ACC media projects Eagles on rise
A year after failing to win an Atlantic Coast Conference game and finishing dead last in the Atlantic Division, the Boston College football team was picked to finish fifth in the seven-team Atlantic for the 2016 season in a media poll released today.
The Eagles received 441 points from the 144 media members in attendance at last week’s ACC Kickoff event.
Clemson, which posted a 14-1 record and reached the College Football Playoff national title game, was chosen as the favorite to win both the Atlantic Division and the ACC title. North Carolina was picked to repeat as the Coastal Division winner. Those two teams played in the ACC title game last season in Charlotte, N.C., with Clemson winning, 45-37.
“We want to finish with no regrets,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said during the ACC Kickoff. “Even had we won the game, for us, we’re going to start over. We’re going to go back to the basics and try and reinstall our program, the core values of our program, get everybody on the same page with a common purpose and go grind. That’s just what we’re always going to do.”
Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson was selected to retain his ACC Player of the Year title.
Clemson was picked on 144 ballots to win the ACC. Florida State, which also plays in the Atlantic Division, was second with 39 votes. North Carolina earned seven and Louisville one.
BC went 0-8 in the Atlantic Division and 3-9 overall in a year in which 35 players saw their first collegiate action. BC returns 55 lettermen and 15 starters from last year’s squad. BC’s top-ranked defense returns eight of its 11 starters as well as 17 of the team’s top 21 tacklers from a year ago.
“We were playing with young freshmen on the offensive line, a fourth-team walk-on quarterback and both our running backs were hurt. It was as simple as that,” BC coach Steve Addazio said last week at the ACC football media day. “Any other year, with our defense, we would have had a helluva year.”
Redshirt sophomore Darius Wade and graduate-transfer Patrick Towles are in line to battle it out for the quarterback position. In addition, redshirt sophomore running back Jon Hilliman returns after missing the final eight games due to injury. Senior linebacker Matt Milano, a third-team All-ACC selection a year ago, is back to lead the defense.
“If we play defense, which we will, and we’re better on offense, which we will be, and our kicker is better, which he will be, that gives us a chance where we should have been,” said Addazio.