Boston College Athletics
Countdown To Kickoff
August 28, 2005 | Football
Aug. 28, 2005
There's something old and plenty of new as the Eagles head to BYU to open their 106th season of football on September 3. Saturday's game will be televised regionally by ABC and is set to kick off at 1:36 p.m. Mountain Time, 3:36 p.m. on the East coast.
Boston College enters the 2005 campaign ranked No. 22 in both polls. This marks the first time in the Tom O'Brien era that his team has been ranked in the preseason and the fourth time in the school's history. The last time the Eagles received a preseason ranking was 1995 (No. 22 in AP, No. 23 in CNN/USA Today). BC is 1-2 when ranked in season-opening games.
Senior Quinton Porter, who started 10 games as a junior in 2003 before injuring his hand and being replaced in the lineup by Paul Peterson, will start at quarterback for the Eagles after redshirting last season. Porter threw for 1,764 yards and 14 touchdowns two seasons ago and will start behind a veteran offensive line that returns all five starters from a year ago.
Only once in BC football history have the Eagles opened their season farther from home - at Hawaii on August 31, 1996 (BC 24, Hawaii 21). The Eagles will make the 2,384-mile trip from Boston (elevation 11) to Provo (elevation 4,549) on Friday afternoon aboard a chartered flight expected to last approximately five hours. The Eagles have never played a game in Utah.
Saturday's game will mark the second meeting between the two teams and the second time the Eagles and Cougars opened a season against each other. On August 19, 1985, BC and BYU squared off in the Kickoff Classic in Giants Stadium. The Cougars defeated the Eagles 28-14, behind quarterback Robbie Bosco's 508-yard, three touchdown passing performance. The last time Boston College played a Mountain West Conference (MWC) team was in the 2003 Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl. The Eagles defeated MWC-opponent Colorado State, 35-21, on New Year's Eve.
In 1985, all eyes in the college football world focused on Giants Stadium on a steamy Thursday evening in late August of 1985 as the Eagles took on defending national champion BYU. LaVell Edwards' Cougars defeated Jack Bicknell's Eagles 28-14, behind an aerial attack - 35-of-53 passing attempts for 508 yards and three touchdowns - from returning Heisman Trophy candidate Robbie Bosco. Despite the loss, BC's Mike Ruth recorded one of the greatest defensive efforts in college football history - 13 tackles (12 solo), four quarterback sacks, one caused fumble and one interception.
BYU went on to finish with a record of 11-3 - after losing to Ohio State in the Florida Citrus Bowl - and finished the season ranked 16th in both polls.
