By Mike Hogewood for theACC.com

It was the best of times in 2007 at Boston College. For only the second time in school history, the Eagles won 11 games. They played Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship game and had the ACC player of the year in quarterback Matt Ryan. This was all heady stuff for first year coach Jeff Jagodzinski who now has the challenge of repeating, something very few are predicting will happen.

Tight End Ryan Purvis

The first thing BC has to overcome is the loss of Ryan, the first quarterback picked in the 2008 NFL draft. Jagodzinski says Ryan's greatest strength was his demeanor during the game. That was never demonstrated better than in BC's come from behind win over the Hokies in Blacksburg. The new quarterback in Chestnut Hill will be senior Chris Crane who hopefully learned a lot watching Ryan perform the past few seasons. Jagodzinski says that "Crane is bigger, stronger, and faster than Ryan. He throws a great ball. The only thing he doesn't have is experience."

Crane's teammates saw his leadership emerge in spring practice and feel good about what he will do this fall. Tight End Ryan Purvis says, "He's levelheaded and he's confident. I think he's going to do just fine."

While quarterback has been the most talked about position on offense, there is also a huge question mark at running back. Andre Callender and L.V. Whitworth graduated and there is no experience returning. True freshman Josh Haden is slated to be the starter. Fortunately for BC, Haden graduated high school last December and enrolled in school in time to participate in spring practice. "We were left with no running backs. Josh is going to be a special kid for us. He did a great job in the spring and he's going to bring a dimension that hasn't been seen around BC in awhile."

The offense is in the hands of coordinator Steve Logan who always adds new wrinkles to fit his personnel. Purvis says Logan is another huge reason the Eagles were so good on offense a year ago. "He's a mastermind on offense, but he has a way of putting things to the players that's easy to grasp. You just love playing for him."

Defensive Tackle Rob Brace

Jagodzinski knows that the defense may be the strength of this team, especially early in the season. "We're gonna lean on our defense early this year until our offense can catch up. Our defense is good. We've got a real strong run defense in particular."

The defensive line will be bolstered by the return of B.J. Raji, who sat out last season. He joins the returning starters senior Ron Brace and junior Alex Albright. The linebacking corps will be strengthened by the return of Brian Toal, who was sidelined by injury last year. The unanswered question on this defense will be the secondary. The team's leader in tackles and interceptions All-America safety Jamie Silva has graduated graduated. Also gone is Dejuan Tribble, a lockdown corner. The inexperienced replacements will have to mature quickly.

On special teams, BC will have to replace punter Johnny Ayers who was a real weapon. Steve Aponavicius is back as the kicker. Aponavicius is one of the really great stories in college football, coming out of the student body to audition for the team two seasons ago. He's accurate but doesn't have a lot of range.

Three of the first four opponents on the 2008 schedule are outside the conference. After opening against Kent State in Cleveland on August 30th, the Eagles are home for the next three. It's a schedule favorable to giving BC's newcomers experience and confidence before hitting the meat of the ACC season.

The departure of Ryan not only left a hole at quarterback, it left a void in leadership. One of this year's seniors, Ryan Purvis, says that replacing Ryan's vocal leadership will be important to the success of this team. "We have a close knit group of fifth year seniors. I don't think we have a guy as vocal as Matt was. I think we have a lot of guys who lead by example."

Jagodzinski also says the prediction of a big drop after the loss of Ryan is exaggerated. "Our goal is to still go ahead and win the ACC Championship. We're got a lot of guys who played in that championship game last year. They call it a football team for a reason. There're 11 guys out there."

If Boston College can stay healthy at quarterback and running back, this indeed might be another season that exceeds expectations.