Boston College Continues To Be Miles Apart From Ranked Opponents
With yesterday's drubbing at the hands of Notre Dame, Boston College dropped to 1-17 against ranked opponents, with their only win happening five years ago against USC. Even with these losses, one would hope that the Eagles have kept these games close, or that there has been some improvement on the offensive or defensive side. Using the statistical database cfbstats.com, let's take a look at the raw numbers, which may tell us more about where Boston College is as a program under head coach Steve Addazio.
These are numbers just against ranked opponents in the AP Top 25 poll
Scoring Offense (total points scored): How has BC's offense done against Top 25 programs compared to other programs
2013: 18.3 (54th)
2014: 21.5 (52nd)
2015: 11.0 (94th)
2016: 6.0 (102nd)
2017: 12.8 (86th)
2018: 14.0 (88th)
2019: 16.3 (65th)
Scoring Defense: How many points has BC allowed against ranked opponents and how do they rank compare to other programs?
2013: 35.7 (48th)
2014: 26.5 (15th)
2015: 22.3 (12th)
2016: 50.5 (96th)
2017: 30.2 (32nd)
2018: 34.5 (48th)
2019: 42.3 (75th)
Conclusions: Boston College's offense has regressed against Top 25 programs, they have hovered around the top half, but haven't been any higher than 52nd. On defense, you can clearly see the effects of Don Brown, the defensive coordinator from 2013-15, as they defense fell off a cliff the year he left. They rebounded nicely in 2017, but have again slipped the past two years.
Rushing Offense Against Top 25 Programs
2013: 131.67 (50th)
2014: 244.50 (6th)
2015: 170.67 (29th)
2016: 88.0 (82nd)
2017: 167.75 (29th)
2018: 57 (112th)
2019: 127.33 (41st)
Passing Offense Against Top 25 Programs
2013: 157.3 (85th)
2014: 109.3 (106th)
2015: 77.0 (110th--last)
2016: 94.0 (103rd)
2017: 164.5 (75th)
2018: 177.5 (82nd)
2019: 139.3 (82nd)
Total Offense Against Top 25 Programs
2013: 289.0 (79th)
2014: 353.5 (60th)
2015: 247.7 (97th)
2016: 182.0 (107th)
2017: 332.3 (58th)
2018: 234.5 (110th)
2019: 266.7 (78th)
Conclusions: BC's offense has seemingly never been effective against Top 25 programs, as they have never been higher than 58th which is right around the 50th percentile. Otherwise they have been near the bottom yearly and there hasn't been consistent improvement.
Rushing Defense Against Top 25 Teams
2013: 192.67 (51st)
2014: 102.25 (4th)
2015: 112.33 (6th)
2016: 210.75 (60th)
2017: 295.75 (96th)
2018: 168.50 (36th)
2019: 217.33 (73rd)
Passing Defense Against Top 25 Teams
2013: 309.3 (81st)
2014: 288.5 (84th)
2015: 286.3 (84th)
2016: 268.0 (73rd)
2017: 177.0 (17th)
2018: 325.8 (100th)
2019: 321.7 (97th)
Total Defense Against Top 25 Teams
2013: 502 (72nd)
2014: 387.3 (16th)
2015:398.7 (34th)
2016: 478.8 (67th)
2017: 472.8 (61st)
2018: 497.0 (78th)
2019: 539 (92nd)
Final Conclusions: The numbers and statistics speak for themselves. Boston College has not been competitive against Top 25 teams under Steve Addazio. There has been little progress especially recently against these programs.