Matt Ryan is an American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. He was originally drafted by the Falcons third overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. Matt Ryan played college football at Boston College.
High School
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. He threw for more than 1,300 yards in his senior season, along with 15 touchdown passes and only two interceptions. He was captain of the football, basketball, and baseball teams.
2004
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 the UMass Minutemen. He completed two of three passes for 16 yards. He completed his first touchdown on November 20, 2004 against Temple on a 32-yard completion to Larry Lester. Replacing the injured Paul Peterson, he completed eight of 15 passes for 121 yards. He made his first collegiate start on November 27, 2004 in the final game of that season, completing 24 of 51 passes for 200 yards against Syracuse. He also played against North Carolina in the Continental Tire Bowl. He completed one of his two passes for 13 yards
2005
At the beginning of the 2005 season, Ryan was named the second string quarterback behind Quinton Porter. Porter had some success at the beginning of the year, including winning Atlantic Coast Conference player of the week for his performance in Boston College's 28-17 win over Virginia. After a 30-10 loss to third-ranked Virginia Tech, coach Tom O'Brien announced that he would start Ryan, in the next game against North Carolina. In ten games (five starts), he completed 121 of 195 passes for 1,514 yards. He had eight touchdowns and five interceptions. He also had five 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.
2006
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 yards per game) and in passing yards (245.5 yards per game). 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. Brigham Young). He led the team to a 8-3 record including double overtime wins versus Clemson and Brigham Young. He led the Eagles to a close 25-24 victory on December 30, 2006 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl against Navy in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the season opener against Central Michigan, Ryan sprained his ankle. Against Virginia Tech, Ryan broke his foot on the same leg. Despite these injuries, Ryan only missed one game (against Buffalo).
2007
Before the season started Ryan was named to the preseason All-ACC team. Against Wake Forest, he completed 32 of 52 passes for 408 yards and 5 touchdowns. He continued his hot streak versus Georgia Tech, going 30-44 with 1 TD and passing for a career-high 435 yards against the staunch Tech defense en route to a convincing 24-10 road victory. After this game, Ryan was suggested as a potential Heisman Trophy contender. Battling Virginia Tech through bad weather in Blacksburg, Virginia, Matt "Matty Ice" Ryan led an amazing comeback for the Boston College Eagles passing for two touchdowns with less than 3 minutes to play on October 25, 2007.[3] However, Matt Ryan's chances to win the Heisman fell sharply after he threw three interceptions in a 17-27 loss to Florida State, an unranked team that had six wins and three losses. However with a strong performance against Clemson his chances were raised substantialy. On November 24, against ACC rival Miami, Ryan surpassed Doug Flutie for the most passing touchdowns in a single season by an Eagle QB with 28 TD's
Matt Ryan was awarded the 2007 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given annually in the United States to the Nation's most outstanding college football senior quarterback.
On 12/29/07 Matt threw for three touchdowns to defeat Michigan State in the Champs Sprts Bowl.
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