BC to Soar in 2007??

by Brian P. Foley, The College Baseball Blog

The Boston College Eagles enter the 2007 season coming off a 10-3 season including a 25-24 victory over Navy in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. The Eagles will be headed by new Head Coach Jeff Jagodzinski who replaces Tom O'Brien who went to ACC rival NC State.

Top 5 reasons BC will win the ACC

1. BC returns 16 starters and 44 letter winners from last season's team.
2. Matt Ryan comes back for his senior season in which he led the team to a 10-3 record. He was named to the 2006 All-ACC first team and has a career record of 14-4 in 18 starts.
   
3. Steve Logan has replaced Dana Bible as the offensive coordinator. He will open up the passing game for the Eagles and use Matt Ryan to his fullest potential. Ryan was held back by Bible's offense. Logan was the head coach with East Carolina from 1992-2002 where he coached future NFL players David Gerrard and Jeff Blake.
4. Frank Spaziani returns as the Defensive Coordinator where he led the Eagles to a first place finish in turnover differential. Every starter on the defensive team has at least started a game during their careers which give Spaziani a veteran led defense.
   
5. Tom O'Brien is gone. He brought BC to seven straight bowl victories but never could break through to the big time bowls.
   

Top 5 Reason BC will not win the ACC

1. Jeff Jagodzinski has already lost one assistant coach during spring practice with offensive line coach Jim Turner without coaching a game. Jags already has shown that you either are going to be with him or against him.
   
2. Boston College faces all the powers in the ACC this season with visits from ACC Champs Wake Forest, Florida State, and Miami. They will also head to preseason conference favorite Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Notre Dame returns to the schedule which is referred to the Holy War.
   
3. Steve Logan's offensive scheme is based on quick running backs who hit the holes. BC currently has two big backs in Andre Callendar and L.V. Whitworth who have combined for 4,000 yards heading into their senior seasons.
   
4. The offensive line is learning a new zone-blocking scheme which calls for quicker and faster offensive linemen. This is a total opposite from the big burly linemen Boston College has used over the last 20 years which has produced many NFL players including Pete Kendall and Dan Koppen.
5. BC is employing junior kicker Steve Aponavicius who was the story of the 2007 season as he came from the stands and kicked two field goals against VT on a Thursday night game. He ended up finishing up the season by going 8-11 with a long of 37 yards. He has shown a very weak leg which could hurt in a close game.

I would like to thank the staff of Epic Carnival for the opportunity to write for the site and I hope to continue as a regular contributor.