Orange Bowl or Bust!

Headed to JAGSonville early this morning. May post from there depending upon internet access. We are on the cusp of a championship. We have no doubt that this team can accomplish its' goal. If you are going to the game, be loud, be gold and be respectful. You can't spell BCS without B-C. Go Eagles!

Matt Ryan, (First Team) All-American and Links

-Matt Ryan was named First Team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association. Only 1 Quarterback is so honored.
-Nice piece about Matt Ryan and Tyrone Pruitt from Pruitt's local paper.
-Ryan was also named 1 of 10 finalists for the Manning Award.

Ryan Joins 2 Fellow Eagles Recognized as the ACC's Best

What school boasts the reigning ACC Player of the Year in Football, Men's Basketball and Men's Soccer? Boston College, of course. Matt Ryan was named the ACC player of the year in a landslide over UVa's Chris Long. Ryan joins Jared Dudley (Basketball POY) and Alejandro Bedoya (Soccer Offensive POY) as the three Eagles honored as the best in their sport.

Wednesday Links

-Matt Ryan has been named a finalist for the Walter Camp Award. Ryan For Camp!!!
-Missed this one, but Ryan was ACC Offensive Back of the Week yet again.
-One bookie has Ryan's chances for the HT at 15/1.
-Ryan is in the also receiving votes category in the nation's longest running weekly Heisman poll.
-Jags lost out on ACC Coach of the Year to a guy whose team got blasted by Wyoming. We bet Jags would still take the ACC Championship as a consolation prize.
-USA Today has Ryan 7th in their Heisman poll.
-A Ryan fan has decided to concede to Tebow. We're not there yet.
-Finally, we just booked our tickets to Jacksonville. Check out what Bill from Eagle in Atlanta has to say about making our presence known here and enjoy this pic that he ran last week:

Monday Links

Over the summer, this team set the goal of winning the ACC. On Saturday, it can do just that. Saw a fan give Gene an orange after the Miami game. Let's hope the entire team has them come Saturday night. Here are today's links:
-BC had seven players named to the All-ACC Team with Matt Ryan leading the way by being named the 1st Team All-ACC Quarterback. Congrats to (1st Team): Purvis and Silva (2nd Team): Callender, Cherilus, Dunbar, Tribble and (Honorable Mention): B-Rob, Albright and Brace.
-Mark Schlabach says that BC and Jags are among his surprises this season.
-The CollegeFootballNews staff is not impressed with the recent play of the O-Line.
-The AJC is among the news outlets suggesting that Matt Ryan could put BC over the top when it comes to bowl selection. If all goes well, this won't matter.
-Blaudschun perpetuates the myth that BC was decisively outplayed in Blacksburg. We watched this game from 8 rows behind the VT bench and it is interesting to see how hindsight has so skewed it. VT got into the end zone once and that was with the help of officials. The first 56 minutes were a push before Matty Ice took over. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.
-The Philadelphia Daily News notes that Ryan is the first QB to throw for 300 yards against Miami in seven years.

Senior Day 2007 Film Room Updated 6:15PM

Here's the latest video from Vinny '03:

Senior Day 2007

Here are some pictures from senior day against Miami. Videos and links to come Sunday:

Senior Week, Part V

We spend plenty of time around here focusing on 1 person but the truth is that this season would never be possible without the hard work of everybody involved with the BC Football team. From coaches to players, to staff, they all played a part in what has been the most fun and exciting season in recent BC memory. The senior class is already the most successful in BC history. They have won three straight bowl games and will look Saturday to become the first team in school history to post back-to back 10-win seasons. This week, we just want to say thanks to the 22 people who will suit up for their last game at Alumni Stadium this Saturday at noon. We'll name a few people every day leading up to our 2 favorite seniors on Friday. We invite you to click on the links and get to know the people you root for but might not know alot about. Today, we feature the final two players in the series. We feel that their body of work over the 4 years that they have been on the BC football team has been the most impressive. Without further ado, here are our 2 favorite seniors:

