CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2005 Boston College

9–⁠3 (5–⁠3 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Tom O’Brien, finished No. 18 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Boston College in 2005, game by game: won at BYU 20–3; won vs. Army 44–7; lost vs. No. 8 Florida State 17–28; won at Clemson 16–13; won vs. Ball State 38–0; won vs. Virginia 28–17; won vs. Wake Forest 35–30; lost at No. 3 Virginia Tech 10–30; lost at North Carolina 14–16; won vs. NC State 30–10; won at Maryland 31–16; won vs. Boise State 27–21+38−20Won 20–3 at BYU+17BYUWon 44–7 vs. Army+37ArmyLost 17–28 vs. No. 8 Florida State-11No. 8 Florida StateWon 16–13 at Clemson+3ClemsonWon 38–0 vs. Ball State+38Ball StateWon 28–17 vs. Virginia+11VirginiaWon 35–30 vs. Wake Forest+5Wake ForestLost 10–30 at No. 3 Virginia Tech-20No. 3 Virginia TechLost 14–16 at North Carolina-2North CarolinaWon 30–10 vs. NC State+20NC StateWon 31–16 at Maryland+15MarylandWon 27–21 vs. Boise State+6Boise State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3atBYUW 20–⁠357%
Sep 10vsArmyW 44–⁠787%
Sep 17vs8Florida StateL 17–⁠2854%
Sep 24atClemsonW 16–⁠1346%
Oct 1vsBall StateW 38–⁠086%
Oct 8vsVirginiaW 28–⁠1762%
Oct 15vsWake ForestW 35–⁠3082%
Oct 27at3Virginia TechL 10–⁠3027%
Nov 5atNorth CarolinaL 14–⁠1659%
Nov 12vsNC StateW 30–⁠1072%
Nov 19atMarylandW 31–⁠1652%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvsBoise StateMPC Computers BowlW 27–⁠2146%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Boise State 27–⁠21 in the MPC Computers Bowl; No. 18 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 4th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 116 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 22
  2. Wk 2: 19
  3. Wk 3: 17
  4. Wk 5: 21
  5. Wk 6: 18
  6. Wk 7: 14
  7. Wk 8: 13
  8. Wk 9: 13
  9. Wk 10: 19
  10. Wk 12: 23
  11. Wk 13: 21
  12. Wk 14: 19
  13. Final: 18

ACC Atlantic champions5–⁠3 in the conference, shared with Florida State

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 13
Points
310–⁠191
Coach
Tom O’Brien
Elo
1680 +89 this season
SP+ rating
19.2 No. 15 of 118; offense No. 40, defense No. 6
SRS
12.4 No. 17 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 52
Offensive coordinator
Dana Bible
Defensive coordinator
Frank Spaziani
Captains
Mathias Kiwanuka and Patrick Ross
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense46th of 119
  • Defense17th of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0842%0.9446th of 119
Defense0.0137%0.9517th of 119
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 292% allowed
Defense-0.1own 303% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2005 class

Pat Sheil OT★★★★No. 116
Mike McLaughlin ILB★★★No. 493
Jim Ramella TE★★★No. 829
Marcellus Bowman S★★★No. 829
Nick Rossi SDE★★No. 1532

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2005 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers13.00.811
Offensive line14.00.932
Defensive line12.00.744
Linebackers22.50.789
Defensive backs13.00.811
Whole class62.80.813

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2006

The 2006 draft
Rd 1Mathias Kiwanuka DENew York Giants
Rd 2Jeremy Trueblood OTTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 4Will Blackmon DBGreen Bay Packers

All-ACC

1 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2005 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2005 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Virginia Tech7–⁠111–⁠27
Miami6–⁠29–⁠317
Boston College5–⁠39–⁠318
Florida State5–⁠38–⁠523
Georgia Tech5–⁠37–⁠5
Clemson4–⁠48–⁠421
North Carolina4–⁠45–⁠6
NC State3–⁠57–⁠5
Virginia3–⁠57–⁠5
Maryland3–⁠55–⁠6
Wake Forest3–⁠54–⁠7
Duke0–⁠81–⁠10

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