# 2008 Boston College Eagles football team

The 2008 Boston College Eagles football team represented Boston College during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was Boston College's fourth season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Eagles were led by Jeff Jagodzinski in his second and final season as Boston College head coach. Boston College has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference's (ACC) Atlantic Division since joining the league in 2005, after leaving the Big East Conference. The Eagles played their home games in 2008 at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, which has been their home stadium since 1957.

## Season recap

Boston College had to replace Matt Ryan, who was drafted third overall in the 2008 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Senior quarterback Chris Crane was the starter at the beginning of the year to take over the starting quarterback position. In the November 22 game against Wake Forest, Crane broke his collar bone, and was replaced with Dominique Davis. Other big losses that had to be dealt with from the 2007 season include tailback L.V. Witworth and running back Andre Callender. True freshman Josh Haden was assumed to be the starting running back, but true freshman Montel Harris later turned out to have the starting job. BC finished the year with one of the best defenses in College Football, with the most Interceptions in all of FBS Football, and allowing the fifth fewest yards.
The team had its first loss in a home game against Georgia Tech. It went on to lose two more games against the North Carolina and the Clemson before winning four games in a row to take the team to its second ACC Championship Game in a row, which again, put the Eagles against the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Eagles lost the game 12–30, and placed the team in the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee. The Eagles lost the game to Vanderbilt, which not only ended the Eagles bowl winning streak, which was the longest in the nation, but gave Vanderbilt its first bowl win in over 50 years. On January 5, 2009, Coach Jagodzinski was fired by Boston College, for apparently interviewing for the head coaching vacancy for the NFL New York Jets despite being warned not to. He was later hired as the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 6:30 p.m. | vs. Kent State* | | Cleveland Browns StadiumCleveland, OH (FirstMerit Patriot Bowl) | ESPNU Clay Matvick, David Diaz-Infante, Melissa Knowles | W 21–0 | 10,788 |
| September 6 | 12:00 p.m. | Georgia Tech | | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA | Raycom Steve Martin, Rick Walker, Mike Hogewood | L 16–19 | 40,106 |
| September 20 | 1:00 p.m. | UCF* | | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA | ESPNU Dave Armstrong, Larry Coker | W 34–7 | 41,267 |
| September 27 | 1:00 p.m. | Rhode Island* | | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA | ESPN360 | W 42–0 | 32,628 |
| October 4 | 12:00 p.m. | at NC State | | Carter–Finley StadiumRaleigh, NC | Raycom Steve Martin, Rick Walker, Mike Hogewood | W 38–31 | 55,652 |
| October 18 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 17 Virginia Tech | | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA (rivalry) | ESPN2 Mark Jones, Bob Davie | W 28–23 | 44,127 |
| October 25 | 12:00 p.m. | at North Carolina | No. 23 | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC | Raycom Steve Martin, Rick Walker, Mike Hogewood | L 24–45 | 48,000 |
| November 1 | 3:30 p.m. | Clemson | | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA (O'Rourke–McFadden Trophy) | ESPNU Doug Bell, Charles Arbuckle, Melissa Knowles | L 21–27 | 41,863 |
| November 8 | 8:00 p.m. | Notre Dame* | | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA (Holy War) | ESPN Mike Patrick, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe | W 17–0 | 44,500 |
| November 15 | 8:00 p.m. | at No. 20 Florida State | | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | ABC Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Lisa Salters | W 27–17 | 79,792 |
| November 22 | 3:30 p.m. | at Wake Forest | | BB&T FieldWinston-Salem, NC | ABC/ESPN Terry Gannon, David Norrie | W 24–21 | 30,373 |
| November 29 | 3:30 p.m. | Maryland | No. 20 | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA | ABC/ESPN2 Pam Ward, Ray Bentley | W 28–21 | 42,767 |
| December 6 | 1:00 p.m. | vs. Virginia Tech | No. 18 | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL (ACC Championship) | ABC Brad Nessler, Bob Griese, Paul Maguire, Todd Harris | L 12–30 | 53,927 |
| December 31 | 3:30 p.m. | vs. Vanderbilt | No. 24 | LP FieldNashville, TN (Music City Bowl) | ESPN Mark Jones, Bob Davie, Todd Harris | L 14–16 | 54,250 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23 | RV | RV | RV | RV | 20 | 18 | RV | RV |
| Coaches Poll | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 22 | 20 | RV | RV |
| Harris | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | 24 | — | — | — | 25 | 20 | 19 | — | Not released |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | 21 | 17 | 24 | Not released |

## Drafted Players (2009 NFL Draft)

| 2009 | 1 | 9 | 9 | B. J. Raji | Green Bay Packers | DT |
| 2009 | 2 | 8 | 40 | Ron Brace | New England Patriots | DT |