The Eagles football program has had multiple changes in the offseason. Some of those changes include new faces at defensive coordinator in Tim Lewis, who is working his first collegiate job since 1994, and defensive line coach Jeff Comissiong, who will be working his second stint of his career with the Eagles (2007-12).
Although the coaches look different, the team retained a majority of its players which included 15 starters. With numerous players from last year’s defensive line returning, a group that helped the Eagles rank No. 70 in total defense in 2023, the squad looks to be in a solid place to continue its improvement in 2024.
Below is a look at the projected depth chart for the defensive line for the upcoming season.
DT: George Rooks, Sedarius McConnell, Owen Stoudmire.
NT: Cam Horsley, Nigel Tate, Caleb Jones.
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Neto Okpala
Senior | 6’1″ 250 lbs | Loganville, Ga.
Okpala is entering his fourth season with the Eagles. During his time in Chestnut Hill, he has appeared in 35 games which included ten starts (all in 2023) and has tallied 26 total tackles (13 solo and 13 assisted), two sacks, one pass defended, and one forced fumble. Okpala was a three-star recruit from the class of 2021 and ranked No. 784 nationally, No. 45 in edges, and No. 72 in the state of Ga., according to 247Sports Composite.
Donovan Ezeiruaku
Senior | 6’2″ 247 lbs | Williamstown, N.J.
Ezeiruaku is entering his fourth season with the Eagles. He had a standout junior campaign, earning a starting spot. During his time in Chestnut Hill, he has tallied 116 total tackles (65 solo and 51 assisted), 20 tackles for loss for 81 yards, 11.5 sacks for 53 yards, three passes defended, and three forced fumbles. Ezeiruaku was a three-star recruit from the class of 2021 and ranked No. 1,239 nationally, No. 132 in linebackers, and No. 23 in the state of N.J., according to 247Sports Composite.
Kolenge is entering his third season with the Eagles. During his time in Chestnut Hill, he has appeared in 16 games and tallied 18 total tackles (eight solo and ten assisted), 3.5 tackles for loss for 20 yards, two sacks for six yards, one forced fumble, and one block. Kolenge was a three-star recruit from the class of 2021 and ranked No. 759 nationally, No. 74 in linebackers, and No. 4 in the state of Conn., according to 247Sports. Although a Canada native, he is a product of The Loomis Chaffee School in Winsdor, Conn.
Wilson is entering his third season with the Eagles. During his time in Chestnut Hill, he has appeared in ten games, mostly on speical teams. Wilson was a three-star recruit from the class of 20222 and ranked No. 1,136 nationally, No. 143 in defensive linemen, and No. 33 in the state of Ohio, according to 247Sports Composite.
Quintayvious Hutchins
Redshirt Sophomore | 6’3″ 246 lbs | Bessemer, Ala.
Hutchins is entering his fourth season with the Eagles. During his time at Chestnut Hill, he has appeared in 17 games, mostly on special teams, has played in both the defensive end and tight end positions, and has tallied six tackles. Hutchins was a three-star recruit from the class of 2021 and ranked No. 1,438 nationally, No. 78 in edges, and No. 63 in the state of Ala., according to 247Sports Composite.
Tongrongou is entering his third season with the Eagles. Duirng his time at Chestnut Hill, he has appeared in five games and tallied six total tackles (one solo and five assisted) and one fumble recovery. Tongrongou was a three-star recruit from the class of 2022 and ranked No. 875 nationally, No. 119 in defensive linemen, and No. 20 in the state of Va., according to 247Sports Composite.
Kwan Williams
Junior | 6’2″ 306 lbs | Baltimore, Md.
Williams is entering his third season with the Eagles. During his time in Chestnut Hill, he has appeared in 22 games and tallied 20 total tackles (seven solo and 13 assisted). Williams was a four-star recruit from the class of 2022 and ranked No. 391 nationally, No. 52 in defensive linemen, and No. 9 in the state of Md., according to 247Sports Composite.
Ty Clemons
Redshirt Junior | 6’3″ 273 lbs | Decatur, Ala.
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Clemons is entering his fourth season with the Eagles. During his time in Chestnut Hill, he has appeared in ten games and tallied four tackles. He missed the entirety of last season with an injury. Clemons was a three-star recruit from the class of 2021 and ranked No. 1,462 nationally, No. 79 in edges, and No. 64 in the state of Ala., according to 247Sports Composite.
Regen Terry
Redshirt Senior | 6’3″ 293 lbs | Florence, Ariz.
Terry is entering his third season with the Eagles after transferring from Arizona after the 2021 season. He has yet to appear in a game during his time at Chestnut Hill and missed the entirety of the 2023 season due to injury. Terry was a three-star recruit from the class of 2020 and ranked No. 855 nationally, No. 42 in wide defensive ends, and No. 20 in the state of Ariz., according to 247Sports Composite.
