Matt Ryan
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Born Matthew Thomas Ryan on May 17, 1985 in Exton, Pennsylvania, Matt plays quarterback for the Boston College Eagles in NCAA's college football tournament. Matt, nicknamed "Matty Ice" by his teammates for his calm and cool demeanor, is the third of Bernice and Michael Ryan's four children. Apparently, Matt is the second in the family to call plays at BC as his uncle John Loughery played the same position for the Eagles from 1979-82. Matt is enrolled in the Carroll School of Management and in 2004, was awarded as BC's Freshman Male Scholar-Athlete Award. On the field, Ryan has shown consistency in elevating his game and from a back-up has emerged as a star of his own, receiving an All-ACC first-team honors in 2006 despite playing with a foot injury for nearly the entire season. Ryan has also climbed into the ranks of the best QB in BC history, ranking fifth all-time in the school's record books in passing yards and in pass completions.
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[edit] High School
Ryan attended William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he served as a captain not only of the football squad, but also for the basketball and baseball teams. He played under Brian McCloskey and was a three year starter for his team. Ryan was a three-time All-League (InterAc) selection, was an All-City second-team honors in 2001 and a first-team honors in 2002. During his senior season, he threw for more than 1,300 yards with 15 touchdowns passes with only two interceptions. He concluded his high school playing career with a 52 percent completion percentage and earned All-Southeastern Pennsylvania accolades as a senior and earned All-East honors from Tom Lemming.
[edit] College
[edit] 2003
Redshirted.
[edit] 2004
After redshirting his freshman year, Ryan was listed as back-up to Paul Peterson after Quinton Porter got hurt. His first official game was against Massachussetts where he threw for 16 yards on 2-of-3 pass completion. Over a month later, Ryan replaced an injured Peterson late in the second quarter of the game against Temple. His first career touchdown connection happened during this game, throwing a 32-yarder to Larry Lester. He went on to finish the game completing 8-of-15 passes for 121 yards and one touchdown. The following week, Ryan had his first career start in the regular season finale against Syracuse where he connected on 24-of-51 passes for 200 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown pass to Joel Hazard in the fourth quarter. Ryan saw his first postseason action against North Carolina in the Continental Tire Bowl, but had only two pass attempts with one completion for 13 yards.
[edit] 2005
Ryan remained as a back-up at the start of his sophomore year behind Porter but saw an increasing amount of playing time after Porter gets hampered by injuries. Ryan made his second career start at Clemson and completed 24-of-42 passes for 221 yards while also rushing eight times for 13 yards and a score to lead BC to its first ever ACC win. Ryan also made another start against Ball State and completed 21-of-29 passes for 206 yards and one touchdown while also running the ball six times for 43 yards and two touchdowns to become the first BC quarterback to run for two scores in one game since Scott Mutryn scored twice against Rutgers in 1998. Ryan's ultimate test came against Wake Forest where the Eagles trailed by nine, 21-30, with 3:30 remaining in the game. Ryan completed 7-of-9 passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning 26-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Challenger to give the Eagles the victory. In the MPC Computers Bowl, Ryan made his first postseason start against Boise State and completed 19-of-36 passes for a career-best 256 yards and three touchdowns which earned him an MVP honors.
Ryan finished his second season starting in five of BC's ten games, with two games played as part of the special team, and completed 121-of-195 passes (62.1 completion percentage) for 1,514 yards and eight touchdowns with 94 rush yards and five TD runs. He was ranked ninth among all ACC players in total offense, averaging 160.8 yards per game.
[edit] 2006
Ryan picked off from his breakout sophomore season, starting in 11 of 12 games. He threw for 323 yards on a career-best 32 completions on 48 attempts with three touchdowns against Central Michigan in the season-opener which earned him his first of three ACC Offensive Back of the Week honors. He then led the Eagles to a double overtime win over BYU where he completed 29-of-48 passes for 356 yards and two touchdowns with a one-yard rushing touchdown to earn for himself his second ACC Offensive Back of the Week honors. His third ACC award came in the game against Maryland where he was 19-of-29 for 249 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan concluded his junior year completing 263-of-427 passes (61.6 completion percentage) for 2,942 yards (5th most passing yards for a season in school history) and 15 touchdowns with four touchdown runs. That year, he led the ACC in total offense (242.2 ypg) and in passing yards (245.5 ypg) and established a career-high in passing yards with 402 (against Wake Forest). Ryan led the team to an 8-3 regular season record, then appeared in his second straight bowl game in the Meineke Car Care Bowl against Navy where he led the Eagles to a close 25-24 victory over the Midshipmen.
[edit] 2007
Ryan had surgery during the off-season to repair an injured foot the previous year and was 100% going into his senior year. He was named preseason ACC Offensive Player of the Year in several publications and was also named to the preseason All-ACC team. He began the year with a bang against Wake Forest completing 32 of 52 passes for 408 yards and 5 touchdowns, then followed it up with a career-game against Georgia Tech where he collected a career-best 435 yards on 30-44 completion with 1 TD. Ryan was considered as a serious contender for the Heisman trophy after his splendid end-game heroics against Virginia Tech, resurrecting the Eagles from 10-points down with less than three minutes to play that preserved BC's winning streak. A week later, Ryan lost some momentum as his Eagles fell prey to unranked Florida State after throwing for three interceptions.
[edit] Highlights
| 4th Quarter Man. Matt Ryan leads BC, trailing by three, on their final drive to beat the Virginia Tech Hokies, 14-10. |
[edit] Achievements
- 2005 MPC Computers Bowl MVP
- 2006 All-ACC first-team honors
- 2007 Preseason ACC Offensive Player of the Year
