Boston College
Last year: BC went 2-10, 1-7 in the ACC, which was last in the Atlantic Division. It was the only team to finish with a worse record in the ACC than Virginia. The Eagles' only wins were over Maine and Maryland. A lot of the Eagles' losses were lopsided. BC even lost to Army, 34-31. Andre Williams and Rolandan Finch combined to run for more than 1,000 yards on offense and five touchdowns, both figures that were lower than in 2011. Chase Rettig was in his third year as the starting quarterback and completed 54.2 percent of his passes for 3,095 yards, 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The defense was horrific and missed the impact of star linebacker Luke Kuechly, who is now making a name for himself with the NFL's Carolina Panthers. The Eagles gave up more than 20 points in all but two games (the two wins) and gave up an average of 33.6 points per game in their 10 losses. Head coach Frank Spaziani was fired at the end of the season.
Offense: Boston College hired Steve Addazio from Temple to be its new head coach. Addazio went 13-11 in two years in Philadelphia, going 9-4 in 2011 but just 4-7 in 2012. He has his work cut out for him but the Eagles do have seven starters on offense returning. Rettig will be in his fourth year starting, but in a new offense. He did a solid job last season, throwing for more than 1,000 yards more than his sophomore season in 2011. Their best receiver, senior Alex Amidon, returns after posting 78 catches and 1,210 yards last season, both single-season school records. Williams, a physical 6-foot, 227-pounder, returns in the backfield but Finch has has graduated. David Dudek will likely be the second running back. He ran for 116 yards last season.
Defense: Nine starters return to a unit that can't get much worse. BC was 111th in the country in run defense and dead last (120th) in sacks last season. Don Brown is the new defensive coordinator and is known for bringing pressure from unexpected places. Leading tackler Nick Clancy is gone but the Eagles' next three leading tacklers from last season -- Steele Divitto, Kevin Pierre-Louis, and Sean Sylvia -- are all back. Spencer Rositano, who led the team with three picks in 2012, returns as well.
Special teams note: Spiffy Evans was a spiffy punt returner last season. He actually led the country at 25.3 yards per return. The problem was the awful Eagles defense only let him get 11 returns. If the defense can make more stops this year, it will give Evans, a junior, more opportunities to make dynamic returns.
Schedule, notes, outlook: Villanova, Wake Forest, at USC, Florida State, Army, at Clemson, at North Carolina, Virginia Tech, at New Mexico State, N.C. State, at Maryland, at Syracuse. The Eagles have a fairly soft non-conference schedule and could certainly defeat Villanova, New Mexico State, and Army. If they do that, they will already have topped their win total from last season. The ACC schedule is pretty challenging. BC avoids Miami, which is probably one of the best teams in the ACC, but also avoids three teams who could take up the bottom of the Coastal Division: UVa, Pittsburgh, and Duke, which means it has to face a couple tough teams: North Carolina and Virginia Tech. The Eagles also don't face Georgia Tech. The offense and defense both have lots of starters returning and the schedule has a few soft spots. The Eagles should get more than two wins this season, but will struggle to make a bowl in Addazio's first season.
Win-loss prediction: 4-8 or 5-7.
Syracuse
Last year: Syracuse went 8-5, 5-2 in the final season of the Big East, which put the Orange in fourth after tiebreakers, but four teams finished 5-2. The Orange won six of their last seven games. Syracuse defeated old conference rival West Virginia, 38-14, in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. The Orange won two games by one point and one game by four points. They also lost three games by less than a touchdown. Quarterback Ryan Nassib had a great season, completing 62.4 percent of his passes for 3,742 yards, 26 touchdowns, and just 10 picks. Jerome Smith rushed for 1,171 yards and Prince-Tyson Gulley had nine rushing touchdowns. Alec Lemon caught 72 passes for more than 1,000 yards and seven scores. On defense, Syracuse ranked sixth in the country in tackles for loss and held opponents to around 24 points per game. Head coach Doug Marrone is now with the Buffalo Bills in the NFL.
