Boston College Football: What Would Make 2014 A Successful Season?

After watching the Eagles go from 2-10 to 7-6 in Steve Addazio it's hard to argue that his first year on the Heights was not a success. BC is trending in the right direction, with recruiting on the up and up, transfers coming over to fill much needed positions, and the media talking about us again (well, sort of). But we have to move on from last year. If the Eagles just go 7-5 again, many people are going to unfairly start comparing Addazio to Tom O'Brien, and anything less and we will hear the "he's not that good" argument. Which in Year 2 doesn't seem fair due to losing the starting quarterback, two tackles, Heisman finalist running back, and a whole slew of other starters. But what are some fair measurements that would indicate that 2014 was a successful season.

Soundly beat the creampuffs. There are two games on the schedule that BC should win by a large margin. Maine and UMass. BC needs to beat them comfortably. No repeats of Villanova and New Mexico State, where the Eagles barely held on to win. No, BC needs to win by multiple touchdowns and neither opponent will never sniff a possible upset victory.

Keep it respectable against FSU, USC and Clemson. These three teams provide matchup problems for the Eagles. Playing in Tallahassee is going to be tough for this team, and Jameis Winston has only gotten better since we last saw him. Plus that FSU defense is stacked. Clemson's defense is going to be tough as well. I'd love to see the Eagles beat either of these teams, but if they lose both I just want to see BC stay in the game. Kind of like last year. USC on the other hand is in prime time, and BC can ill afford to look bad on national television.

Beat Colorado State. Honestly this game could be a bit of a trap game for the Eagles as Colorado State brings the 23rd ranked total offense to the Heights. They are returning their QB Garrett Grayson, who will be ready after hurting his shoulder moving a couch, but provided the Rams with a school record 3600 yards. But their defense is suspect, and if BC can score points they should be able to win.

BEAT SYRACUSE. This is a year to take it to Team Hardnosed. Last year we were the team that had the end of our season dashed by the Orange, now it's the Eagles time to return the favor. The Orange seem to be the darlings of many predictions I've seen, so nothing would make me happier than watching the Eagles win on Senior Day.

Win two of three against NC State, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech. All road games this year, BC wasn't a good road team last year, winning against Maryland and New Mexico State, keeping it close against Clemson and getting trounced by UNC and USC.  BC needs to turn that around this year. These are three teams BC beat at home last year, they need to show they can be equally effective on the road as well.

Make a bowl, and win the dang thing. First of all making a bowl does a variety of positive things for the program. Recruits notice, fans notice, the media still probably ignore us, and it gives BC extra practice time with a young roster. If BC sticks around the same record, and plays more of a midlevel team this year (say a Tulsa, Navy etc) I want to see BC win. Heck if we play a power conference team, I want to see BC win. Let's not going into next off season

What would use as criteria to determine a successful 2014 season?