1984 Boston College Eagles football team

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External videos
	Game highlights

1984 Boston College Eagles football
1984 Boston College Eagles football
Cotton Bowl Classic champion; Eastern champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 45–28 vs. Houston
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 5
Record	10–2
Head coach	Jack Bicknell (4th season);
Defensive coordinator	Seymour "Red" Kelin (4th season)
Captains	Mark MacDonald; David Thomas; Scott Harrington;
Home stadium	Alumni Stadium ; Sullivan Stadium
	Seasons ← 1983 1985 →

1984 Major eastern college football independents records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
West Virginia	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Penn State	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
No. 5 Boston College $	3	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Rutgers	3	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Temple	2	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Pittsburgh	1	–	3	–	0	3	–	7	–	1
Syracuse	1	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0

$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

1984 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Boston College		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
No. 11 South Carolina		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
Army		–		–		8	–	3	–	1
Rutgers		–		–		7	–	3	–	0
No. 17 Florida State		–		–		7	–	3	–	2
Virginia Tech		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
West Virginia		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
No. 18 Miami (FL)		–		–		8	–	5	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–		7	–	5	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Penn State		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Syracuse		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Temple		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
Navy		–		–		4	–	6	–	1
Southern Miss		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–		3	–	7	–	1
Tulane		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
East Carolina		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Louisville		–		–		2	–	9	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1984 Boston College Eagles football team represented Boston College as an independent during the 1984 NCAA Division I-A football season.

Doug Flutie gained national attention in 1984 when he quarterbacked the Eagles to victory in a high-scoring, back-and-forth game against the Miami Hurricanes (led by QB Bernie Kosar). The game was nationally televised on CBS the day after Thanksgiving and thus had a huge audience. Miami staged a dramatic drive to take the lead, 45–41, in the closing minute of the game. Boston College then took possession at its own 22-yard line with 28 seconds to go. After two passes moved the ball another 30 yards, only 6 seconds remained. On the last play of the game, Flutie scrambled away from the defense and threw a Hail Mary pass that was caught in the end zone by senior wide receiver Gerard Phelan, giving BC a 47–45 win. Although many people think that play clinched the Heisman Trophy for Flutie, the voting was already complete before that game.^[1]

Boston College finished the season with a 10–2 record and a No. 5 ranking in the final AP Poll. The Eagles defeated the Southwest Conference champion Houston Cougars 45–28 in the 1985 Cotton Bowl. The team also captured the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy (emblematic of the 'Eastern championship' in Division I FBS).

Flutie left school as the NCAA's all-time passing yardage leader with 10,579 yards and was a consensus All-American as a senior. He earned Player of the Year awards from UPI, Kodak, The Sporting News, and the Maxwell Football Club.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 1	Western Carolina	No. 19	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA		W 44–24	32,000
September 8	at No. 9 Alabama	No. 18	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	ABC	W 38–31	67,821	^[2]
September 22	North Carolina	No. 10	Sullivan Stadium Foxborough, MA	ESPN	W 52–20	44,672	^[3]
October 13	Temple	No. 4	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA		W 24–10	32,000
October 20	at No. 20 West Virginia	No. 4	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ABC	L 20–21	60,286	^[4]
October 27	Rutgers	No. 11	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA		W 35–23	32,000
November 3	at Penn State	No. 9	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ABC	L 30–37	85,690
November 10	Army	No. 16	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA	KATZ	W 45–31	32,000
November 17	Syracuse	No. 13	Sullivan Stadium Foxborough, MA	KATZ	W 24–16	60,890
November 23	at No. 12 Miami (FL)	No. 10	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	CBS	W 47–45	30,325
December 1	at Holy Cross	No. 8	Fitton Field Worcester, MA (rivalry)		W 45–10	25,000	^[5]
January 1, 1985	vs. Houston	No. 8	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	W 45–28	67,381
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1984 Boston College Eagles football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
OL	`63`	Mark Bardwell	Sr
RB	`24`	Ken Bell	Jr
C	`66`	Jack Bicknell Jr.	Sr
RB	`32`	Jim Browne	Sr
TE	`85`	Pete Casparriello	So
WR	`44`	Shawn Dombrowski	So
WR	`26`	Darren Flutie	Fr
QB	`22`	Doug Flutie	Sr
TE		Scott Gieselman
QB	`7`	Shawn Halloran	So
OL	`79`	Mark MacDonald	Sr
WR	`82`	Kelvin Martin	So
WR	`20`	Gerard Phelan	Sr
OL	`54`	Shawn Regent	Sr
RB		Steve Strachan	Sr
RB	`23`	Troy Stradford	So
RB		Tyrone Taylor
OL		Steve Trapilo
WR	`3`	Chris Tripucka	Sr
OL		Darren Twombly
RB		Steve Williams

