1986 Boston College Eagles football team

The 1986 Boston College Eagles football team represented Boston College as an independent during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Eagles were led by sixth-year head coach Jack Bicknell and played their home games at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They also played an alternate-site home game at Sullivan Stadium (later known as Foxboro Stadium) in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Boston College ended the season on an eight-game winning streak, capped by the 1986 Hall of Fame Bowl, where they defeated Georgia, 27–24 on a last-minute touchdown pass from Shawn Halloran to Kelvin Martin.^[1]

1986 Boston College Eagles football
Hall of Fame Bowl champion
Hall of Fame, W 27–24 vs. Georgia
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
AP	No. 19
Record	9–3
Head coach	Jack Bicknell (6th season)
Defensive coordinator	Seymour "Red" Kelin (6th season)
Captains	John Bosa Kelvin Martin Troy Stradford Steve Trapilo
Home stadium	Alumni Stadium Sullivan Stadium
Seasons ← 1985 1987 →

1986 Major eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Penn State $	6	–	0	–	0			12	–	0	–	0
No. 19 Boston College	3	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Syracuse	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Temple	2	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Pittsburgh	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	1
Rutgers	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	5	–	1
West Virginia	1	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

1986 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Penn State		–		–				12	–	0	–	0
No. 2 Miami (FL)		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 20 Virginia Tech		–		–				9	–	2	–	1
No. 19 Boston College		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Tulsa		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Florida State		–		–				7	–	4	–	1
Army		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Temple		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Rutgers		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				3	–	6	–	2
Tulane		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Louisville		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Navy		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Wichita State		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 6	Rutgers	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA		L 9–11	30,000	[2]
September 13	California	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA		W 21–15	30,544	[3]
September 20	No. 5 Penn State	Sullivan Stadium Foxborough, MA		L 14–26	42,329	[4]
October 4	at SMU	Texas Stadium Irving, TX		L 29–31	26,432	[5]
October 11	at Maryland	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD		W 30–25	45,380	[6]
October 18	Louisville	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA		W 41–7	28,105	[7]
October 25	at West Virginia	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV		W 19–10	47,760	[8]
November 1	at Army	Michie Stadium West Point, NY		W 27–20	40,315	[9]
November 8	at Temple	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA		W 38–29	17,952	[10]
November 15	Syracuse	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA		W 27–9	32,000	[11]
November 22	at Holy Cross	Fitton Field Worcester, MA (rivalry)		W 56–26	23,271	[12]
December 23	vs. No. 17 Georgia	Tampa Stadium Tampa, FL (Hall of Fame Bowl)	Mizlou	W 27–24	25,368	[13]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[14]

Roster

1986 Boston College Eagles football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 7 Shawn Halloran Sr C Darren Twombly Sr WR 20 Tom Waddle So OT 69 Dave Widell Jr G 74 Doug Widell So OL 64 Joe Wolf So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 97 John Bosa Sr LB 55 John Galvin Jr DT 72 Tom Porell Sr LB 53 Bill Romanowski Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Jack Bicknell Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt