When then-No. 23 Boston College football suffered a 30-13 blowout loss to Purdue on Sept. 22, it looked as if the Eagles’ six-day stay in the AP Top 25—the program’s first appearance in the weekly poll since 2008—would be remembered as nothing more than a blip in the early-season rankings.
But on Sunday afternoon, two days removed from BC’s 27-14 victory over Miami, head coach Steve Addazio’s team reentered the Top 25, this time as the No. 24 team in the country. The news marks the 18th time in program history that the Eagles have earned a spot in the poll multiple weeks in the same season.
Friday night’s performance certainly paved the way for BC’s ascent. Not only did the Eagles upend the Hurricanes, but they did so in dominant fashion. BC took Miami’s vaunted defense by storm, using a couple trick plays to fuel a 209-yard first quarter. Keep in mind, prior to the weekend, the Hurricanes—at the time, the second-rated defense in the country—were only conceding 237 total yards of offense per game.
The Eagles were just as, if not more, impressive on the other side of the ball. Isaiah McDuffie and Connor Strachan stuffed the stat sheet, Zach Allen and Wyatt Ray collapsed the pocket, and Hamp Cheevers and Taj-Amir Torres picked off Malik Rosier, overshadowing Miami’s turnover chain. When all was said and done, defensive coordinator Jim Reid’s unit held the Hurricanes to 305 yards of total offense. Over the course of the past two games, BC has only allowed 261 yards—on average, 175.8 less than it gave up to FBS teams through the first six weeks of the 2018 campaign.
For the first time since 2009, the Eagles have piled up six wins before the month of November. They’re not the only ones to orchestrate a revolutionary season, though. Both Syracuse and Virginia—two teams that haven’t won more than six games in a season the last four years—cracked the AP Poll on Sunday. As a result, the Orange, which clocked in at No. 22, has officially ended its 17-year hiatus outside the Top 25. UVA, on the other hand, is making its first return to the poll since 2011.
Of course, at this point, Clemson—one of three undefeated teams in the Top 25—is a mainstay inside the top five, ranking second in the nation for the second-straight week. With a victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday, the Eagles will have themselves a pivotal matchup with the Tigers the following weekend, a game that could very well decide the Atlantic Division winner.
But first BC will have to take down the Hokies in Blacksburg, Va.—a Coastal Division foe that has dealt the Eagles their worst loss of the season each of the past two years and, historically, posted a 3-1 record against ranked BC teams.
Featured Image by Jonathan Ye / Heights Staff
