Another ACC Saturday brings a full slate of games, but a few matchups stand out more than the rest - especially for Boston College, which opens conference play at home against Virginia Tech on 9/26.
The Eagles welcome the Hokies to Alumni Stadium in one of the day’s most interesting league games. Boston College has won two straight and is trying to build something after last season’s disaster, but Virginia Tech arrives unbeaten and looking every bit like a team that can make life difficult.
The Hokies have been scoring in bunches, and the big question for BC is whether it can slow that down. The Eagles’ last two wins have not exactly been clean, so if they want to hang around, they’ll need to keep forcing turnovers and lean on the running game that has been working lately.
Wake Forest also gets a tough conference test against Louisville. The Demon Deacons are coming off a 33-20 loss to Miami, a game that was tied 7-7 after the first quarter before the Hurricanes blew it open in the second and moved in front 31-7 by the third.
Wake Forest did trim the margin to 31-20, but the ground game never got going, finishing with just 22 yards on 16 carries. That kind of production won’t get it done in the ACC, and Louisville looks like the stronger team here, especially with how Wake Forest defended Miami.
Georgia Tech and Stanford could be the tightest matchup on the board. The Yellow Jackets picked up their first win last week and are trying to climb back to .500, while Stanford is coming off a rough 35-7 loss to Duke.
ESPN has Georgia Tech favored, and QB Alberto Mendoza is coming off a strong outing. Stanford’s issues against quarterbacks have been uneven this year: the Cardinal handled Hawaii’s Micah Alejado and Duke’s Walter Eget better, but they were carved up by Darian Mensah of Miami.
That makes this one worth watching closely.
Here’s the rest of the Saturday slate: Bucknell at Pittsburgh, Central Arkansas at Florida State, William & Mary at Duke, Delaware at Virginia, Central Michigan at Miami, App State at NC State, Missouri St at SMU, and Georgia Tech at Stanford.
In Other News...
Boston College Has One Weekend Storyline Fans Need To Watch
Boston College fans have a full slate to keep an eye on this weekend, with the Eagles spread across a few different storylines. The baseball program gets its fall exhibition schedule started at Rhode Island, launching a four-game stretch that gives the staff an early look at the roster before the main part of the year arrives. On the soccer side, the womens team is back home to host California in an ACC matchup after taking its first loss of the season and will be looking to steady things quickly.
There is also a familiar name on the NFL side of the ledger, where former Eagle Zay Flowers is working through a hamstring issue. Baltimore is monitoring his status for its next game, and his absence would be another reminder of how much Boston College fans continue to follow its alumni once they leave Chestnut Hill. For a weekend that already carries some significance on campus, Flowers adds an extra layer of interest well beyond the college ranks. [Read more 🡒]
Boston College Defense Faces A Major Depth Test Against Virginia Tech
Boston Colleges first availability report for Saturdays noon matchup with Virginia Tech offers an early look at how thin the defense may be when the Eagles return to Alumni Stadium on ACC Network. The list already includes 11 players out, among them linebacker Bodie Kahoun and defensive lineman Chris Marable Jr., setting up a depth challenge for a unit that has to be ready quickly against an ACC opponent.
The uncertainty does not stop there. Defensive end Kris Jones and defensive back Syair Torrence are among the players marked questionable, leaving Boston College to sort through a defense that has already had to absorb its share of absences and could be forced to lean on more next-man-up answers than usual. [Read more 🡒]
Boston College Faces A Clemson Test That Has Haunted The Eagles
Boston College heads into Historic Riggs Field on Friday with a strong early-season resume and a chance to measure itself against one of the ACCs standard-bearers. The Eagles are 5-1-2 and have gotten production from multiple places on the field, with key players helping both the attack and the back line as the schedule gets tougher. Clemson, ranked 14th, brings a 6-2 mark into the matchup and the kind of offensive punch that can punish any lapse.
Rashford Gyan and Xander Sevian have powered much of Clemsons scoring, and the setting only adds to the challenge for Boston College. These two programs have met 24 times, but the Eagles have had little reason to feel comfortable in this building, where the Tigers have long made life difficult. For a BC team trying to prove its start is more than a fast opening run, this is the kind of conference test that tends to say plenty. [Read more 🡒]