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DE	`97`	John Bosa	So
LB	`57`	Ted Gaffney	Jr
DL	`95`	Chuck Gorecki	Jr
DT	`52`	Scott Harrington	Sr
LB	`81`	Andy Hemmer	Jr
LB		Pete Holey
DB		Neil Iton
DL		Rick Nickeson
DB		Dave Pereira
S	`49`	Carl Pellegata	Jr
LB	`53`	Bill Romanowski	Fr
DB		Todd Russell
DL	`68`	Mike Ruth	Jr
DL	`50`	David Thomas	Sr
DB	`17`	Tony Thurman	Sr
LB		Ed VonNessen

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P		Steve Peach
K	`2`	Kevin Snow	Sr

Head coach

Jack Bicknell

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	19	18	10	10	5	4	4	4	11	9	16	13	10	8	8	5
Coaches	20	16	9	7	7	5	4	5	10	7	16	13	10	8	8	4

^[6]

Game summaries

Western Carolina

At Alabama

North Carolina

Temple

At West Virginia

Rutgers

At Penn State

Army

Army Cadets (5–2–1) at #16 Boston College Eagles (5–2)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Army	7	7	10	7	31
Boston College	13	15	3	14	45

at Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

Date: November 10, 1984
Game attendance: 32,000
TV announcers (KATZ): Curt Gowdy and Len Dawson
^[7]

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Army	Passing	Nate Sassaman	4/10, 38 Yds, INT
	Rushing	Nate Sassaman	25 Rush, 136 Yds, TD
	Receiving	Scott Spellmon	2 Rec, 26 Yds
Boston College	Passing	Doug Flutie	19/29, 311 Yds, 3 TD
	Rushing	Steve Strachan	15 Rush, 81 Yds, 2 TD
	Receiving	Kelvin Martin	7 Rec, 126 Yds, 2 TD

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	ARMY	BC
1					Army	Doug Black 1-yard touchdown run, Craig Stopa kick good	7	0
1					Boston College	Steve Strachan 1-yard touchdown run, Kevin Snow kick good	7	7
1					Boston College	Scott Gieselman 12-yard touchdown reception from Doug Flutie, Kevin Snow kick no good	7	13
2					Boston College	Kelvin Martin 34-yard touchdown reception from Doug Flutie, Kevin Snow kick good	7	20
2					Boston College	Punt returned 45 yards for touchdown by Kelvin Martin, 2-point pass good	7	28
2					Army	Rob Dickerson 5-yard touchdown reception from Jarvis Hollingsworth, Craig Stopa kick good	14	28
3					Boston College	25-yard field goal by Kevin Snow	14	31
3					Army	Nate Sassaman 8-yard touchdown run, Craig Stopa kick good	21	31
3					Army	40-yard field goal by Craig Stopa	24	31
4					Boston College	Steve Strachan 1-yard touchdown run, Kevin Snow kick good	24	38
4					Army	Jarvis Hollingsworth 10-yard touchdown run, Craig Stopa kick good	24	45
4					Boston College	Kelvin Martin 17-yard touchdown reception from Doug Flutie, Kevin Snow kick good	31	45
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							31	45

Syracuse

At Miami (FL)

Boston College at Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 10 Eagles	14	14	3	16	47
No. 12 Hurricanes	7	14	10	14	45

Date: November 23
Location: Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida
Game attendance: 30,325
TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger, Ara Parseghian, and Pat Haden

^[8] ^[9]

Holy Cross

Vs. Houston (Cotton Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Eagles	17	14	0	14	45
Cougars	7	7	14	0	28

^[10] ^[11]

Awards and honors

Doug Flutie, QB, Heisman Trophy^[12]
Doug Flutie, QB, Walter Camp Award^[13]
Doug Flutie, QB, Maxwell Award
Doug Flutie, QB, Davey O'Brien Award

1984 team players in the NFL

The following players were claimed in the 1985 NFL draft.^[14]

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Gerard Phelan	Wide receiver	4	108	New England Patriots
Mark MacDonald	Guard	5	115	Minnesota Vikings
Doug Flutie	Quarterback	11	285	Los Angeles Rams
Steve Strachan	Running back	11	303	Los Angeles Raiders

Bill Romanowski was also a member of the team and was drafted in 1988.

