CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1997 Boston College

4–⁠7 (3–⁠4 Big East), coached by Tom O’Brien.

Schedule and results

Boston College in 1997, game by game: lost at Temple 21–28; won vs. West Virginia 31–24; won at Rutgers 35–21; lost vs. Cincinnati 6–24; lost vs. Georgia Tech 14–42; lost at No. 23 Virginia Tech 7–17; lost vs. Miami 44–45; lost at Notre Dame 20–52; won vs. Pittsburgh 22–21; lost at No. 22 Syracuse 13–20; won vs. Army 24–20+14−32Lost 21–28 at Temple-7TempleWon 31–24 vs. West Virginia+7West VirginiaWon 35–21 at Rutgers+14RutgersLost 6–24 vs. Cincinnati-18CincinnatiLost 14–42 vs. Georgia Tech-28Georgia TechLost 7–17 at No. 23 Virginia Tech-10No. 23 Virginia TechLost 44–45 vs. Miami-1MiamiLost 20–52 at Notre Dame-32Notre DameWon 22–21 vs. Pittsburgh+1PittsburghLost 13–20 at No. 22 Syracuse-7No. 22 SyracuseWon 24–20 vs. Army+4Army
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6atTempleL 21–⁠2858%
Sep 13vsWest VirginiaW 31–⁠2437%
Sep 20atRutgersW 35–⁠2157%
Sep 27vsCincinnatiL 6–⁠2452%
Oct 4vsGeorgia TechL 14–⁠4251%
Oct 11at23Virginia TechL 7–⁠1714%
Oct 18vsMiamiL 44–⁠4539%
Oct 25atNotre DameL 20–⁠5225%
Nov 1vsPittsburghW 22–⁠2148%
Nov 8at22SyracuseL 13–⁠2012%
Nov 22vsArmyW 24–⁠2050%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Army 24–⁠20; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Big East.

In program history: The 100th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 116 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1997.

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠4 tied for 5th in Big East
AP final
Unranked
Points
237–⁠314
Coach
Tom O’Brien
Elo
1403 −48 this season
SP+ rating
-11.5 No. 86 of 112; offense No. 87, defense No. 84
SRS
−10.7 No. 86 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Jeff Jagodzinski
Defensive coordinator
Tim Rose
Captains
Matt Hasselbeck, Erik Storz and Shalom Tolefree
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 6Todd Pollack TENew York Giants
Rd 6Matt Hasselbeck QBGreen Bay Packers

All-Big East

4 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1997 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1997 Big East standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Syracuse6–⁠19–⁠421
Virginia Tech5–⁠27–⁠5
West Virginia4–⁠37–⁠5
Pittsburgh4–⁠36–⁠6
Miami3–⁠45–⁠6
Boston College3–⁠44–⁠7
Temple3–⁠43–⁠8
Rutgers0–⁠70–⁠11

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.