Ryan Purvis
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Ryan Purvis (born May 8, 1986) plays tight end for the Boston College Eagles in the NCAA college football tournament. Purvis emerged in 2007 to become the Eagles' go-to-guy in the tight end position after finishing with single season bests in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdown catches. Scouts believed that he developed to become a top-tier player as a redshirt junior while working with Heisman candidate and outgoing quarterback Matt Ryan in 2007. As a proof of his improvement, Purvis has been listed among several other linemen in the 2008 Rotary Lombardi Award Preliminary Watch List, a prestigious award given to the best college football lineman or linebacker.
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Personal Life
Ryan is the son of Colleen and Jeffrey Purvis. He also has three other siblings. Aside from football, Ryan, who is enrolled in the Carroll School of Management, is also skilled in basketball. He is friends with former Boston College teammate Matt Ryan, in fact, he shared Matt's room on his first night on the Boston College campus while on a recruiting visit. [1]
High School
Purvis attended high school at Lancaster Catholic were he was a standout in both basketball and football. He helped the Crusaders win over Perry Traditional Academy, 75-59 in the 2003 PIAA AAA Boys state championship game. He ended his hoops career with more than 1000 points and 700 rebounds. But the 6-foot-5, 258-pound Purvis was equally impressive on the football field as he played multiple positions (tight end, defensive end, and punter) for Lancaster under head football coach Bruce Harbach. As a tight end, he caught 39 passes for 755 yards and four touchdowns in his senior season to earn All-State and All-Lancaster Lebanon League first team honors. As a punter, he averaged 38.8 yards on 41 punts to claim All-Lancaster Lebanon League second team accolades, in addition to another first team selection as a defensive end. His remarkable well-rounded play, which include two passing touchdowns and 1 score off a fumble recovery return, was also recognized by SuperPrep which named him an All-Northeast selection. He highlighted his successful high school career with a spot at the fourth annual PSFCA East-West Football Classic.
College
Purvis' play caught the eye of several universities, including Division I-A (FBS) schools UCLA, Virginia, Michigan, Michigan State, Tulsa, Maryland, Toledo, Boston College, Pittsburgh, and Penn State, as well as Division I-AA (FCS) schools Delaware and Villanova and some Ivy schools. Pittsburgh was the first to offer him scholarship, followed by Boston College, UCLA and WVU. In the end, he signed his letter of intent with BC.
2004
Redshirted.
2005
During his redshirt freshman year, Purvis played behind senior tight end Chris Miller and made his collegiate football debut against Brigham Young where he caught his first career pass. He made another appearance the following week against Army, catching a pass for his first career gains (4 yards) in the 44-7 victory. He also chipped in a season high 3 receptions in week three in a loss to Florida State, gaining 9 yards. His last catch of the season happened in the 31-16 victory Maryland for a three yard gain. He ended his rookie campaign with 6 catches for 12 yards.
2006
During his sophomore season, Purvis started his climb into the depth chart and appeared in all 13 outings with two starts. He made his season debut @ Central Michigan where he caught 3 passes for a season high 59 yards and his first career touchdown reception in the 31-24 victory. He made his first start of the season against Clemson the following week and caught a 15-yard pass in the 34-33 overtime win. He then went on to catch 3 passes for 25 yards in a 30-23 win over BYU. In each of his next five games, Purvis tallied at least a pass as BC went 4-1 in that span. At Wake Forest, he tallied a season best 6 catches for 54 yards in the 14-21 loss, then tallied 4, 3, and 1 receptions for 56, 42, and 9 receiving yards in wins over Duke and Maryland, and in the regular season finale loss @ Miami (Fla.), respectively. He made his postseason debut against Navy and caught 2 passes for 40 yards and 1 TD in the 25-24 win at the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
When his sophomore season was done, Purvis tallied 29 catches for 381 yards and 2 TDs with a personal best of 13.1 average and 25-yard long reception.
2007
In his redshirt junior season, Purvis was the lead tight end and made his season debut in that role against Wake Forest, catching 4 passes for 50 yards in the 38-28 win. In wins over N.C. State and Georgia Tech, Purvis caught 2 passes for 13 yards and 3 for 20, respectively. In the 37-17 win over Army, Purvis tallied his first touchdown reception of the season, to go with 4 receptions for 45 yards. His streak of games with a reception continued in wins over Massachusetts (2 catches for a season low 8 receiving yards), Bowling Green (4 receptions for 42 yards), Notre Dame (5 catches for 52 yards), and Virginia Tech (4 receptions for 40 yards). In Boston College's first loss of the season, Purvis contributed 6 catches for 59 yards and 1 score in the 17-27 loss against FSU and then chipped in career highs of 10 receptions, 102 receiving yards, and 2 touchdown catches in the 35-42 loss to Maryland. The 18th ranked Eagles bounced back with a 20-17 win over Clemson with Purvis chipping in 3 catches for 23 yards. He also went on to record 3 receptions for 67 yards in the 28-14 win over the Hurricanes before closing out with a 2-catch, 14-receiving yard performance in the 16-30 loss to Hokies in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game. His second postseason appearance saw Purvis tally 2 catches for 18 yards in the 24-21 victory over Michigan State @ the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Florida.
He ended his career season with 54 catches for 553 yards and four touchdowns in 14 appearances enroute to earning his first selection into the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team. In an interview, he attributed his game's major leap to the splendid play of quarterback Matt Ryan as well as to the new offensive scheme which saw the Eagles rely more on their passing game. [2]
2008
After a highly successful season, Purvis was named as one of the linemen in the 2008 Rotary Lombardi Award Preliminary Watch List.
Highlights
| Ryan Purvis had season highs of 102 receiving yards and 2 TDs in the 35-42 loss to Maryland. |
Career Stats
| Receiving | Tackles | ||||||||
| Year | Rec | RecYds | Avg | Lng | TD | Solo | Assist | Tot | Tot/G |
| 2005 | 6 | 12 | 2.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2006 | 29 | 381 | 13.1 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.08 |
| 2007 | 54 | 553 | 10.2 | 33 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.14 |
Achievements
2008
- Rotary Lombardi Award Preliminary Watch List
2007
- ACC All-Conference First Team Offense
- CollegeFootballNews.com All-ACC Team
- CollegeFootballNews.com All-America Honorable Mention
- Phil Steele All-ACC Second Team
- Rivals.com All-ACC First Team
References
- Roundball Champ Shines with Pigskin too
- Ryan Purvis Boston College Profile
- Ryan Purvis Scout.com Profile
- Ryan Purvis Stats @ ESPN.com
