Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Food Chain: Worst Soul-Crushing, Gut-Wrenching Eagle Losses

Brian: Saturday's loss to Georgia Tech was very disappointing and frustrating in terms of Jeff and my expectations for the team in 2008. But does it rank anywhere close in terms of the all-time soul crushing, "make you want to go back to grad school so you can cheer for a real football team" Eagle football losses? Jeff and I explore. You find more ... Chinqui!


Food Chain: Top Five Most Soul-Crushing Eagle Football Losses (since a certain two kids moved into Duchesne West 8 years ago)

We consider the following 8 soul-sucking, heart-wrenching defeats and ask you, our readers, to weigh in on the most soul-sucking of them all.

WARNING: Some of these images may not be suitable for children ... or Eagles fans reading this post during your lunch hour. Parental discretion is advised.


November 10, 2001 - Chestnut Hill, MA

Brian: We start off the list of soul-crushing losses with maybe one of the most soul-crushing of all time (or at least, as long as Jeff and I have been following the Eagles). 13 seconds left, Eagles on the Hurricanes 9 yard line, Brian St. Pierre driving down field losing 12-7. St. Pierre throws to Ryan Read, the pass ricochets off of Ed Rumph's knee, Matt Walters intercepts the pass, begins to run the ball back, and Hurricane DB Ed Reed comes out of nowhere, strips the ball from Walters and runs it back 80 yards for the touchdown. Twelve point swing. Game over.

Final score: (1) Miami 18, Boston College 7



November 4, 2006 - Winston-Salem, NC

Jeff: It is the first Saturday in November and the Eagles control their ACC fate. All they needed to do was get a win over seemingly lowly Wake Forest. Wake had lost badly to Clemson earlier in the season who BC beat at home so victory was somewhat expected. BC could only put up 14 points though and Wake was onto Jacksonville where they beat Georgia Tech 9-6 in front of 11 fans. Those 11 fans would would later prove to be 2 more fans than saw the Hokies beat the Eagles last year.

Final score: (16) Boston College 14, (21) Wake Forest 21


November 4, 2007 - Chestnut Hill, MA

Brian: The Eagles could only hold off the 2007 #2 ranking curse for one week as the Seminoles come into Alumni Stadium and destroy the dream season. Even with a little over a minute to go and the Eagles down 20-17, no one in the stands really thought the Eagles were going to lose. We had become spoiled by Matt Ryan's late game heroics 10 days earlier in Blacksburg. The Eagles were riding high ... 8-0, #2 ranking in the country ... and then Geno Hayes returns a Matt Ryan interception for a touchdown with 1:10 to go. Seminoles 27, Eagles 17, and any hope of a BCS National Title game appearance and the first undefeated season since 1940 was lost in the cold, rainy night.

Final score: Florida State 27, (2) Boston College 17



November 27, 2004 - Chestnut Hill, MA

Jeff: The Eagles wrap up their lame duck Big East season with a home game against Syracuse which they need to win to go to a BCS game as the Big Least champions. An easy victory was expected but the Eagles just stunk it up from the opening kickoff and Syracuse ran up and down the field. Pittsburgh won the three way tie on top of the Big East and headed to the Fiesta Bowl where they got thumped by Utah. I had hotel reservations in Phoenix but cancelled them at halftime.

Final score: Syracuse 43, (19) Boston College 17


November 10, 2007 - College Park, MD

Brian: The week before, the undefeated season ends. This week, a birth in the Eagles first ACC Championship game becomes suspect. The Eagles secondary gets lit up as a bad Maryland team gained 472 yards and 5 touchdowns en route to a 42-35 rout of the Eagles. The final score wasn't really indicative of how close the game was. The usually reliable BC run defense allowed 135 yards even without Maryland's leading rusher. The Terrapin faithful rushed the field, which I could barely make out from the third tier of the upper deck. I return home crushed. Two weeks before the Eagles were ranked #2 in the country. The following week the Eagles would be #17 and playing for the division crown against Clemson in Death Valley.

Final score: (8) Boston College 35, Maryland 42



November 5, 2005 - Chapel Hill, NC

Jeff: Brian gets to talk about all of the games against ranked opponents and I get to talk about all of the games against shit opponents. In 2005, our first year in the ACC, the Eagles headed to Chapel Hill 10 months after handling the Tar Heels in the Continental Tire Bowl. Eagles fans expected an easy victory but UNC took the opening kickoff to the house for a quick 7. Eagles fans hardly even cared though because there was still 59 minutes and 42 seconds to make up the deficit. However, it was a long afternoon watching drives stall out and watching Tom O'Brien sending on the punt team on 4th and short over and over again. BC lost and it was because of this game that I was not disappointed when TOB left.

Final score: (19) Boston College 14, North Carolina 16


December 1, 2007 - Jacksonville, FL

Brian: Boston College dominated the first half, only to get Beamer balled and show up for the second half flat and uninspired. We made an average quarterback look great, and came up empty in our bid for our first BCS bowl appearance. The Eagles left points on the board in the first half and didn't show up for the second half in a 30-16 loss to the Hokies. To add insult to injury, the Eagles only brought ~5,000 fans to Jacksonville, we hear the same old song and dance about how poorly BC travels, and we get passed over by both the Peach Bowl and the Gator Bowl for a Champs Sports Bowl appearance against a Big Ten team who tied for 7th in their conference.