Offense: Scott Shafer is the new Syracuse head coach. He was the defensive coordinator during Marrone's four years at the school. This is Shafer's first head coaching position and he has been a DC at several schools in addition to Syracuse, including Michigan, Stanford, and Western Michigan. Syracuse's offensive
coordinator is new -- Greg McDonald, who was the receivers coach at Miami. The biggest thing Syracuse will have to do on offense is replace Nassib, who was drafted by the Giants in the fourth round of the NFL Draft. Sophomore Terrel Hunt ended the spring at No. 1 on the depth chart, but over the summer, Syracuse added Oklahoma transfer Drew Allen, and he has a chance of starting right away. Right now, Syracuse coaches are saying that both QBs are getting equal reps so this is a battle that could last into late August. Either way, it is unlikely that either will match the production of Nassib. It might not matter, because Syracuse will make its hay at running back, where both Smith and Gulley are back. Three starters on the offensive line are back as well. Syracuse will have to find replacements for its top two receivers, Lemon and Marcus Sales, who caught 64 passes for 882 yards and eight touchdowns. Junior Jarrod West is the likely candidate to have a breakout year, as he had 43 catches for 588 yards last season.
Defense: Six starters return on defense, and the Orange have to deal with a few significant losses -- All-Big East safety Shamarko Thomas, who led the defense in tackles, defensive end Brandon Sharpe, who led the team in sacks, defensive lineman Deon Goggins, who led all D-linemen with 53 tackles, and linebacker Siriki Diabate. The leader of the Orange's defense this season is likely to be linebacker Dyshawn Davis, who had 69 tackles with 14 for loss last season. Marrone and Shafer built solid depth on defense in recent seasons and the fact that the system will stay the same should help stablilize this young defense.
Special teams note: Kicker Ross Krautman was inconsistent last season, making 15 of 23 field goals.
Schedule, notes, outlook: Penn State (MetLife Stadium, New York), at Northwestern, Wagner, Tulane, Clemson, at N.C. State, at Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, at Maryland, at Florida State, Pittsburgh, Boston College. I would say Syracuse has an outside shot at going 3-1 in their non-conference slate. Penn State won't be as good next season and Wagner and Tulane should be wins. The Northwestern road game will be a challenge but could possibly be a win. I see a sweep of all four teams as unlikely. The Orange's introduction to the ACC is pretty tough but gets easier. Clemson, N.C. State, and Georgia Tech could all very likely be losses. Wake Forest, Maryland, Pittsburgh, and BC are decent chances at victories. Florida State is almost certainly a loss. Syracuse has a solid core, but is a young team overall. The running game should be pretty good, and if Syracuse can figure out a solution at QB, the Orange should win a fair amount of games.
Win-loss prediction: 5-7 or 6-6
Last year: BC went 2-10, 1-7 in the ACC, which was last in the Atlantic Division. It was the only team to finish with a worse record in the ACC than Virginia. The Eagles' only wins were over Maine and Maryland. A lot of the Eagles' losses were lopsided. BC even lost to Army, 34-31. Andre Williams and Rolandan Finch combined to run for more than 1,000 yards on offense and five touchdowns, both figures that were lower than in 2011. Chase Rettig was in his third year as the starting quarterback and completed 54.2 percent of his passes for 3,095 yards, 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The defense was horrific and missed the impact of star linebacker Luke Kuechly, who is now making a name for himself with the NFL's Carolina Panthers. The Eagles gave up more than 20 points in all but two games (the two wins) and gave up an average of 33.6 points per game in their 10 losses. Head coach Frank Spaziani was fired at the end of the season.
Offense: Boston College hired Steve Addazio from Temple to be its new head coach. Addazio went 13-11 in two years in Philadelphia, going 9-4 in 2011 but just 4-7 in 2012. He has his work cut out for him but the Eagles do have seven starters on offense returning. Rettig will be in his fourth year starting, but in a new offense. He did a solid job last season, throwing for more than 1,000 yards more than his sophomore season in 2011. Their best receiver, senior Alex Amidon, returns after posting 78 catches and 1,210 yards last season, both single-season school records. Williams, a physical 6-foot, 227-pounder, returns in the backfield but Finch has has graduated. David Dudek will likely be the second running back. He ran for 116 yards last season.Defense: Nine starters return to a unit that can't get much worse. BC was 111th in the country in run defense and dead last (120th) in sacks last season. Don Brown is the new defensive coordinator and is known for bringing pressure from unexpected places. Leading tackler Nick Clancy is gone but the Eagles' next three leading tacklers from last season -- Steele Divitto, Kevin Pierre-Louis, and Sean Sylvia -- are all back. Spencer Rositano, who led the team with three picks in 2012, returns as well.
Special teams note: Spiffy Evans was a spiffy punt returner last season. He actually led the country at 25.3 yards per return. The problem was the awful Eagles defense only let him get 11 returns. If the defense can make more stops this year, it will give Evans, a junior, more opportunities to make dynamic returns.
