Boston College Football Countdown: 45 Days to Go
By Joe Micik
55 down, 45 to go on the Boston College Eagles football countdown for 2013.
Who Wears 45 Now
Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY SportsMehdi Abdesmad, DL, junior
Mehdi Abdesmad is a Quebecois import to the Eagles who will be entering his third season. Before coming to Boston College, he played for a CEGEP (essentially a junior college) in a particularly great place to visit, Old Montreal, where he was one of the best players on his team.
Abdesmad appeared in all 12 games last season and recorded 25 tackles.
Notables Who Wore 45
• Chet Gladchuk, Sr., C, 1938-40. College Football Hall of Famer; father of BC’s former athletic director.
• Mike Holovak, B, 1940-42. 1942 team captain; future BC coach and College Football Hall of Famer.
• Josh Ott, LB, 2000-03. 2003 team captain; 381 tackles in his BC career.
• Wes Davis, S, 2006-10. 2010 team captain; sadly retired mid-season after second serious injury.
Grand Exit
Doug Flutie’s final game as a Boston College Eagle was in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day 1985. He led his team to 45 points that day as BC beat Houston, 45-28. It was BC’s first bowl win since 1941.
It is also somehow fitting that Flutie threw his last BC touchdown pass to Gerard Phelan.
Less Than Spectacular
Clemson also scored 45 points against the Eagles in last year’s meeting.
Plenty of Picks
Frank Harris, Boston College quarterback from 1968 to 1970, threw 45 interceptions during his Eagles career, which was at the time the most. Now, it’s just third on the team list, except he did that in 28 games, while Glenn Foley and Doug Flutie played in over 40.
Condensed Season & The War Effort
During the war in ’45, the Eagles only played a minimized schedule of seven games, and Boston College went 3-4 that year. Amongst their stunning highlights were a 51-6 loss to Brown, a 41-0 loss to Villanova, and a 46-0 thumping by Holy Cross. The latter of those was the last game Moody Sarno would coach for BC.
As it turns out, head coach Denny Myers (1941-42; 1946-50) left the Eagles to serve in the war, whereupon they were stuck with Sarno. When America and the allies finished the job, Myers returned.
Behind The Lines
Boston College registered 45 tackles for a loss last season — which sounds like a lot but it was actually dead-last in FBS.
From Long-Range
Nate Freese’s longest field goal of the 2012 season was a 45-yarder against Notre Dame.
On The Ground
Boston College rushed a season-high 45 times against Virginia Tech in last year’s meeting.