46- Johnny Ayers, P, Oakton, VA

12- Matt Ryan, QB, Exton, PA

Senior Week, Part IV

We spend plenty of time around here focusing on 1 person but the truth is that this season would never be possible without the hard work of everybody involved with the BC Football team. From coaches to players, to staff, they all played a part in what has been the most fun and exciting season in recent BC memory. The senior class is already the most successful in BC history. They have won three straight bowl games and will look Saturday to become the first team in school history to post back-to back 10-win seasons. This week, we just want to say thanks to the 22 people who will suit up for their last game at Alumni Stadium this Saturday at noon. We'll name a few people every day leading up to our 2 favorite seniors on Friday. We invite you to click on the links and get to know the people you root for but might not know alot about. Here are our next 5 seniors:

78- Ty Hall, OG, Cincinnati, OH

84- Kevin Challenger, WR, Montreal, QUE

43- A.J. Ajudua, FS, Oyster Bay, NY

89- Jon Loyte, TE, Gloucester

29- Taji Morris, CB, Edgewater Park, NJ

Senior Week, Part III

We spend plenty of time around here focusing on 1 person but the truth is that this season would never be possible without the hard work of everybody involved with the BC Football team. From coaches to players, to staff, they all played a part in what has been the most fun and exciting season in recent BC memory. The senior class is already the most successful in BC history. They have won three straight bowl games and will look Saturday to become the first team in school history to post back-to back 10-win seasons. This week, we just want to say thanks to the 22 people who will suit up for their last game at Alumni Stadium this Saturday at noon. We'll name a few people every day leading up to our 2 favorite seniors on Friday. We invite you to click on the links and get to know the people you root for but might not know alot about. Here are our next 5 seniors:

27- DeJuan Tribble, CB, Cincinnati, OH

61- Kevin Sheridan, C, North Royalton, OH

41- Sulaiman Sanni, CB, Jamaica, NY

44- Jamie Silva, FS, East Providence, RI

67- Tom Anevski, OG, Cincinnati, OH

Senior Week, Part II

Quick Note: If you are undecided about going to the ACCCG, check out Bill's latest post at Eagle in Atlanta.

We spend plenty of time around here focusing on 1 person but the truth is that this season would never be possible without the hard work of everybody involved with the BC Football team. From coaches to players, to staff, they all played a part in what has been the most fun and exciting season in recent BC memory. The senior class is already the most successful in BC history. They have won three straight bowl games and will look Saturday to become the first team in school history to post back-to back 10-win seasons. This week, we just want to say thanks to the 22 people who will suit up for their last game at Alumni Stadium this Saturday at noon. We'll name a few people every day leading up to our 2 favorite seniors on Friday. We invite you to click on the links and get to know the people you root for but might not know alot about. Here are our next 5 seniors:

77- Gosder Cherilus, OT, Somerville, MA

40- Jo-Lonn Dunbar, LB, Syracuse, NY

72- Ryan Poles, OT, Canandaigua, NY

48- Tyrone Pruitt, LB, Brockton, MA

38- Patrick Quinn, FB, Seekonk, MA

Tuesday Links

-ESPN has Matt Ryan 6th in their Heisman Watch.
-Ryan is unranked in the CBSSports.com poll.
-Matt is tied for 6th in the nation's longest running weekly Heisman poll.
-Gene Menez of SI has Matty Ice 7th.
-Ryan was named ACC Offensive Back of the Week again.
-Here is the latest video from Vinny '03:

-And here is a good picture from Clemson of John and a special guest:
-Finally, BC winning the ACC CG in football would help but something happened over the weekend that went a long way towards validating the move to the ACC. Boston College, ACC Champions. Congratulations to the Men's Soccer Team, which has also received the #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Senior Week, Part I

We spend plenty of time around here focusing on 1 person but the truth is that this season would never be possible without the hard work of everybody involved with the BC Football team. From coaches to players, to staff, they all played a part in what has been the most fun and exciting season in recent BC memory. The senior class is already the most successful in BC history. They have won three straight bowl games and will look Saturday to become the first team in school history to post back-to back 10-win seasons. This week, we just want to say thanks to the 22 people who will play their last game at Alumni Stadium this Saturday at noon. We'll name a few people every day leading up to our 2 favorite seniors on Friday. We invite you to click on the links and get to know the people you root for but might not know alot about. Here are our first 5 seniors:

