Matt Ryan (football player)

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Matthew Thomas "Matt" Ryan (born May 17, 1985 in Exton, Pennsylvania) is a junior quarterback for the Boston College Eagles. As of the 2005 season, he has been the team's starter, leading them to two bowl games and a 13-4 record in 17 starts. He has thrown for 200 or more yards 15 times and is fifth all-time in school history in passing yards and in pass completions. He also earned MVP honors at the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl.

1 High school career
2 Freshman Season
3 Sophomore Season
4 Junior Season

[edit] High school career

Matt Ryan attended William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was a three year starter for coach Brian McCloskey. He gained All-City first-team honors in 2002 and second-team honors in 2001. He was a three-time All-League selection. Over his high school career he threw for more than 1,300 yards in his senior season and threw 15 touchdowns passes and 2 interceptions. He was captain of the football, basketball, and baseball teams.

[edit] Freshman Season

Ryan was redshirted in the 2003 season. Before the 2004 season, he was named backup due to an injury to Quinton Porter. He saw his first action on October 2, 2004 against UMass. He completed 2 of 3 passes for 16 yards. He completed his first touchdown on November 20 against Temple on a 32 yard completion to Larry Lester. Replacing the injured Paul Peterson, he completed 8 of 15 passes for 121 yards. He made his first collegiate start on November 27 in the final game of the 2004 season, completing 24 of 51 passes for 200 yards against Syracuse. He also played in against North Carolina in the Continental Tire Bowl. He completed 1 of his 2 passes for 13 yards.

[edit] Sophomore Season

At the beginning of the 2005 season, Ryan was named the second string quarterback behind Quinton Porter. Porter has some success at the beginning of the year, including winning Atlantic Coast Conference player of the week for his performance in BC's 28-17 win over Virginia. After a 30-10 loss to 3rd ranked Virginia Tech, coach Tom O'Brien announced that he would start Ryan, in the next game against North Carolina. In 10 games (5 starts) He completed 121 of 195 passes for 1,514 yards. He had 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He also had 5 rushing touchdowns and 94 yards. He started his first bowl game in the MPC Computers Bowl versus Boise State. He completed 19-of-36 passes for 256 yards and a career-best three touchdowns.

[edit] Junior Season

Ryan started 11 of 12 games. He completed 243-of-398 passes for 2,700 yards, 14 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He also ran for three touchdowns. He was All-ACC first-team and led the ACC in total offense (242.2 ypg) and in passing yards (245.5 ypg). He was named ACC Offensive Back of the week 3 times. He set career highs in completions (32 vs. Central Michigan) and passing yards (356 vs. BYU). He led the team to a 8-3 record including triple overtime wins versus Clemson and BYU. He led the Eagles to a close 25-24 victory December 30 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl against Navy in Charlotte, North Carolina.