The Boston College Eagles are 3-1 on the season after beating Michigan State 23-19 in the symbolic Red Bandana Game to hand the Spartans their first loss on Saturday, Sept. 21. The Eagles trailed by seven at halftime before mounting a comeback in the second half.
BC took the lead late in the fourth quarter after a huge throw from junior quarterback Thomas Castellanos to leading receiver, junior Lewis Bond. Senior running back Treshaun Ward was also a huge part of the win, rushing for a season-best 102 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Other wins for the Eagles this year include a 56-0 rout of Duquesne University in week two, and a 28-13 stunner over no. 10 Florida State University in their season opener. The team’s only loss came in week three, when they traveled to Columbia, Mo. to take on the no. 6 University of Missouri Tigers. Despite an early lead and late-game push, the Eagles fell just short of the upset, losing 27-21.
After losing prior head coach Jeff Hafley to the NFL, Boston College hired Bill O’Brien to be the 40th head coach in the program’s history. O’Brien has a plethora of experience, coaching under well-known names such as Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, as well as a six-year stint as head coach of the Houston Texans.
Evan Sharrard, a senior sports communication major who’s followed the team closely during his time at Emerson College, thinks a major reason for the impressive early display from the Eagles is their coaching changes.
“If he decides he wants to stay and build this program, we could be talking about one of the next powerhouses,” Sharrard said in an interview with The Beacon.
As a coach, O’Brien has always put a big focus on the fundamentals, discipline, and building a culture. Through four games, it looks like that philosophy is rubbing off in a big way on his new team. Fans are hopeful he’ll be with the team for the foreseeable future.
Although it’s still early in the season, there seems to be legitimate cause for excitement surrounding this Boston College team, especially in a city that has not had much to root for in the way of college football. With the Patriots rebuilding, the Eagles have an opportunity to provide New England football fans with a new, rapidly ascending team to follow.
Sharrard thinks that given their remaining schedule, which only contains one currently-ranked team in Louisville, the Eagles could be on track for a monster season.
“You could be talking about a team that only loses two, maybe even one more game,” Sharrard said, in hopes that the Eagles could realistically finish with a 9-3 record in the regular season—which would be BC’s best since 2007.
Going forward, the goal for Boston College is clear: make it to Charlotte for the ACC Championship game. With the new college football playoff system, the winner of that game gets an automatic bid to the first ever 12-team playoff. With a sports city as win-focused as Boston, support for the Eagles can be expected to increase significantly should their success continue.
“If Boston College manages to walk away with an ACC title, people will be into it,” Sharrard said.
Due to many schools in the Boston area not having football teams, coverage for college football is hard to come by. With BC’s impressive start to their season, there might be a newfound respect for collegiate football growing within the Boston area.
The Eagles will take on Western Kentucky University (also 3-1) on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 12 p.m. It will be a home game for BC, with fans packing Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill for a team that could be knocking on the door of national recognition.