Boston College Football Countdown: 74 Days to Go

With now only 74 days remaining until the start of the college football season, start getting yourself acquainted with the new Boston College coaching staff. It’s easy enough to find them all on Twitter, too.

Who Wears 74 Now

Dave Bowen, OL, sophomore

Bowen is a product of the Philadelphia area who came to Boston College as part of the 2011 signing class. He redshirted in 2011 and then played in all twelve games as a redshirt freshman in 2012. Like yesterday’s feature, Liam Porter, Bowen was also used as a blocking tight end as opposed to a traditional offensive lineman. At 6-7/285, Bowen could pull it off, but who knows if he will be retained in said capacity going forward.

He began the season on the two-deep but he did not finish the season there, despite his appearing in each game.

Notables Who Wore 74

• Doug Brzezinski, OL, 1995-98. 1998 team captain who spent six years in the NFL.
• Anthony Castonzo, OT, 2007-10. 2010 team captain and current Indianapolis Colt.
• Larry Eisenhauer, T/DE, 1958-60. “Wildman” in the BC Varsity Hall of Fame.
• Doug Widell, OG, 1986-88. Spent nine years in the NFL; second-round pick in 1989.

Nothing to Show For It

The 1974 Eagles were a legitimately good team, having gone 8-3 with Joe Yukica at the helm. At this point, Jack Bicknell was an offensive assistant, and he would later go on to coach the team in 1981. In fact, the Eagles got so hot that they outscored opponents at a ten-to-one clip, 270-27, in the last six games of the season, obliterating Villanova, West Virginia, Tulane, Syracuse, UMass, and Holy Cross in that stretch. BC broke 70 points against the Minutemen and did not allow more than eight points in a game in the second half of the season.

Still, they got no bowl invite as their 2-3 start likely did them in.

Leading the Way

Boston College running back Keith Barnette led the nation in scoring in ’74 with twenty-two touchdowns.

Exiting the Stage

’74 was the last year of running back Mike Esposito, who had at the time one of the best careers ever for a Boston College rusher. He finished his time at BC with 24 touchdowns, which was right around the top of the list back then, but has since been surpassed by numerous men, including his teammate, Barnette.

Random Fact

Boston College ran 74 offensive plays in their win over Maine in early September 2012.

Random Fact #2

Boston College ran 74 offensive plays in their season-ending loss to NC State, Frank Spaziani and Tom O’Brien’s final games as head coaches.

Random Fact #3

In 2012, Boston College was 74% efficient in the red zone (74.4% to be exact), scoring on just 29 of 39 tries. Those scores broke down sixteen touchdowns and thirteen field goals.