Griffin is entering his second season with the Eagles after redshirting during his freshman campaign. Griffin was a three-star recruit from the class of 2023 and ranked No. 1,758 nationally, No. 194 in defensive linemen, and No. 15 in the state of Mass., according to 247Sports Composite.
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George Rooks
Redshirt Junior | 6’5″ 282 lbs | Jersey City, N.J.
Rooks is entering his second season with the Eagles after transferring from Michigan during the 2022 offseason. Last season, he started in 12 games and tallied 28 total tackles (13 solo and 15 assisted), 1.5 sacks, and one forced fumble. Rooks was a four-star recruit from the class of 2021 and ranked No. 271 nationally, No. 35 in defensive linemen, and No. 6 in the state of N.J., according to 247Sports Composite.
Sedarius McConnell
Redshirt Junior | 6’3″ 282 lbs | Atlanta, Ga.
McConnell is entering his first season with the Eagles after transferring from Illinois. During his time with the Fighting Illini, he tallied 11 total tackles (five solo and six assisted) and one pass defended. McConnell was a three-star recruit from the class of 2021 and ranked No. 1,187 nationally, No. 140 in defensive linemen, and No. 108 in the state of Ga., according to 247Sports Composite.
Owen Stoudmire
Redshirt Junior | 6’1″ 284 lbs | Creston, Ohio
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Stoudmire is entering his fourth season with the Eagles. During his time in Chesnut Hill, he has appeared in 19 games and tallied 17 tackles. Stoudmire was a three-star recruit from the class of 2021 and ranked No. 1,283 nationally, No. 151 in defensive linemen, and No. 51 in the state of Ohio, according to 247Sports Composite.
Cam Horsley
Graduate | 6’4″ 306 lbs | Cinnaminson, N.J.
Horsley is entering his fifth season with the Eagles. During his time in Chestnut Hill, he has appeared in 48 games which includes 35 starts and has tallied 122 total tackles (58 solo and 64 assisted), 11.5 tackles for loss for 43 yards, 3.5 sacks for 19 yards, five passes defended, and one fumble recovery. Horsley was a three-star recruit from the class of 2020 and ranked No. 1,627 nationally, No. 118 in defensive tackles, and No. 36 in the state of N.J., accoridng to 247Sports Composite.
Nigel Tate
Redshirt Junior | 6’3″ 320 lbs | Washington, D.C.
Tate is entering his fourth season with the Eagles. During his time in Chestnut Hill, he has appeared in 13 games and tallied ten total tackles (two solo and eight assisted). Tate was a three-star recruit from the class of 2021 and ranked No. 893 nationally, No. 114 in defensive linemen, and No. 23 in the state of Md., according to 247Sports Composite.
Jones is entering his second season with the Eagles after transferring from North Carolina A&T after the 2022 season. During his time with the Aggies, he tallied 20 total tackles, five tackles for loss, and three sacks. He missed the entirety of the 2023 season with an injury. He was an unranked recruit from the class of 2022.
This is an ongoing series on Boston College Eagles On SI. Check out our other position previews here. Offensive Line | Tight Ends | Wide Receivers | Running Backs | Quarterbacks.
BOSTON (WHDH) – A 20-year-old man is dead, and an 81-year-old man will face criminal charges following a wrong-way crash on Interstate 93 in Boston late Saturday night, officials said.
Troopers responding to a reported multi-vehicle crash on Route 93 northbound before Exit 15A around 11:45 p.m. determined a driver in a 2004 Cadillac Escalade got on the highway in the wrong direction and nearly struck two vehicles — a Honda Odyssey and an Audi A4 — causing both to swerve and crash into each other, according to state police.
The occupants of the Honda Odyssey, a family of four, were transported to a Boston-area hospital for evaluation.
Shortly after the initial crash, the wrong-way driver, later identified as Antone Carvalho, of Somerset, collided head-on with a Chevrolet Cruze.
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The driver of the Chevrolet Cruze, a man in his 20s from Haverhill, died from his injuries. His name has not been released.
Carvalho will be issued a summons to appear in court at a later date.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
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BOSTON (WHDH) – It’s the fall of 1974 in South Boston, and four generations of the Moran family are rushing to church for baby Lila’s baptism. The moment is filled with great anticipation, and one of the most memorable images frozen in time in Constantine Manos’s “Where’s Boston” series.
Now, more than 50 years later, that photograph has taken on a new meaning.
The Boston Athenaeum has revived the landmark exhibition first shown during Boston’s Bicentennial celebration in 1976. To mark America’s 250th anniversary, the library has paired Manos’s photographs with 12 newly recorded oral histories, giving the people captured in the images a chance to tell the stories behind them.
