Boston College FB: All Downhill from Here

Two weeks ago, the Boston College Eagles were 8-0 and ranked No. 2 in the BCS polls.

BC is now 8-2 and No. 17 in the BCS.

At 8-0, BC had beaten teams like Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech.

Then came the Florida State Seminoles.

The Eagles were down 20-17 to the 'Noles with a little over a minute left in the fourth quarter—and had a chance to take the lead until Geno Hayes picked off a Matt Ryan pass and took it back 35 yards to seal the game.  

The key to the upset: FSU made BC's offense one-dimensional, holding Andre Callender and Co. to a mere 63 yards rushing.

After a week of hearing how overrated they were, the Eagles traveled to the University of Maryland—where they proved all of their doubters right, falling to Ralph Friedgen's Terrapins 42-35.

The game wasn't as close as the score indicates. BC scored two late touchdowns to cut the deficit to seven after trailing 34-21 at the end of the third quarter.

Maryland QB Chris Turner had a banner day against the Eagle defense: a 77.8 completion percentage with 337 yards and three touchdowns.

The BC offense was once again one-dimensional, as Ryan threw 56 passes while only handing off 27 times.

To his credit, Ryan did finish with over 400 yards, but it wasn't enough to counter the Maryland O.

All told, I don't think coach Jeff Jagodzinski has given Ryan a chest-bump in two weeks.

If BC can beat Clemson on the road next week, the Eagles will be guaranteed a spot in the ACC Championship Game for a chance at an automatic BCS berth.

If they can't, it's hard to see where the slide might finally end.