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

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]

Schedule

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

^[6]

Roster

1986 Boston College Eagles football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`7`	Shawn Halloran	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

References

^ "1986 Hall of Fame Bowl". tampabayfootball.net. Tampa Bay Football History Network. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
^ "Boston College rides Halloran past Maryland". The Courier-Journal. October 12, 1986. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "BC stops W. Va., 19–10". The Boston Globe. October 26, 1986. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ MacMullan, Jackie (November 23, 1986). "Happy Ending for BC, Harvard; Eagles Outslug HC, 56-26". Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Mass. p. 49 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Halloran flings BC by Georgia". Fort Lauderdale News. December 24, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "1986 Boston College Eagles Schedule & Results". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 11, 2017.

v t e Boston College Eagles football
Venues	South End Grounds (1893–1899, 1902) American League Baseball Grounds (1901) Alumni Field (1915–1921, 1923, 1932–1941, 1943–1945, 1955) Fenway Park (1914–1917, 1919–1920, 1927–1931, 1936–1945, 1953–1956) Braves Field (1918–1927, 1944, 1946–1952) Alumni Stadium (1957–present) Sullivan Stadium (alternate)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Boston University (Green Line Rivalry) Clemson (O'Rourke–McFadden Trophy) Holy Cross Notre Dame: Holy War Syracuse UMass Virginia Tech Sacred Cod Trophy
Culture & lore	Baldwin the Eagle "For Boston" Marching band Scanlan Award Hail Flutie The Iron Major
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903–1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold