Boston College Football Countdown: 97 Days to Go
By Joe Micik
We roll on with the summer countdown into Memorial Day weekend, and today, there are 97 days to go until the start of the 2013 Boston College Eagles football season. Individual game tickets for BC-Villanova are not yet on sale, but when they are, I expect the lot of you to pony up a couple bucks and get out to the stadium. The good news is that you can spend the next couple months saving your pennies.
Who Wears 97 Now
Nobody yet
There were no players with that assigned number on the 2012 Eagles roster or the 2013 spring roster. Could it go to an incoming recruit? Stay tuned.
Notables Who Wore 97
• John Bosa, DT, 1983-86. 1986 team captain; Miami Dolphins 1st-round draft pick.
• Brady Smith, DE, 2006-07. Last letterwinner to wear the number; playing career came to a disappointing end.
The Hen Clucks in ’97
Tom O’Brien’s first season as Boston College head coach was in 1997, taking over from the disastrous years of Dan Henning. The Eagles were 4-7 that season and near the middle of the pack in the Big East.
Matt Hasselbeck’s senior year was not a great one for BC football in general, but that didn’t stop him from getting drafted and becoming an elite NFL starter for many years.
Speaking of the Hasselbecks
Matt’s brother, Tim, holds a Boston College record: in 1999, he hit Dedrick Dewalt for a 97-yard touchdown pass against Virginia Tech, the longest passing play in Eagles history.
’97 Comebacks
In 1997, Boston College had two of its five biggest second-half comebacks in program history. Those were close wins over West Virginia and Pittsburgh, down two touchdowns at nearly the end of the third quarter.
Sack Attack
In 1997, Erik Storz tied Mike Mamula’s Boston College program record with 13 sacks in a single year. For a point of reference, BC had six sacks in the entire 2012 season.
What About 1897?
That edition of Boston College football was 4-3, outscoring opponents 58-40. They split their series against Holy Cross and picked up a win against the football titans of Harvard Law School.
Hoisting the Lombardi
In January 1997, ex-Eagle TE Mark Chmura won Super Bowl XXXI with the Green Bay Packers.
Drafted in ’97
• Stalin Colinet (Minnesota Vikings, 3rd round)
• Daryl Porter (Pittsburgh Steelers, 6th round)