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1983 Boston College Eagles football team

1983 Major eastern college football independents records
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Penn State 4 – 1 – 1 8 – 4 – 1
No. 16 West Virginia 4 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
No. 18 Pittsburgh 2 – 1 – 1 8 – 3 – 1
No. 19 Boston College $ 3 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
Syracuse 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Temple 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Rutgers 0 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll
1983 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Miami (FL)   –   –   11 – 1 – 0
Virginia Tech   –   –   9 – 2 – 0
No. 19 Boston College   –   –   9 – 3 – 0
No. 16 West Virginia   –   –   9 – 3 – 0
No. 20 East Carolina   –   –   8 – 3 – 0
No. 18 Pittsburgh   –   –   8 – 3 – 1
Florida State   –   –   8 – 4 – 0
Penn State   –   –   8 – 4 – 1
Southern Miss   –   –   7 – 4 – 0
Memphis State   –   –   6 – 4 – 1
Notre Dame   –   –   7 – 5 – 0
Syracuse   –   –   6 – 5 – 0
South Carolina   –   –   5 – 6 – 0
Cincinnati   –   4 – 6 – 1
Southwestern Louisiana   –   –   4 – 6 – 0
Temple   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Tulane   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Louisville   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Navy   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Rutgers   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Army   –   –   2 – 9 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1983 Boston College Eagles football team represented Boston College as an independent during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Eagles were led by third-year head coach Jack Bicknell, and played their home games at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts and Sullivan Stadium (later known as Foxboro Stadium) in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Junior quarterback Doug Flutie threw for over 2,700 yards and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting, leading Boston College to their first ranked finish in 41 years. They met their rivals, Notre Dame, in the 1983 Liberty Bowl.

Boston College finished the season ranked No. 19 in the final AP Poll, and captured the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy (emblematic of the 'Eastern championship' in Division I FBS).

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 3Morgan State
W 45–1231,300[1]
September 10Clemson
  • Alumni Stadium
  • Chestnut Hill, MA (rivalry)
W 31–1632,000–32,500[2][3]
September 17at Rutgers
W 42–2223,561[4]
September 24No. 12 West VirginiaNo. 19
  • Alumni Stadium
  • Chestnut Hill, MA
ABCL 17–2732,000[5]
October 1at Temple
W 18–157,033[6]
October 8at Yale
W 42–731,108[7]
October 29Penn StateNo. 19
ABCW 27–1756,605[8]
November 5at ArmyNo. 16
W 34–1440,749[9]
November 12at SyracuseNo. 13
L 10–2141,225[10]
November 19vs. Holy CrossNo. 18
  • Sullivan Stadium
  • Foxborough, MA (rivalry)
ABCW 47–738,512[11]
November 25No. 13 AlabamaNo. 15
  • Sullivan Stadium
  • Foxborough, MA
CBSW 20–1358,047[12]
December 29vs. Notre DameNo. 13
L 18–1947,071[13]
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[14]

Roster

1983 Boston College Eagles football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 13 Brian Brennan Sr
RB 32 Jim Browne Jr
QB 22 Doug Flutie Jr
OL 79 Mark MacDonald Jr
WR 20 Gerard Phelan Jr
RB 23 Troy Stradford Fr
WR 3 Chris Tripucka Jr
C Darren Twombly Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
NG 68 Mike Ruth So
LB 81 Andy Hemmer So
DB 17 Tony Thurman Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Game summaries

No. 12 West Virginia

See also: 1983 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

No. 13 Alabama

See also: 1983 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

Vs. Notre Dame (Liberty Bowl)

Main article: 1983 Liberty Bowl
See also: 1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

References

  1. ^ "Boston College trashes Bears". The State. September 4, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Stradford carries BC past Clemson". The Hartford Courant. September 11, 1983. Retrieved January 29, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Clemson Football Media Guide - 1984". Clemson University. 1984. p. 0. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  4. ^ "BC wallops Rutgers, 42–22". Staten Island Advance. September 18, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "W. Va. Mountaineers blitz Boston College". The Daily Advertiser. September 25, 1983. Retrieved January 29, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Flutie 'pitches in' as Boston College turns back Temple". Courier-Post. October 2, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Thomsen, Ian (October 9, 1983). "BC Scores Early and Often". Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Mass. p. 51 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "The surgeon; BC's Flutie operates on Penn State, 27–17". The Day. October 30, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "No. 16 BC rips Army, 34–14". The Reporter Dispatch. November 6, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Syracuse derails BC, 21–10". Boston Sunday Globe. November 13, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ May, Peter (November 20, 1983). "BC Pounds Holy Cross, Expects New Bowl Foe". The Hartford Courant. Hartford, Conn. pp. D12, D16 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Turnovers turn back Tide; BC finishes with 9–2 record". The Boston Globe. November 26, 1983. Retrieved February 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Irish stew Eagles in B-r-r-r Bowl". The Commercial Appeal. December 30, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "1983 Boston College Eagles Schedule & Results". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 12, 2017.