Syracuse
Last year: 4-8 (2-6 ACC) Best win: vs. Central Michigan, 30-27 (OT) Worst loss: at Louisville, 41-17
Coach: Dino Babers (first year, 37-16 career)
Starters returning: 19 (8 offense, 9 defense, 2 specialists)
Offensive player to watch: QB Eric Dungey. As a true freshman, Dungey, a dual-threat signal-caller, completed 59.7 percent of his passes for 11 touchdowns and five picks and also ran for 351 yards and five scores. He played in eight games after tough-luck QB Terrel Hunt went down with another season-ending injury. Dungey needs to protect himself better, though, as he missed time twice last season with head injuries.
Defensive player to watch: LB Zaire Franklin. Another true freshman, Franklin recorded 81 tackles, 11
for loss, three sacks, one pick, and two forced fumbles in 2015.
Special teams player to watch: Brisly Estime. He led the ACC and was second in the country in punt return average a season ago (18.1 yards) and scored two touchdowns.
Schedule: vs. Colgate, vs. Louisville, vs. South Florida, at Connecticut, vs. Notre Dame (at New York), at Wake Forest, vs. Virginia Tech, at Boston College, at Clemson, vs. N.C. State, vs. Florida State, at Pittsburgh.
Outlook: Dino Babers has had plenty of success in four seasons as a college football coach, starting with two seasons at Eastern Illinois, where he and QB Jimmy Garappolo (now a New England Patriot) led the Panthers to a 12-2 record in 2013 when they made the FCS quarterfinals. The past two seasons, Babers led Bowling Green to an 18-9 record. He's been involved with several good offenses, including being on Art Briles' first staff at Baylor. Syracuse has won just seven games the past two seasons, but Babers and the Orange could surprise people. The team has lots of returning starters, so maybe the ingredients are right for Babers to hit the ground running. The schedule is fairly challenging, though, so I think this team won't be looking at a bowl until the 2017 season.
Win-loss prediction: 4-8 or 5-7
Boston College
Last year: 3-9 (0-8 ACC) Best win: vs. Northern Illinois, 20-14 Worst loss: vs. Notre Dame at Fenway Park, 48-0
Coach: Steve Addazio (fourth year, 17-21)
Starters returning: 16 (7 offense, 8 defense, 1 specialist)
Offensive players to watch: QB Patrick Towles and QB Darius Wade. Towles, a big 6-foot-5, 253-pound senior transfer from Kentucky, completed 56.1 percent of his passes last season for nine touchdowns and 14 interceptions. In 2014, he had 14 TDs and nine INTs. He's competing for the starting job with junior Darius Wade, who broke his ankle in just the third game last season. A dual threat, he has two touchdowns and one pick in five games in two years.
Defensive player to watch: LB Matt Milano. As a junior, Milano tallied 60 tackles, 17.5 for loss, 6.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and a recovery.
Special teams player to watch: Michael Walker. As a freshman, he averaged more than 28 yards per
kick return last season.
Schedule: vs. Georgia Tech (at Ireland), vs. Massachusetts (at Foxborough, Mass.), at Virginia Tech, vs. Wagner, vs. Buffalo, vs. Clemson, vs. Syracuse, at N.C. State, vs. Louisville, at Florida State, vs. Connecticut, at Wake Forest.
Outlook: 2015 became a nightmare season for Addazio and the Eagles because of injuries and a lack of depth, particularly at quarterback. He shored that up a little this year with Towles, who has experience in the SEC at Kentucky. The offense can only get better after a dreadful output of about 17 points per game last season. Top running back Jon Hilliman is back from an injury as well. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the defense will probably get a little worse after a superb year that saw it keep BC in several games. Don Brown, last season's defensive coordinator, was hired away by John Harbaugh at Michigan. The new coordinator is Jim Reid, who should be familiar to UVa fans. He was Virginia's defensive coordinator from 2010-2012. BC has a new offensive coordinator, too: Scot Loeffler, who led Virginia Tech's offense from 2013-15.
