defense returns only five starters, but they have arguably the best linebacker in the ACC and in the country for that matter.

Luke Kuechly led the nation in total tackles with 183! At 6’3”, 235-pounds he is a freak with tremendous size, speed, athleticism and most importantly a nose for the football.

Kevin Pierre-Louis is a tremendous sophomore who was second on the team in tackles a year ago and there is nothing that should change that this year. 

Nick Clancy and Steele Divitto are battling for the third starting position. With two of the three stars on the team back in Pierre-Louis and Kuechly, the numbers will go nowhere but up.

Donnie Fletcher is the star corner on the team and on the opposite side will be incoming freshmen Al Louis-Jean (elite corner).

The safeties are Okechukwu Okoroha and Dominick LeGrane are the starters at safety which should make up one of the better secondary’s in the ACC.

This schedule is the toughest in the ACC and is arguably among the top ten toughest in the nation. They have nine games against bowl opponents from a season ago.

Wake Forest, UMASS, and Duke are the only three games in which they would be favored by double digits (saves UMASS since they are FCS no spread). They get to travel to South Bend, Coral Gables, Blacksburg, College Park and Clemson where they may very well be double digit underdogs.

That is a near impossible road trip for a team that has gone bowling for twelve straight seasons. If they cannot pull a huge upset or defeat both Northwestern and UCF out of the gates then Spaziani and his Eagles will be home for the holidays.

Predicted Finish: 5-7, 2-6

Predicted Bowl: No Bowl 

Predicted order of finish in ACC: Fifth in Atlantic, Tenth Overall