57- Nick Larkin, DE, Cincinnati, OH

25- Rob Swanke, QB, New Hartford, CT

85- Ryan Thompson, TE, Akron, OH

30- L.V. Whitworth, RB, Milton, MA

32- Andre Callender, RB, Roselle, NJ

Monday Links

It looks like BC will be the home team in the ACCCG so here's your wallpaper:-Check out what Bill from Eagle in Atlanta had to say about going to Jacksonville. Couldn't have said it better myself. Are you listening RFH2?
-We have no idea how this got by us but check out who Chris Mannix from Sports Illustrated nominated for Sportsman of the Year 2007. Welcome aboard Chris. We'll see you Wednesday.
-Blaudschun thinks that it's too early to count Matty Ice out.
-Pete Thamel, a Ryan fan for a long time, thinks that Matty is right in the thick of the HT discussion.
-ESPN thinks that There's Something About Matt.
-Deadspin's weekend blogger likes #12.

We'll be posting every day this week with another series coming up this afternoon that will conclude on Friday. We will also update the Heisman polls when the Monday releases come out.

Bandwagon Wednesday (11/16)

We have our first new passenger on the Bandwagon in two weeks. It's nice to see the wagon get rolling again...

CLICK THE PHOTO TO ENLARGE

1) Wilbur Wildcat, University of Arizona mascot: we are most definitely not celebrating the injury to Dennis Dixon. He is everything that is right with college football and we would have been fine with it if he took home the Heisman. However, Oregon's loss opened the door for Matt Ryan again. Thanks to the Wildcats, has 3 potential games to slam it shut behind him.

Bonus Photoshop item:

Friday Links

Last night proved how things can change in a heartbeat. Maybe we were right when we said that all is not lost. In light of recent events, we will have a Bandwagon Wednesday update up in a little while. For now, here are the links:

-ESPN compares Matt Ryan to Clemson QB Cullen Harper.
-CSTV's Strike the Poser declares the Heisman up for grabs as a result of Dennis Dixon's injury.
-The Globe thinks that tomorrow night might be Matt Ryan's defining moment.
-Eagle in Atlanta tackles "the 'H' word" and includes and interesting bit about Tim Tebow.
-#12 is a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
-Tom Dienhart can't remember a Heisman race this muddled this last. That makes it more likely that voters will hold off on mailing their ballots until the last minute. That is a decided edge for Matt Ryan if he is playing in the ACC Championship Game. As it looks now, Daniel, Dixon, McFadden and Tebow would all be out of action.
-The NH Union Leader has Ryan fifth.
-The AP does a story about Matt Ryan and The Hit.
-Finally, here's another video from Vinny '03, who continues to do great work:

Wednesday Links

Alright folks. A few days away have re-energized us and we are ready for the home stretch. The Heisman Trophy will be awarded 3 weeks from Saturday. There is plenty of time to make up ground. With that, here is an update on the usual Heisman polls:

-Matt Ryan is tied for 7th in the ESPN Heisman Watch. Dennis Dixon is the overwhelming favorite.
-Ryan is 9th according to USA Today.
-The BC quarterback is off the board according to the CBS HT poll.
-Ryan's strongest showing appears to be in the CSTV poll.
-Matty Ice is 8th on SI.com's list.
-No votes for Ryan in the nation's longest running weekly Heisman poll.

Matt Ryan, Heisman Candidate? Part IV Why Matty Will Win

Between now and Saturday, we will be doing a little something we're calling Matt Ryan, Heisman Candidate?. It will be a 4 part series with one post each day. The schedule is Analyzing the Losses (Tuesday), Ryan at the Turn (Wednesday), Why Matty Won't Win (Thursday), and Why Matty Will Win (Saturday). Here is Part IV:

So, we were lazy/busy for the last day and a half so we didn't get Part IV up until now. Obviously, what was originally supposed to go in this space got thrown out the window. We feel sick after that loss. Once again, Matt Ryan's performance can best be described as uneven. It wasn't horrible but the INTs were killer. This loss alone would have been a bump in the road but coupled with the Florida State loss, it very well could be a fatal blow. Until the announcement is made on December 8th, there will remain a chance. So, here is why Matty win will:

1) He is everything that Heisman voters are looking for. He is a top-5 NFL pick that scouts are drooling over. He is intelligent and more outgoing by the day. He has his degree already and is generally likeable.

