Can Boston College Football Win On The Road?

Brian: It shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone when I say Frank Spaziani has struggled to win road/neutral games as BC's head football coach. Spaz is just 5-7 overall in road neutral games over the last two seasons with the best win arguably BC's 16-7 win at Syracuse in last year's regular season finale. In two years, here are the results from BC's road/neutral games:

L ... L ... l ... w ... w ... l ... L ... l ... w ... w ... W ... l

That is to say: Blowout loss, blowout loss, loss, little win, little win, loss, blowout loss, loss, little win, little win, win, loss

BC's road/neutral wins have come against Virginia, Maryland, Wake Forest, Duke and Syracuse. Not exactly the stiffest of competition.

This year, the Eagles will play not four, not five but six road games against competition a little tougher than the above mentioned teams (Central Florida, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Notre Dame and Miami). Can Spaziani find a way to win on the road this coming year? What's a realistic expectation for BC's road record in 2011?

Jeff: Spaziani can absolutely win a game on the road this season in his six chances. Spaz has not beaten maybe names on the road like a win over Clemson, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame or Miami would qualify as but he can win any of those games this season. At least three of those four teams will probably be down from last season due to losing a lot of talent.

Meanwhile, no reason to think BC won't be at least as good as their 2010 version. Central Florida is probably a game where BC will be favored because of how much the Knights have lost since the end of last season. Clemson has also lost a lot but I'd be surprised if BC were favored on the road there regardless of their record. The same could be said for Virginia Tech and Miami.

Another chance to be favored on the road comes against Maryland. With a new coach and some uncertainties there, BC could easily be favored at College Park. Between being favored for two games and likely being less than a touchdown underdog in at least three of the other four games, BC should probably win two games on the road and might find ways to get three or four wins, getting the road monkey off Spaz's back at least until the talk of "hasn't beaten a ranked team on the road" talk begins.