# 2018 Boston College Eagles football team

The 2018 Boston College Eagles football team represented Boston College during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Eagles played their home games at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, and competed in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were led by sixth-year head coach Steve Addazio. They finished the season 7–5 overall and 4–4 in ACC play to place the fourth in the Atlantic Division. They were invited to the First Responder Bowl against Boise State. With 5:08 left in the first quarter and Boston College leading 7–0, the bowl game was stopped because of bad weather and ultimately canceled and ruled a no contest.

## Recruiting
### Position key

| Back | B | Center | C | Cornerback | CB | Defensive back | DB |
| Defensive end | DE | Defensive lineman | DL | Defensive tackle | DT | End | E |
| Fullback | FB | Guard | G | Halfback | HB | Kicker | K |
| Kickoff returner | KR | Offensive tackle | OT | Offensive lineman | OL | Linebacker | LB |
| Long snapper | LS | Punter | P | Punt returner | PR | Quarterback | QB |
| Running back | RB | Safety | S | Tight end | TE | Wide receiver | WR |

### Recruits

The Eagles signed a total of 20 recruits.
US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jehlani Galloway WR | Providence, Rhode Island | Classical High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Mar 19, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Joey Luchetti TE | Groton, Massachusetts | Lawrence Academy | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Mar 20, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| John Tessitore K | Wallingford, Connecticut | Choate Rosemary Hall | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Mar 25, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Kyiev Bennermon DT | Poughkeepsie, New York | Spackenkill High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 280 lb (130 kg) | Mar 28, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| John Langan QB | Wayne, New Jersey | Bergen Catholic High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Apr 29, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Matt Valecce QB | The Bronx, New York | Fordham Preparatory School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | May 6, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Evan Stewart S | Sparta, New Jersey | Saint Joseph Regional High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | May 7, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Finn Dirstine OG | Acton, Massachusetts | Lawrence Academy | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 320 lb (150 kg) | May 10, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Ryan Betro DT | Groton, Massachusetts | Lawrence Academy | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 280 lb (130 kg) | May 11, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Hugh Davis LB | Indianapolis, Indiana | Cathedral High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | May 26, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Vinny DePalma LB | Wayne, New Jersey | DePaul Catholic High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | May 27, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Joe Sparacio LB | Naples, Florida | First Baptist Academy | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Jun 6, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| David Bailey RB | Ridgely, Maryland | North Caroline High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Jun 6, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Aaron Gethers CB | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | Bishop McDevitt High School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jun 9, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Tyler Days DB | Mattydale, New York | Cicero – North Syracuse High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jun 11, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Elijah Jones DB | East Harlem, New York | Cardinal Hayes High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Jun 16, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Thomas Shelmire OG | Dallas, Texas | Highland Park High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 285 lb (129 kg) | Jun 17, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Nick DeNucci LB | Sparta, New Jersey | Pope John XXIII Regional High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Jun 18, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Jason Maitre WR | Everett, Massachusetts | Everett High School | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Jun 19, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Tyler Vrabel OT | Bellaire, Texas | St. Pius X High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 255 lb (116 kg) | Jun 26, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 7, 2018. |||||||

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Lott Trophy | Zach Allen | DE | SR |
| Chuck Bednarik Award | Zach Allen | DE | SR |
| Chuck Bednarik Award | Lukas Denis | S | SR |
| Maxwell Award | A. J. Dillon | RB | SO |
| Doak Walker Award | A. J. Dillon | RB | SO |
| John Mackey Award | Tommy Sweeney | TE | JR |
| Jim Thorpe Award | Lukas Denis | DB | SR |
| Bronko Nagurski Trophy | Zach Allen | DE | SR |
| Bronko Nagurski Trophy | Lukas Denis | DB | SR |
| Outland Trophy | Chris Lindstrom | OL | SR |
| Paul Hornung Award | Michael Walker | WR/KR | SR |
| Wuerffel Trophy | Zach Allen | DE | SR |
| Walter Camp Award | A. J. Dillon | RB | SO |
| Ted Hendricks Award | Zach Allen | DE | SR |

### ACC media poll

The ACC media poll was released on July 24, 2018.
Media poll (Atlantic) :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Clemson | 1,031 (145) |
| 2 | Florida State | 789 (1) |
| 3 | NC State | 712 (2) |
| 4 | Boston College | 545 |
| 5 | Louisville | 422 |
| 6 | Wake Forest | 413 |
| 7 | Syracuse | 232 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 1:00 p.m. | UMass* | | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA (rivalry) | ESPN app | W 55–21 | 30,112 |
| September 8 | 1:00 p.m. | Holy Cross* | | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA (rivalry) | ESPN app | W 62–14 | 40,311 |
| September 13 | 5:30 p.m. | at Wake Forest | | BB&T FieldWinston-Salem, NC | ESPN | W 41–34 | 25,309 |
| September 22 | 12:00 p.m. | at Purdue* | No. 23 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | ESPN2 | L 13–30 | 47,119 |
| September 29 | 12:00 p.m. | Temple* | | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA | ESPNU | W 45–35 | 40,111 |
| October 6 | 12:30 p.m. | at No. 23 NC State | | Carter–Finley StadiumRaleigh, NC | NESN | L 23–28 | 57,241 |
| October 13 | 12:30 p.m. | Louisville | | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA | NESN | W 38–20 | 31,478 |
| October 26 | 7:00 p.m. | Miami (FL) | | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA | ESPN | W 27–14 | 41,892 |
| November 3 | 3:45 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | No. 22 | Lane StadiumBlacksburg, VA (rivalry) | ACCN | W 31–21 | 65,632 |
| November 10 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 2 Clemson | No. 17 | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA (O'Rourke–McFadden Trophy) (College GameDay) | ABC | L 7–27 | 44,500 |
| November 17 | 3:30 p.m. | at Florida State | No. 20 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | ESPN2 | L 21–22 | 57,274 |
| November 24 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 20 Syracuse | | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA | ESPN | L 21–42 | 34,959 |
| December 26 | 1:30 p.m. | vs. No. 25 Boise State* | | Cotton Bowl StadiumDallas, TX (First Responder Bowl) | ESPN | NC 7–0 | |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after October 30 released prior to gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||
* ↑ The Wake Forest game was originally scheduled for 7:30 p.m., but the game was moved up to 5:30 p.m. in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.
* ↑ The First Responder Bowl was cancelled due to inclement weather. Boston College was leading.

