Boston College’s dismal 2015 football season ended on a particularly sour note, as a field goal as time expired killed the Eagles’ last chance to pick up an ACC victory this fall. The fact that the loss came to longtime rival Syracuse — whose coach, Scott Shafer, had been terminated earlier in the week — made it all the more miserable for BC fans.
The 2015 season was the first for Boston College in eleven ACC seasons that the Eagles went winless in ACC play. As miserable as the 2012 season might have been, which saw the Eagles go 2-10, at least BC did beat former league foe Maryland that fall for its lone conference triumph.
After back-to-back resurgent 7-6 seasons in 2013 and 2014 under Steve Addazio, there was optimism, despite a lot of youth offensively, that the Eagles might be able to turn the corner this fall behind a veteran defense.
And while the Eagles actually finished the regular season leading the ACC in scoring defense this fall, they were by far the league’s worst offense, finishing at or near the bottom in several statistical categories.
Things took a definitive turn for the worst following the season-ending ankle injury that took out starting quarterback Darius Wade. But backups Troy Flutie, John Fadule, and Jeff Smith simply weren’t up for the challenge of running an offense in the ACC, despite occasional flashes.
Now, as the BC program looks ahead to 2016 and beyond, the big question in Chestnut Hill is whether or not there are players among the incoming crop of freshmen who help improve the Eagles’ offensively next season, or if they’re a couple years away from making an impact.[hr]
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