Final score: (6) Virginia Tech 30, (11) Boston College 16 (ACC Championship Game)


September 23, 2006 - Raleigh, NC

Jeff: The Eagles went down to North Carolina State two years ago expecting an easy victory and got anything but. The Eagles played a slow but controlled the game. Unfortunately they never put the game out of reach and one decent drive by the wolfpack was capped with a 35 yard TD pass with 8.5 seconds left. NC State went on to a pathetic 4-8 record while the Eagles were one win away from the ACC Championship Game.

Final score: (20) Boston College 15, North Carolina State 17



Brian's Food Chain

5. Florida State 28, (2) Boston College 17 - And the bottom falls out for the undefeated dream season
4. (16) Boston College 14, (21) Wake Forest 21 - A chance to go to our first ACC championship game dies in Winston-Salem
3. (6) Virginia Tech 30, (11) Boston College 16 - Got Beamer balled, were probably the better team, yet come up short on our BCS bid yet again
2. Syracuse 43, (19) Boston College 17 - With a trip to a BCS bowl on the line, BC wets the bed. The loss sends to Eagles to a 4-way tie for first in the Big East.
1. (1) Miami 18, Boston College 7 - Oh, what could have been? Only the greatest Eagle upset of all time. OK, maybe 1993 would have been a bit better, but still ... I've never seen a ball take a stranger bounce in all my years of watching college football.


Jeff's Food Chain

5. (20) Boston College 15, North Carolina State 17 - missed extra point and pratically a Hail mary at the end. Losing in prime time to a team that went on to stink all year, just awful
4. (16) Boston College 14, (21) Wake Forest 21
3. Syracuse 43, (19) Boston College 17 - We should've gone BCS bowling!! It was at home against Syracuse!!
2. ACC Championship Game 2007 - We had Matt Ryan and played well in the first half aside from a blocked extra point. I still don't know how we let this one get away. The second half seemed to fly by. Maybe I was just too drunk because they did serve drinks in the stadium
1. (1) Miami 18, Boston College 7 - I can still see the pass bounce off of Ryan Read's knee and into a UM lineman's hands. To add insult to injury Ed Reed takes it the distance. I can't imagine a more sick to my stomach feeling as a fan at a sporting event.


Leave your top 5 in the comments section below, or

Been at this Eagle football watching longer than we have? Leave your soul-crushing losses pre-Y2K in the comments section below.

6 comments:

BCMike said...

Being at a fair number of those games, and watching the rest...bad, bad, BAD memories flashed back.

The Wake game I was at, and it was arguably the coldest I have ever been. Just chilled to the bone.

That game, the refs were in the Deac's pocket, I am convinced of it. We got called on any and all penalties, and numerous false starts that were actually encroachment penalties. I recall my friend jokingly standing up and saying "Flag on Boston College! Illegal use of Gold and Maroon!".

There was also the catch, run five steps, strip, fumble, recovery and return to the Wake 4 yard line that was called an incompletion. I'm still not over that loss.

I was in the stands a couple rows over from the camera angle for that Miami game when St. Pierre drilled it low from 5 yards away. Reminds me of Crane's game last week.

To me though, there was no bigger sucker gut punch than the Diamond Ferri Syracuse game. BC was going to a BCS bowl. All they had to do was beat a bottom run Cuse team that was without Reyes, their only good player. So they Orangemen started backup Safety and Boston product Diamond Ferri at running back. Ferri ran for 200 yards on the Eagles and successfully gutted the hearts out of Eagle nation. I will never, ever be over that loss.

Never.

Big Jack Krack said...

I'm with you, BCMike and that night in Winston Salem was really cold. I'll be dressed properly this year.

All these games were good picks for bad rememberances. I was particularly galled by the losses in Chapel Hill in 2005 (10and 2 would have been sweet) and Raleigh in 2006 - but a win in Winston-Salem would have put us in the ACCCG, I think - so close - and attainable with just a little more imagination. This is college football!!!

Joe Bags said...

I'm a little bit older than you guys...

1. vs SU in 2004
3. vs Miami in 2001
2. vs ND in 1998 (ND makes 4th quarter goal line stand)
4. vs Miami in 1999 (BC blows 28-0 lead in 1.5 quarters)
5. vs UNC in 2005

GBM said...

I have been to exactly two games in my life, despite living in Newton my whole life. One was a 44-14 stomping of Navy. the other was the Syracuse game. Front row corner endzone seats. Chance of a lifetime. My father went to Syracuse and he was with me.

I will never forget that game.


I am eternally grateful I wasn't old enough to be the absolute diehard I am now. I probably would have killed myself. Hell, maybe that's what got me over the top.

There have been some insanely frustrating losses in recent years, but nothing, no game, will EVER top that.

ATL_eagle said...

Syracuse 2004 is still tops. A pathetic performance against a pathetic team.

JP from Dorchester said...

Class of '02, so there are some early TOB losses that hurt.

Miami 2001 was our last game senior year. I dont know what hurt more, watching Reed run down the field or seeing Willia Green yelling out his Edmonds window after, having been suspended for that game

ND 98 was bad too, but we also lost to Navy that year on a last second FG.