“These images show one moment in time, but when you talk to someone and ask them to reflect on it, you learn so much more about them and their larger family history,” said Boston Athenaeum curator Lauren Graves. “Then somehow that history, too, ends up relating to a larger Boston history.”
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In their oral history, George and Carolyn Moran reflected on the social upheaval surrounding Boston’s bussing crisis, when court-ordered school integration sparked intense racial conflict across the city.
While the baptism photograph captures a day of celebration, the Moran family said it also stirs memories of another pivotal moment: their decision to leave the South Boston neighborhood they had long called home.
“Around the corner came a huge swarm of people being chased by police on horseback with clubs,” George Moran said. “Apparently earlier that day there had been a stabbing around the corner of South Boston High School, and the town was in total turmoil over that incident.”
Fearing for their children’s safety as tensions escalated, the two Boston Public Schools teachers made the difficult decision to move their family to Brookline.
“We were very careful in making our decision because we did have a strong allegiance to the schools and to education,” Carolyn Moran said. “I would say our concerns about the education of our daughters was our primary reason for making the move.”
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Courtesy Boston Athenaeum
Many of Manos’s seemingly innocuous photographs reveal the city’s deeply segregated spaces that shaped Boston a half-century ago. An Italian religious process in the North End, young Black men unwinding at Franklin park, and a father looking lovingly at his son at a Chassidic center in Brookline each offer a glimpse into communities that rarely intersected.
But even amid turmoil and division, Manos found beauty in life’s small moments—a bride leaving a church on her wedding day, a young man absorbed in a game of chess, and a father flying a kite with his son.
Courtesy Boston Athenaeum
“The exhibit shows some of the terrible times of protest, but it also shows the moments of joy,” Carolyn Moran said. “They’re all juxtaposed, and that’s life—these difficult times as well as beautiful times.”
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As the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, curators hope the exhibition encourages visitors to reflect on not just how far the city has come, but also the work that still needs to be done in the coming decades.
“We thought this was a unique moment to look back at the Bicentennial, to look back 50 years and think about this recent past,” Graves said. “What do we want for Boston today? What do we want for the future? And what do we want for the future of the country itself?”
Visitors are also invited to become part of the exhibition by filling out comment cards reflecting on where Boston is today.
The Boston Athenaeum says it is still identifying people featured in Manos’s photographs and plans to continue expanding the exhibition’s online oral history collection.
“Where’s Boston” is open until December 12.
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The 24-year-old forward had a career-high 68 points (27 goals, 41 assists) in 2024-25 with the Sabres before getting traded to Utah in June, 2025. Peterka posted 47 points (25 goals, 22 assists) through 82 games in his first year with the Mammoth.
“He’s got an elite shot. Probably gives us another look on the elbows in a power play situation. His power play minutes dipped a little bit last year; his 5-on-5 production has been really good, plays both wings, can probably play with a couple different types of centers,” Sweeney said.
Peterka had a similar assessment for himself.
“I think a pretty fast game, likes to score goals,” he said. “Just overall, exciting player that loves to make plays.”
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Sweeney also sees a versatility in Peterka’s game that can benefit his new teammates up and down the lineup.
“I think he fits into a good group age-wise because he’s able to have played in the league with all the experience he’s had, the success he’s had, so he can ride shotgun with David because he has had scoring,” Sweeney said. “He can go down and drive a line, which he has done.”
The prospect of him playing with someone like David Pastrnak is something that excites both Sweeney and Peterka.
“That would be pretty sick, not going to lie,” Peterka said. “If you have that caliber of a player, I think everyone wants to play with him. From the past, playing against him, even watching him, was always super special. I would be super honored, for sure.”
While Peterka has already played four full seasons in the NHL, he still has his whole career in front of him. He joins a young new wave of Bruins players – alongside the likes of Reichel, Fraser Minten, Marat Khusnutdinov and James Hagens – who will carve the future identity of the team. The ceiling is high for Peterka.
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“In JJ’s case, he has had success. We have to come in and put him in the right situations so he continues to score at the level we think he can. Morgan [Geekie] is a great example,” Sweeney said. “Did we think he was going to score 39 goals when we first acquired him? No. But that’s always the hope – that a player will take advantage of a new opportunity and playing with different types of players than what they were in their other environment.”
Peterka is ready for the challenge and to prove that he has another gear to his game to help the Bruins win.
“I think it’s always nice to have a fresh start. I think especially after the year I had last year where I wasn’t really happy with the performance I put on the ice,” Peterka said. “For me, I feel like it’s a fresh start. And for a team like Boston, it couldn’t be any better.”