In their first season in the ACC, the 2005 Boston College squad played to a 9-3 overall record, and nearly made the conference title game, missing out in a tiebreaker.
This season could be significantly tougher for BC, after the loss of nine starters-five on offense and four on the defensive side--including wide receiver Will Blackmon, 2005 first-team All-American defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka and left tackle Jeremy Trueblood.
In addition to the graduation of a number of starters, the Eagles must also deal with league teams that are just now, in their second year in the league, becoming more familiar with their style of play.
"I don't think we're the new kid on the block anymore," head coach Tom O'Brien said. "We surprised a lot of people last year, and now they know a little more about us, and have matched up against us. It's always going to get tougher and tougher the more that people know about you. Maybe they didn't take us seriously last year, but they will from now on in this conference."
This season, the team will look to quarterback Matt Ryan, who went 5-0 after taking over for the injured Quintin Porter last season, to lead the offense. The junior showed improvement in one of the team's preseason scrimmages, going 13-for-27 for 206 yards.
"It's a great advantage for any program to have their quarterback return, especially as one as talented as Matt," O'Brien said. "In the offseason and through spring practice, there are things you can look at and work on that now you understand, because you've been in a game. The more you play the game, the more it slows down. It's not as fast as it was a couple of years ago."
Ryan will be helped by Tony Gonzalez, who returns as the Eagles leading receiver but will be missing out on some protection--a fact he is well aware of.
"It's tough to replace guys who are first-round draft picks, like Mathias, and then second-round guys like Jeremy Trueblood," Ryan told cstv.com.
BC will rely on veterans such as tailbacks L.V. Whitworth and Andre Callender, who combined for 1,515 rushing yards in 2005, to step up their performances.
On defense, the Eagles need a strong season from junior linebacker Brian Toal, one of seven ACC players recently named to the Butkus Award Watch List, an honor given to the nation's best linebacker.
The junior, whose sophomore season was slowed by a shoulder injury late in the year, has also been named to the Chuck Bednarik watch list for outstanding Defensive Player of the Year. He will lead a defense that will attempt to replicate last season's success, when it held opponents to a 15.9 points against average.
"We are very optimistic," Toal said. "We did lose some players, but everyone has been working really hard this summer, and we've got a chance to be a really good football team."
BC opens its season Aug. 31 at Central Michigan, before facing Clemson, its first ACC opponent of the year, at home Sept. 9.
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