The 2007 college football season started with a bang yesterday as visiting Appalachian State pulled off one of the biggest upsets in history, beating #5 Michigan at the Big House. Locally, the Boston College Eagles got off to a solid start by beating the reigning ACC-Champs from Wake Forest, 38-28.
Let me just get this out of the way. I hate BC. Can't stand the people that go there, their mostly overrated teams that year after year fail to win the big game in a variety of sports and the throne that they receive by virtue of being the only true Division 1 power in New England. Full disclaimer: I didn't get accepted there coming out of high school and went to Providence College instead. It seemed like a big deal for about a day but I'm happy I went to PC and not BC. Anyways, despite all this, I still find myself reading about and watching BC sports season after season. They play hockey in the Hockey East and other sports in the ACC so they're always involved in huge contests. BC is the car crash that you find yourself staring at while you go by in traffic, the ex-girlfriend that you have no feelings for but you still somewhat keep tabs on what she's doing. It doesn't make sense but that's how we're wired.
As I watched Wake jump out to a quick 14-0 lead yesterday, I wondered which was better: to see BC lose their first game (rendering most of their remaining season useless) or letting them gain some momentum before losing an important game at the end of the season (they're M.O. in recent history). I decided to wait for the big payoff. BC complied too as the Matt Ryan led offense shined and cornerback DeJuan Tribble had a Ty Law or Asante Samuel like three interceptions. The Eagles have numerous holes: currently no running game, average defense, bad special teams but we can gloss over that for now. In New England, our pro teams are for the most part fascinating and strong. What we lack in our local sports are the lower levels: powerhouse colleges and high schools. Boston College is the only Div. 1 football team in these parts whereas almost any boonies locale in the US has a couple schools to choose from. I'll take the pro teams over the college teams any day but you have to admit that we're missing something when you venture to other places that take their college football seriously-I'm thinking of Virginia Tech and Penn State which I have seen first-hand.
BC will never have that atmosphere. The "Super Fans" at BC are mostly lame suburban kids from New England, New York and New Jersey. Plus, it's in the middle of the city, not exactly prime tailgating real estate. This could be the year though for BC. The ACC is just not very good. It's broken up into two divisions and only Virginia Tech really scares you (in the other division)and BC embarrassed them last season. With some luck, the Eagles could find themselves in the ACC Championship. Quarterback Matt Ryan is really good and there's a bunch of decent receivers for him to throw to. They need d-lineman B.J. Raji (your prototypical big fat guy in the middle) back but he might not get his eligibility and linebacker Brian Toal is out for the season with a shoulder injury. Between Ryan, Tribble, and linebacker Jolonn Dunbar, they have some stars. Here's hoping they have a great run, until that final agonizing defeat to Miami or some scumbag team.
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