## Game summaries
### UMass

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Minutemen | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| Eagles | 14 | 34 | 0 | 7 | 55 |
In the Battle of the Bay State, BC used their RB A. J. Dillon early and often and cruised to an opening day victory

### Holy Cross

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Crusaders | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| Eagles | 21 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 62 |
QB Anthony Brown continued his stellar start to the season and led BC to an easy win over FCS Holy Cross

### At Wake Forest

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 7 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 41 |
| Demon Deacons | 7 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 34 |
In a redemption game from last season, Anthony Brown threw for a career high 5 touchdowns in BC’s ACC opening win over Wake Forest. BC would get into the AP Poll at #23 the next day

### At Purdue

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 23 Eagles | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| Boilermakers | 7 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 30 |
In their first game as a ranked team since 2009, the Eagles excitement got the better of them as they lost for the first time this season to winless Purdue. It knocked BC out of the rankings

### Temple

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| Eagles | 13 | 18 | 7 | 7 | 45 |
A. J. Dillon led his team to a bounce back win over Temple with two touchdowns as the Eagles stayed undefeated at Alumni Stadium in 2018

### At NC State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 23 |
| No. 23 Wolfpack | 7 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
Despite causing turnovers in Raleigh, the Eagles offense could not answer without Dillon and lost their first ACC game of 2018 to the Wolfpack

### Louisville

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Eagles | 14 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 38 |
In a must win ACC game, BC would jump out to an early 14-0 lead. Sloppy play and miscues allowed Louisville to take a 20-14 lead in the half. But BC used a blocked punt TD to retake the lead and would score the final 24 points of the game to defeat the Cardinals and get to the off week with a 5-2 record

### Miami (FL)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hurricanes | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Eagles | 14 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 27 |
In the 5th edition of the Red Bandanna Game, A. J. Dillon returned to give the Eagles and their wild crowd their best victory over the season over the #25 Hurricanes. Anthony Brown also had two TDs (1 Pass 1 Rush) and BC’s defense caused two interceptions in the second half that led to 10 points

### At Virginia Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 24 Eagles | 7 | 0 | 14 | 10 | 31 |
| Hokies | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
The Eagles visited Virginia Tech and pulled out a 31–21 victory. Sophomore Travis Levy gave BC a boost with two rushing TDs in the second half after falling behind 14–7. A. J. Dillon left the game with an injury

### Clemson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 2 Tigers | 10 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
| No. 17 Eagles | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
In what was deemed the biggest game of the year for the Boston College Eagles, the defense played a role in holding Clemson to a 13-7 lead at halftime. But without Anthony Brown, who was injured on BC’s first possession of the game, the Eagles could not muster enough offense and dropped a tough matchup to the second ranked Tigers

### At Florida State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 20 Eagles | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Seminoles | 0 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 22 |
The Eagles were big favorites even after a tough loss last week. But with both Brown and Dillon not one hundred percent, the Eagles offense struggled and the Seminoles picked up a late TD pass in the final two minutes of regulation to get an upset

### Syracuse

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 19 Orange | 14 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 42 |
| Eagles | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
Eric Dungey was in full form even after getting injured against Notre Dame the week before and the Eagles could not stop him or the Orange offense in another lackluster game for the Eagles. Brown accounted for all of BC’s touchdowns but Dillon was still banged up and BC finished the regular season 7–5 for the third straight year

### Vs. Boise State (first responder bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 7 | | | | 7 |
| No. 23 Broncos | 0 | | | | 0 |
With Boston College leading 7–0 with 5:08 remaining in the 1st quarter, the game was delayed due to inclement weather. After an hour and a half delay, the game was canceled and ruled a no contest
A. J. Dillon scored on the Eagles' first possession; a 19-yard touchdown run. He had 33 yards on six carries. Anthony Brown was 4-for-6 passing for 54 yards, while Kobay White made two catches for 35 yards.

## 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 |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | RV | 23 | — | RV | — | — | RV | 24 | 17 | 22 | — | — | — | |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | — | RV | — | 25 | 14 | 22 | RV | — | — | |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 22 | 17 | 20 | — | — | — | Not released |

## 2019 NFL Draft

| Player | Team | Round | Pick # | Position |
| Chris Lindstrom | Atlanta Falcons | 1st | 14 | G |
| Zach Allen | Arizona Cardinals | 3rd | 65 | DE |
| Will Harris | Detroit Lions | 3rd | 81st | S |
| Tommy Sweeney | Buffalo Bills | 7th | 228th | TE |