References

^ "Heisman Trophy". Heisman.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2009.
^ "BC's 'greatest comeback' swamps Alabama, 38–31". The Boston Globe. September 9, 1984. Retrieved February 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "BC's Flutie passes Tar Heels dizzy". Tulsa World. September 23, 1984. Retrieved January 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "West Virginia edges BC, 21–20, on a late TD drive". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 21, 1984. Retrieved January 29, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Thomsen, Ian (December 2, 1984). "Small Wonder, No Wonder; Eagles Wrap Up HC, 45-10". Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Mass. p. 57 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Boston College 1984 AP Football Rankings". collegepollarchive.com. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
^ "College Football Scoreboard." Gainesville Sun. pg. 4F. 1984 Nov 11. Retrieved 2022-Dec-27.
^ "FLUTIE'S PASS ON LAST PLAY OVERCOMES MIAMI BY 47-45". The New York Times. November 24, 1984. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
^ "Flutie's Desperation Pass Beats Miami, 47-45". The Washington Post. November 24, 1984. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
^ "FLUTIE PASSES FOR 3 SCORES AS BOSTON COLLEGE WINS". The New York Times. January 2, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
^ "Flutie Short of Miracles but BC Wins, 45-28". The Washington Post. January 2, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
^ "Heisman Winners". Heisman. Archived from the original on September 16, 2009.
^ "Football". Archived from the original on January 7, 2008. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
^ "1985 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.

[1] "Heisman Trophy". Heisman.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2009.

[2] "BC's 'greatest comeback' swamps Alabama, 38–31". The Boston Globe. September 9, 1984. Retrieved February 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "BC's Flutie passes Tar Heels dizzy". Tulsa World. September 23, 1984. Retrieved January 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] "West Virginia edges BC, 21–20, on a late TD drive". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 21, 1984. Retrieved January 29, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] Thomsen, Ian (December 2, 1984). "Small Wonder, No Wonder; Eagles Wrap Up HC, 45-10". Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Mass. p. 57 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "Boston College 1984 AP Football Rankings". collegepollarchive.com. Retrieved November 17, 2018.

[7] "College Football Scoreboard." Gainesville Sun. pg. 4F. 1984 Nov 11. Retrieved 2022-Dec-27.

[8] "FLUTIE'S PASS ON LAST PLAY OVERCOMES MIAMI BY 47-45". The New York Times. November 24, 1984. Retrieved November 17, 2018.

[9] "Flutie's Desperation Pass Beats Miami, 47-45". The Washington Post. November 24, 1984. Retrieved November 17, 2018.

[10] "FLUTIE PASSES FOR 3 SCORES AS BOSTON COLLEGE WINS". The New York Times. January 2, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2019.

[11] "Flutie Short of Miracles but BC Wins, 45-28". The Washington Post. January 2, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2019.

[12] "Heisman Winners". Heisman. Archived from the original on September 16, 2009.

[13] "Football". Archived from the original on January 7, 2008. Retrieved December 12, 2008.

[14] "1985 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.

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v t e Boston College Eagles football
Venues	South End Grounds (1893–1899, 1902) American League Baseball Grounds (1901) Alumni Field (1915–1921, 1923, 1932–1941, 1943–1945, 1955) Fenway Park (1914–1917, 1919–1920, 1927–1931, 1936–1945, 1953–1956) Braves Field (1918–1927, 1944, 1946–1952) Alumni Stadium (1957–present) Sullivan Stadium (alternate)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Boston University (Green Line Rivalry) Clemson (O'Rourke–McFadden Trophy) Holy Cross Notre Dame: Holy War UMass Virginia Tech Sacred Cod Trophy
Culture & lore	Baldwin the Eagle "For Boston" Marching band Scanlan Award Hail Flutie The Iron Major
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National championship seasons in bold