Reliving the 2005 season 20 years later

It’s hard to believe that 2005 was 20 years ago.

I was a junior at Waltham High and now know that I knew absolutely nothing in life. The Sox still drew the majority of the attention around here even though the Pats’ dynasty was in full throttle mode. The B’s and C’s were still terrible.

It was also one of the last times in the past 20 years that BC was talked about in detail around here rather than being a punchline.

So, with that in mind and current day content coming Thursday at ACC Media Day, I wanted to take a look back at that 2005 year. Most of you here will remember it far better than I will given my non-BC fandom at the time, but hopefully you all enjoy this little trip down memory lane:

Record (9-3, 5-3 ACC)

Tom O’Brien’s Eagles finished 18th in the country in 2005 after going 9-3 with a win in the MPC Computers Bowl against Boise State (I have absolutely no idea what company that was)…BC beat the Broncos 27-21 despite the hosts scoring 14 unanswered in the fourth.

Tony Gonzalez had two touchdown catches from Matt Ryan while Will Balckmon had that memorable jump ball TD as well (that I definitely vividly remember watching). Ryan Ohliger kicked 27 and 30-yard field goals.

BC started the year 2-0 with wins against BYU and Army. In a No. 17 vs. No. 8 matchup, Florida State handed the Eagles their first loss of the year at Alumni (28-17). Ryan was just 7-11 for 89 yards while Quinton Porter had to come in, going 21-30 for 151, a TD and two picks.

The Eagles rattled off four straight with wins over Clemson (in Death Valley, 16-13), Ball State, Virginia and Wake Forest to get to 6-1. An ugly loss in Blacksburg to Marcus (not Mike) Vick by a 30-10 score saw BC gain just 10 first downs and 183 total yards to VTech’s 26 and 492. A week later, BC lost 16-14 to UNC. Porter had 144 passing yards while Ryan had 93 and a TD.

Blowouts over NC State (30-10) and Maryland (31-16) closed out the year before over a month-long break prior to the bowl game.

NFL Talent

In total, that roster had 11 guys head to the NFL.

Matt Ryan
Will Blackmon
Ryan Purvis
James Marten
Josh Beekman
Gosder Cherilus
Mathias Kiwaunka
BJ Raji
Ron Brace
Ricky Brown
Jamie Silva

Stats

Team: 310 points for, 191 points against.
Strength of schedule: 4.17 (I’m assuming out of five)…31st out of 119.

Matt Ryan – 121-195, 1,514 yards, 8 TD
Quinton Porter – 136-214, 1,357 yards, 9 TD
Will Blackmon – 51 catches, 763 yards, 4 TD
L.V. Whitworth – 189 carries, 807 yards, 5 TD
BJ Raji – 27 total tackles, 1.5 sacks
Ron Brace – 11 combo tackles
Jamie Silva – 87 combined tackles, (60 solo), 5 TFL, 1 sack, 1 interception