Boston College Football Countdown: 78 Days to Go
By Joe Micik
There are now 78 days remaining until the kickoff of the 2013 football season.
So often last year, we said of the Boston College Eagles that it was their worst season in over 30 years. Well, ’78 was that season, and even though the bottom line was bad — very bad — it probably wasn’t as bad as you think (at least not relative to what we just experienced).
But first, the usual:
Who Wears 78 Now
Nobody
Big ol’ gap in the roster there. Go get it, 2013 freshman newcomers.
Notables Who Wore 78
• Thomas Claiborne, OG, 2007-10. Once an All-ACC lineman for the Eagles.
• Augie Hoffman, OG, 2000-03. 2003 team captain; played briefly for New Orleans Saints.
So, About That ’78 Season
1978 was Boston College’s worst in terms of win percentage of all-time — goose eggs across at .000. You end up with that with an 0-11 season, in case you were wondering. It’s one of those seasons Boston College fans remember for all the wrong reasons.
The Thing Is…
There actually was some talent on that ’78 roster. It included faces like Mike Mayock, Fred Smerlas, Joe Nash, and several others. Things may have been thoroughly lousy that year in BC football, but the composition of the team wasn’t all bad.
And Another Thing…
’78 was Ed Chlebek’s first year as Boston College head coach. His teams actually got better until he got fired, which is decidedly the opposite track of our most recent head coach not named Addazio.
They Did A Few Things Right, At Least
Keeping with the theme of how the ’78 Eagles were bad but probably not as bad as their record made them look, that team holds the program record for fewest passing yards allowed per game — BC only gave up about 65 yards on average through the air. That team still gave up a lot of points, but were done in by their 13.9 points scored per game.
Comparing ’78 to Today
The 1978 season was a godawful blight on Eagle kind with some terrible offense (where have we heard that before?), but from then on, the trajectory was looking more or less up, especially heading into the early to mid-1980s. Right now, the Eagles are at rock bottom, but we have already seen some evidence that improvement will someday come. Like in 1978, happier times seem far away, but they will come around again.
Getting the Call
1978 saw former football figures D. Leo Daley and Larry Eisenhauer inducted into the Boston College Varsity Club Hall of Fame.