Schedule, notes, outlook: Villanova, Wake Forest, at USC, Florida State, Army, at Clemson, at North Carolina, Virginia Tech, at New Mexico State, N.C. State, at Maryland, at Syracuse. The Eagles have a fairly soft non-conference schedule and could certainly defeat Villanova, New Mexico State, and Army. If they do that, they will already have topped their win total from last season. The ACC schedule is pretty challenging. BC avoids Miami, which is probably one of the best teams in the ACC, but also avoids three teams who could take up the bottom of the Coastal Division: UVa, Pittsburgh, and Duke, which means it has to face a couple tough teams: North Carolina and Virginia Tech. The Eagles also don't face Georgia Tech. The offense and defense both have lots of starters returning and the schedule has a few soft spots. The Eagles should get more than two wins this season, but will struggle to make a bowl in Addazio's first season.
Win-loss prediction: 4-8 or 5-7.
Syracuse
Last year: Syracuse went 8-5, 5-2 in the final season of the Big East, which put the Orange in fourth after tiebreakers, but four teams finished 5-2. The Orange won six of their last seven games. Syracuse defeated old conference rival West Virginia, 38-14, in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. The Orange won two games by one point and one game by four points. They also lost three games by less than a touchdown. Quarterback Ryan Nassib had a great season, completing 62.4 percent of his passes for 3,742 yards, 26 touchdowns, and just 10 picks. Jerome Smith rushed for 1,171 yards and Prince-Tyson Gulley had nine rushing touchdowns. Alec Lemon caught 72 passes for more than 1,000 yards and seven scores. On defense, Syracuse ranked sixth in the country in tackles for loss and held opponents to around 24 points per game. Head coach Doug Marrone is now with the Buffalo Bills in the NFL.
Offense: Scott Shafer is the new Syracuse head coach. He was the defensive coordinator during Marrone's four years at the school. This is Shafer's first head coaching position and he has been a DC at several schools in addition to Syracuse, including Michigan, Stanford, and Western Michigan. Syracuse's offensive coordinator is new -- Greg McDonald, who was the receivers coach at Miami. The biggest thing Syracuse will have to do on offense is replace Nassib, who was drafted by the Giants in the fourth round of the NFL Draft. Sophomore Terrel Hunt ended the spring at No. 1 on the depth chart, but over the summer, Syracuse added Oklahoma transfer Drew Allen, and he has a chance of starting right away. Right now, Syracuse coaches are saying that both QBs are getting equal reps so this is a battle that could last into late August. Either way, it is unlikely that either will match the production of Nassib. It might not matter, because Syracuse will make its hay at running back, where both Smith and Gulley are back. Three starters on the offensive line are back as well. Syracuse will have to find replacements for its top two receivers, Lemon and Marcus Sales, who caught 64 passes for 882 yards and eight touchdowns. Junior Jarrod West is the likely candidate to have a breakout year, as he had 43 catches for 588 yards last season.
Defense: Six starters return on defense, and the Orange have to deal with a few significant losses -- All-Big East safety Shamarko Thomas, who led the defense in tackles, defensive end Brandon Sharpe, who led the team in sacks, defensive lineman Deon Goggins, who led all D-linemen with 53 tackles, and linebacker Siriki Diabate. The leader of the Orange's defense this season is likely to be linebacker Dyshawn Davis, who had 69 tackles with 14 for loss last season. Marrone and Shafer built solid depth on defense in recent seasons and the fact that the system will stay the same should help stablilize this young defense.
Special teams note: Kicker Ross Krautman was inconsistent last season, making 15 of 23 field goals.
Schedule, notes, outlook: Penn State (MetLife Stadium, New York), at Northwestern, Wagner, Tulane, Clemson, at N.C. State, at Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, at Maryland, at Florida State, Pittsburgh, Boston College. I would say Syracuse has an outside shot at going 3-1 in their non-conference slate. Penn State won't be as good next season and Wagner and Tulane should be wins. The Northwestern road game will be a challenge but could possibly be a win. I see a sweep of all four teams as unlikely. The Orange's introduction to the ACC is pretty tough but gets easier. Clemson, N.C. State, and Georgia Tech could all very likely be losses. Wake Forest, Maryland, Pittsburgh, and BC are decent chances at victories. Florida State is almost certainly a loss. Syracuse has a solid core, but is a young team overall. The running game should be pretty good, and if Syracuse can figure out a solution at QB, the Orange should win a fair amount of games.
Win-loss prediction: 5-7 or 6-6
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