2) No clear candidate has emerged. Dixon and Tebow are the leaders right now but nobody has locked up the trophy yet.

3) Ryan plays on the east coast. Whether it is fair or not, playing in the Northeast and having the inside track with Boston and New York media members is huge.

4) Ryan still has 3 possible games left. If BC beats Clemson, they are in the ACC Championship Game. It still looks as if Tebow and McFadden will be sitting at home on December 1st. Winning the ACC Atlantic would give Ryan a chance to make one final statement before ballots are due.

If Matt Ryan is to have any chance at the Heisman Trophy, he needs to play lights out for 3 games and lead Boston College to the BCS. He will need to have something like 1,200 yards, 10 TDs and 0 INTs. Unfortunately, his Heisman fate will be determined not by his own play, but by the play of others. Stay tuned...

Matt Ryan, Heisman Candidate? Part III: Why Matty Won't Win

Between now and Friday, we will be doing a little something we're calling Matt Ryan, Heisman Candidate?. It will be a 4 part series with one post each day. The schedule is Analyzing the Losses (Tuesday), Ryan at the Turn (Wednesday), Why Matty Won't Win (Thursday), and Why Matty Will Win (Friday). Here is Part III:

There are plenty of experts who are quick to declare the Ryan For Heisman campaign dead. They don't seem to go into alot of detail, instead the just point to the 3 picks that Ryan threw against Florida State. Here are 8 reasons the BC signal-caller will not walk out of Times Square with the stiff-arm trophy. Tomorrow we will be back with 12 reasons why he will.

1) His stats are not great. Ryan has a passer rating of 129.47, good for 60th in the nation.
2) Ryan does not play for a traditional power. Conventional wisdom is that in order to win the Heisman Trophy, a player has to come from a traditional power like Ohio State, Texas or USC or he has to be far and away better than the competition.
3) #12 played two uneven games on national television. Ryan had 2 chances to blow voters away, against Virginia Tech and against Florida State, he did not take full advantage of either opportunity.
4) There are too many other similar candidates. Voters will have plenty of choices including Dixon, Tebow, Daniel, McFadden and Hart. At this point, it is Dixon and everyone else. Ryan lost all of the separation that he had spent 2 months creating.
5) The perceived weakness of the ACC. Critics will point to the supposed lack of competition in the conference as one of the big reasons for Ryan's success.
6) The perceived weakness of BC's schedule. Even when the Eagles ventured out of conference, they didn't exactly have the toughest opponents.
7) Ryan stumbled at the wrong time. Heisman hopefuls are like national title contenders in that it is much better to trip early and get it out of the way. A meltdown on the first Saturday in November is going to stick with voters more than it would have in early October.
8) BC is not in the NC picture. One of the reasons why Ryan was on the radar of most experts was that Boston College was in the driver's seat for the BCS title game. Now that the perfect season is over, the Eagles will be an afterthought for at least the next week.

Thursday Links

You might have noticed that we had no "Bandwagon Wednesday" post yesterday. Considering the loss, we decided that nobody really merited inclusion based on the past week. If all goes well, the Bandwagon will be back in full force next week.

-USA today has Matt Ryan 6th in the Heisman Trophy race.
-The Heisman Pundit straw poll has Ryan 4th.
-Eagle in Atlanta looks at how #12 has historically responded to bad losses.
-The Macon Telegraph says what we have been preaching for a week: nobody is out of the HT race yet.
-Steve Conroy agrees and suggests that the Florida State game was no "Dean Scream".
-Ryan was named a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award.
-Maryland LB Erin Henderson hints that Matt Ryan is good but not great.

Matt Ryan, Heisman Candidate? Part II: Ryan at the Turn

Between now and Friday, we will be doing a little something we're calling Matt Ryan, Heisman Candidate?. It will be a 4 part series with one post each day. The schedule is Analyzing the Losses (Tuesday), Ryan at the Turn (Wednesday), Why Matty Won't Win (Thursday), and Why Matty Will Win (Friday). Here is Part II:

At the quarter mark of the season we did a comparison of Matt Ryan's stats to those of Heisman winning quarterbacks since 2000. At the time, it looked like Ryan would match, if not better, the other QBs on the list. Unfortunately, things have not gone as planned. Here is a look at how Ryan stacks up three quarters of the way through BC's schedule.

