BC eager to seize upon momentum of its bowl win
Chuck Burton/AP
BC defensive end Harold Landry, who set a school record last season with 16½ sacks, speaks to the media at the ACC’s Football Kickoff Thursday in Charlotte, N.C.
By Julian Benbow Globe Staff July 13, 2017
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When the Boston College football team walked off Ford Field with a 36-30 win over Maryland in the Quick Lane Bowl last December in Detroit, the Eagles went into the offseason with something they hadn’t had in years: momentum.
They didn’t have the cloud of one of the worst seasons in the history of the program hanging over them they way they did after the 2015 season.
They didn’t have the disappointment of a crushing bowl-game loss linger during the offseason the way it did after their 31-30 overtime setback against Penn State in the 2014 Pinstripe Bowl.
Winning a bowl game for the first time since 2007 gave the program a much-needed shot in the arm.
“The energy after the bowl game, it was palpable,” said senior center Jon Baker, as the 14 teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference gathered at the Westin in Charlotte for the conference’s football kickoff festivities on Thursday. “In the winter workouts and the spring practice, even still now, we’re fighting to keep that going. We want to keep that momentum winning a few games, winning the bowl game last year, we want to roll it right into this season, take on the first game with the same kind of energy and passion that we had at the end of last year.”
Chuck Burton/AP
BC senior center Jon Baker (right), flanked by teammate Harold Landry (left), said the offseason energy generated by BC’s bowl win over Maryland was “palpable.”
More important than having momentum, though, is doing something with it.
The disappointment of going winless in conference play (3-9 overall) in 2015 nearly stunted the growth the program started to show after head coach Steve Addazio took over in 2013 and took the Eagles to consecutive bowl games after 7-6 campaigns his first two seasons at the Heights.
This season is a chance to take another step forward after going 7-6 last year.
“I think this season could be a great steppingstone for our program,” said defensive end Harold Landry, a Nagurski Trophy candidate who set a single-season school record last year with 16½ quarterback sacks.
“Last season we had a good season, but we know there’s more meat on the bone,” Landry said. “There’s so much potential for this team. You can just see it in the offseason workouts. Everybody is stepping their game up. I’ve never seen so many players put in so much extra work.”
“I think this season is going to be something special, especially for me in my senior season, a lot of seniors out there on our team, and they’re ready to lead. We’ve just been working, we’ve been grinding . . . and we’re prepared for the opportunity that we have ahead of us.
“I look forward to it. We all look forward to it. We’re all excited for the season, and I think a lot of great things are to come for this football program this season.”
Barry Chin/Globe Staff/File
BC defensive end Harold Landry, shown here taking down Wagner quarterback Alex Thomson, was eager to pick up where he left off last season.
Ideally, Addazio would’ve liked to have been at this point two years ago, but he knew it would be a five-year process to turn around BC’s struggling program.
After four seasons of initial strides then jarring setbacks, Addazio is now in that all-important fifth year, having compiled a 24-27 record in his first four seasons at BC.
“The momentum trajectory from the bowl game last year, I thought what you saw was a team that in the very opening day found a way not to win that game,” Addazio said. “But then at the end of the year, [we] gained the confidence and the glue to learn how to win that game, and I thought that was the maturation process of our football program.
“The confidence level increased, and all of that kind of came together and has created a real energy in the program right now.”
Making a leap this season won’t be an easy task. The Eagles became bowl eligible last season by winning their final two games of the season, including a 17-14 victory at Wake Forest in the regular-season finale. But they balanced out brutal losses to the ACC’s elite by beating up on nonconference opponents such as UMass (26-7), Wagner (42-10), Buffalo (35-3) and UConn (30-0).
They face a tougher schedule this year, starting with a season-opening Sept. 1 road game against perennial Mid-American Conference power Northern Illinois, in addition to home games vs. Notre Dame (Sept. 16) and Central Michigan (Sept. 30).
“People say last year you played a couple [FCS] teams,” Addazio said. “OK. We played a couple I-AA teams and we beat them up, appropriately. Now we’re going to play some MAC teams, which are going to be more challenging. I think it’ll help our team.”
The Eagles defense is still expected to be the team’s backbone with the return of Landry, who has 21 career sacks and enters the season ranked third behind Mathias Kiwanuka, BC’s all-time sack leader (37½, 2002-05).
But improvement from an offense that was third-worst in the nation a year ago is a must.
Redshirt junior Darius Wade will go into training camp as the starting quarterback, but he’ll battle redshirt freshman Anthony Brown. The lack of stability and productivity under center has been been at the heart of BC’s struggles, and Addazio knows it’s an important question mark going into the season.
“The one piece that has to be told, the story has to be told, while we know that our quarterbacks are highly talented right now, they have not done that in the heat of the battle in the ACC yet, and that’s a pivotal position,” he said. “But their surrounding cast, their supporting cast is significantly improved and different.”
But with training camp set to start in just two weeks, the Eagles will go into the season with optimism for the first time in a long time.
“I’m really jacked up looking forward to the whole deal to be honest with you,” Addazio said.
Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com.
Chuck Burton/AP
BC defensive end Harold Landry, who set a school record last season with 16½ sacks, speaks to the media at the ACC’s Football Kickoff Thursday in Charlotte, N.C.
By Julian Benbow Globe Staff July 13, 2017
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When the Boston College football team walked off Ford Field with a 36-30 win over Maryland in the Quick Lane Bowl last December in Detroit, the Eagles went into the offseason with something they hadn’t had in years: momentum.
They didn’t have the cloud of one of the worst seasons in the history of the program hanging over them they way they did after the 2015 season.
They didn’t have the disappointment of a crushing bowl-game loss linger during the offseason the way it did after their 31-30 overtime setback against Penn State in the 2014 Pinstripe Bowl.
Winning a bowl game for the first time since 2007 gave the program a much-needed shot in the arm.
“The energy after the bowl game, it was palpable,” said senior center Jon Baker, as the 14 teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference gathered at the Westin in Charlotte for the conference’s football kickoff festivities on Thursday. “In the winter workouts and the spring practice, even still now, we’re fighting to keep that going. We want to keep that momentum winning a few games, winning the bowl game last year, we want to roll it right into this season, take on the first game with the same kind of energy and passion that we had at the end of last year.”
Chuck Burton/AP
BC senior center Jon Baker (right), flanked by teammate Harold Landry (left), said the offseason energy generated by BC’s bowl win over Maryland was “palpable.”
More important than having momentum, though, is doing something with it.
The disappointment of going winless in conference play (3-9 overall) in 2015 nearly stunted the growth the program started to show after head coach Steve Addazio took over in 2013 and took the Eagles to consecutive bowl games after 7-6 campaigns his first two seasons at the Heights.
This season is a chance to take another step forward after going 7-6 last year.
“I think this season could be a great steppingstone for our program,” said defensive end Harold Landry, a Nagurski Trophy candidate who set a single-season school record last year with 16½ quarterback sacks.
“Last season we had a good season, but we know there’s more meat on the bone,” Landry said. “There’s so much potential for this team. You can just see it in the offseason workouts. Everybody is stepping their game up. I’ve never seen so many players put in so much extra work.”
“I think this season is going to be something special, especially for me in my senior season, a lot of seniors out there on our team, and they’re ready to lead. We’ve just been working, we’ve been grinding . . . and we’re prepared for the opportunity that we have ahead of us.
“I look forward to it. We all look forward to it. We’re all excited for the season, and I think a lot of great things are to come for this football program this season.”
Barry Chin/Globe Staff/File
BC defensive end Harold Landry, shown here taking down Wagner quarterback Alex Thomson, was eager to pick up where he left off last season.
Ideally, Addazio would’ve liked to have been at this point two years ago, but he knew it would be a five-year process to turn around BC’s struggling program.
After four seasons of initial strides then jarring setbacks, Addazio is now in that all-important fifth year, having compiled a 24-27 record in his first four seasons at BC.
“The momentum trajectory from the bowl game last year, I thought what you saw was a team that in the very opening day found a way not to win that game,” Addazio said. “But then at the end of the year, [we] gained the confidence and the glue to learn how to win that game, and I thought that was the maturation process of our football program.
“The confidence level increased, and all of that kind of came together and has created a real energy in the program right now.”
Making a leap this season won’t be an easy task. The Eagles became bowl eligible last season by winning their final two games of the season, including a 17-14 victory at Wake Forest in the regular-season finale. But they balanced out brutal losses to the ACC’s elite by beating up on nonconference opponents such as UMass (26-7), Wagner (42-10), Buffalo (35-3) and UConn (30-0).
They face a tougher schedule this year, starting with a season-opening Sept. 1 road game against perennial Mid-American Conference power Northern Illinois, in addition to home games vs. Notre Dame (Sept. 16) and Central Michigan (Sept. 30).
“People say last year you played a couple [FCS] teams,” Addazio said. “OK. We played a couple I-AA teams and we beat them up, appropriately. Now we’re going to play some MAC teams, which are going to be more challenging. I think it’ll help our team.”
The Eagles defense is still expected to be the team’s backbone with the return of Landry, who has 21 career sacks and enters the season ranked third behind Mathias Kiwanuka, BC’s all-time sack leader (37½, 2002-05).
But improvement from an offense that was third-worst in the nation a year ago is a must.
Redshirt junior Darius Wade will go into training camp as the starting quarterback, but he’ll battle redshirt freshman Anthony Brown. The lack of stability and productivity under center has been been at the heart of BC’s struggles, and Addazio knows it’s an important question mark going into the season.
“The one piece that has to be told, the story has to be told, while we know that our quarterbacks are highly talented right now, they have not done that in the heat of the battle in the ACC yet, and that’s a pivotal position,” he said. “But their surrounding cast, their supporting cast is significantly improved and different.”
But with training camp set to start in just two weeks, the Eagles will go into the season with optimism for the first time in a long time.
“I’m really jacked up looking forward to the whole deal to be honest with you,” Addazio said.
Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com.