Win-loss prediction: 4-8 or 5-7
Last year: 4-8 (2-6 ACC) Best win: vs. Central Michigan, 30-27 (OT) Worst loss: at Louisville, 41-17
Coach: Dino Babers (first year, 37-16 career)
Starters returning: 19 (8 offense, 9 defense, 2 specialists)
Offensive player to watch: QB Eric Dungey. As a true freshman, Dungey, a dual-threat signal-caller, completed 59.7 percent of his passes for 11 touchdowns and five picks and also ran for 351 yards and five scores. He played in eight games after tough-luck QB Terrel Hunt went down with another season-ending injury. Dungey needs to protect himself better, though, as he missed time twice last season with head injuries.
Defensive player to watch: LB Zaire Franklin. Another true freshman, Franklin recorded 81 tackles, 11
Special teams player to watch: Brisly Estime. He led the ACC and was second in the country in punt return average a season ago (18.1 yards) and scored two touchdowns.
Schedule: vs. Colgate, vs. Louisville, vs. South Florida, at Connecticut, vs. Notre Dame (at New York), at Wake Forest, vs. Virginia Tech, at Boston College, at Clemson, vs. N.C. State, vs. Florida State, at Pittsburgh.
Outlook: Dino Babers has had plenty of success in four seasons as a college football coach, starting with two seasons at Eastern Illinois, where he and QB Jimmy Garappolo (now a New England Patriot) led the Panthers to a 12-2 record in 2013 when they made the FCS quarterfinals. The past two seasons, Babers led Bowling Green to an 18-9 record. He's been involved with several good offenses, including being on Art Briles' first staff at Baylor. Syracuse has won just seven games the past two seasons, but Babers and the Orange could surprise people. The team has lots of returning starters, so maybe the ingredients are right for Babers to hit the ground running. The schedule is fairly challenging, though, so I think this team won't be looking at a bowl until the 2017 season.
Win-loss prediction: 4-8 or 5-7
Boston College
Last year: 3-9 (0-8 ACC) Best win: vs. Northern Illinois, 20-14 Worst loss: vs. Notre Dame at Fenway Park, 48-0
Coach: Steve Addazio (fourth year, 17-21)
Starters returning: 16 (7 offense, 8 defense, 1 specialist)
Offensive players to watch: QB Patrick Towles and QB Darius Wade. Towles, a big 6-foot-5, 253-pound senior transfer from Kentucky, completed 56.1 percent of his passes last season for nine touchdowns and 14 interceptions. In 2014, he had 14 TDs and nine INTs. He's competing for the starting job with junior Darius Wade, who broke his ankle in just the third game last season. A dual threat, he has two touchdowns and one pick in five games in two years.
Defensive player to watch: LB Matt Milano. As a junior, Milano tallied 60 tackles, 17.5 for loss, 6.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and a recovery.
Special teams player to watch: Michael Walker. As a freshman, he averaged more than 28 yards per
Schedule: vs. Georgia Tech (at Ireland), vs. Massachusetts (at Foxborough, Mass.), at Virginia Tech, vs. Wagner, vs. Buffalo, vs. Clemson, vs. Syracuse, at N.C. State, vs. Louisville, at Florida State, vs. Connecticut, at Wake Forest.
Outlook: 2015 became a nightmare season for Addazio and the Eagles because of injuries and a lack of depth, particularly at quarterback. He shored that up a little this year with Towles, who has experience in the SEC at Kentucky. The offense can only get better after a dreadful output of about 17 points per game last season. Top running back Jon Hilliman is back from an injury as well. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the defense will probably get a little worse after a superb year that saw it keep BC in several games. Don Brown, last season's defensive coordinator, was hired away by John Harbaugh at Michigan. The new coordinator is Jim Reid, who should be familiar to UVa fans. He was Virginia's defensive coordinator from 2010-2012. BC has a new offensive coordinator, too: Scot Loeffler, who led Virginia Tech's offense from 2013-15.
Win-loss prediction: 4-8 or 5-7
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