Year	QB	Comp. %	Pass YDs	Pass TDs	INTs	Rush YDs	Rush TDs
2000	Weinke	61.7%	4167	33	11	-97	1
2001	Crouch	53.9%	1572	7	11	1229	18
2002	Palmer	63.2%	3942	33	10	-122	4
2003	White	61.6%	3846	40	10	-150	1
2004	Leinart	65.3%	3322	33	6	-44	3
2006	Smith	67.0%	2507	30	5	233	1
2007	Ryan*	59.4%	3797	28	15	51	1

*Projected 2007 stats over a 12 game season

Florida State Pictures

A Panorama of Alumni (with RFH 4 and RFH 5 on the left):

The students got the "Solid Gold" memo:

RFH2 and RFH6 in one of their many ABC appearances:

Aponavicius watching his 2nd Quarter FG attempt sail wide right:

RFH with Nick, the Heisman Trophy:

BC's offense in the huddle:

Matt Ryan, Heisman Candidate? Part I: Analyzing the Losses

Between now and Friday, we will be doing a little something we're calling Matt Ryan, Heisman Candidate?. It will be a 4 part series with one post each day. The schedule is Analyzing the Losses (Tuesday), Ryan at the Turn (Wednesday), Why Matty Won't Win (Thursday), and Why Matty Will Win (Friday). Here is Part I:


For the most part, mainstream media members keep saying that Saturday's loss to Florida State probably ended Matt Ryan's Heisman Trophy chances. Surely, one loss in which the BC quarterback threw for 415 yards and 2 touchdowns couldn't have been that bad, could it? The popular response will be that those numbers were negated by the fact that Ryan threw 3 interceptions, including one that was returned for a TD in the final minutes. If a momentary meltdown in the clutch precludes a player from winning the Heisman, then the trophy will not be given out this year. Consider the current leading candidates in their teams' losses:

• Dennis Dixon: vs. Cal (6-3) in Eugene- 31/44, 306 yards, 2 touchdowns (1 rushing), 2 interceptions. On the surface, Dixon appears to have played an average game. His two interceptions, however, both came in the final 5:46. The first INT set up Cal's game winning touchdown.
• Tim Tebow: vs. UGA (7-2) in Jacksonville- 14/22, 236 yards, 3 touchdowns (2 rushing), -15 yards rushing. In Florida's 3 losses, Tebow has averaged 241 total yards and an interception, but the Georgia game stands out the most. Tebow had a career worst day on the ground and his fumble in the red zone with 2:23 left in the game allowed the Bulldogs to get one first down and put the game away.
• Darren McFadden: vs. Auburn (7-3) in Fayetville- 17 carries, 43 yards. At home, against Arkansas's toughest opponent of the season to date, McFadden was a non-factor. In the other 2 losses by the Razorbacks, McFadden had big rushing totals but also fumbled the ball once.
• Chase Daniel: vs. Oklahoma (8-1) in Norman- 37/47, 361 yards, touchdown, 2 interceptions, fumble. In Missouri's only game against an opponent that is currently ranked, Daniel threw two picks and the fumble was inside his own 20. It was returned for an Oklahoma touchdown early in the 4th quarter and made it a 2-score game.
• Mike Hart has played the best in his team's losses of any popular Heisman pick. He was the bright spot for the Wolverines in both games actually. There is a chance that Michigan could play in a BCS bowl, even with a loss to Ohio State. As we stated in September, no HT winner since 2000 has played for a 3-loss team and only 1 HT winner since the advent of the Bowl Championship Series has failed to lead his team to a BCS game. Hart will need to actually play and play well to overcome those factors.

As you can see, playing poorly in a loss is a knock against all of the Heisman Candidates right now. In fact, Dixon and McFadden had bad days at home, while Tebow was on a neutral field. There seems to be an extreme backlash against Ryan right now because pundits had just anointed him as the leader. It also does not help that the rest of the country waited until late October to watch him play and then were treated to uneven performances in horrible conditions. We think that if Ryan plays well in the 3 (or 4) games left on BC's schedule, he can overcome the Florida State loss and, at the very least, will be right in the thick of an extremely close Heisman vote.

Tuesday Links

-Matt Ryan has fallen to 4th while Dennis Dixon has taken a commanding lead according to ESPN's Heisman Watch.
-Ryan is still a close second according to CSTV.
-But he is 6th in the nation's longest running weekly Heisman poll.
-And the third overall QB according to the Rivals.com power rankings.
-The News & Observer thinks that it's too early to say that #12 is out of the HT race.
-A blogger from the FanHouse thinks that Matt Ryan remains on the periphery.

Monday Links

-CBSSports.com now has Matt Ryan 4th in the Heisman race.
-Ryan has dropped to 5th according to Gene Menez of SI.
-CSTV still thinks that Ryan is top-5.
-Heisman Pundit says that #12 is officially out of the race.

State of the Heisman

When Geno Hayes ran into Alumni Stadium's North Endzone on Saturday night to make the score 26-17 in favor of Florida State, a few things ended. 1) Boston College's undefeated season 2) the nation's second longest home winning streak and 3) the nervous bickering about BC being done by fans from Baton Rouge to Eugene to Norman. BC no longer controls its own destiny. However, the current favorite in the ACC was not, as many people will claim in the week ahead, completely eliminated from the NC picture and Ryan For Heisman did not die with an errant pass ripped from the hands of Ryan Purvis. Boston College will need plenty of help to get to New Orleans, probably too much. The Eagles still control their fate when it comes to a BCS berth and the Orange Bowl. They have 4 games left if you include a potential ACC Championship Game in Jacksonville. As for the Heisman, Dennis Dixon is now your clear-cut leader and he deserves to be. But if we have learned anything from this year, it's that things can change at the drop of a helmet. Matt Ryan has 3(or 4) games to show Heisman voters why he deserves to take home the hardware. In the days ahead, we will go in depth on the issue and offer more analysis than ever. In the meantime, ignore all of the talking heads who want to deal in extremes. Just as Matt Ryan did not suddenly become great a week and a half ago in Blacksburg, he did not forget how to play quarterback Saturday in Chestnut Hill. Just look at the picture above and know that the Ryan For Heisman movement is refocused and that it is alive and well.

Friday Links

-Even though Heisman Pundit is fighting the urge to jump on the Ryan For Heisman Bandwagon, his straw poll voters disagree. Ryan has taken over the top spot for the first time because at least 2 voters are staunchly in favor of #12: Stewart Mandel and Dick Weiss.
-HP has also been breaking down his top 5 and what they have to do to win. Yesterday, he featured Matt Ryan.
-Here is a piece written last December by the New York Times about the selection of voters and how the voting process works.
-Chris Folwer explains his placement of BC. We have two thoughts on this. First, he is an AP voter and the media poll does not matter in the grand scheme. Second, if BC takes care of business, everything will take care of itself.
-Ryan Purvis talks about how Matt Ryan flips a switch at practice.
-In this notes column, Steve Conroy says that we could see Jeff Smith line up in the backfield. He also notes that Billy Bennett was back to kicking off in practice but that one of BC's soccer players practiced and kicked well.
-The NH Union Leader still has Ryan atop the HT list.

Thursday Links

-Check out this video for Thursday made by Vinny '03:

-If you haven't seen his video from the VT game, look here.
-The Sporting News has Matt Ryan as the #2 HT candidate.
-Ryan has gone from being projected as the third QB taken in April to being mentioned as the possible top pick. One of the biggest reasons for the jump according to people who know much more about football than we ever will? His "poor" performance last Thursday.
-The Florida Times-Union does a piece on BC's success with non-promotion.
-B-Rob says that Ryan's teammates want him to win the Heisman [apparently without using the H word]. Are BC's receivers the quickest or biggest or even best in the country? No, of course not. But these guys are not dogs and if Matty Ice is going to walk out of the Nokia Theater with some hardware it will be because of the receivers, not in spite of them.
-AC gets some well-deserved pub from his (and our) state paper.
-USA today still has Matt Ryan out in front.