Tag: boston college

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Boston College vs Virginia Tech Preview and Prediction

Brent Pry’s first game as head coach did not go as planned. It’s frustrating but it was a weird football game. Turnovers, penalties, and some questionable penalty calls. I’m not making excuses but the stats say Virginia Tech should have won that game more often than not. Either way, the Hokies have some things to cleanup and that starts this week.

SP+ Rankings

Virginia Tech

Overall: 69th
Offense: 100th
Defense: 35th
Special Teams: 43rd

Boston College

Overall: 76th
Offense: 108th
Defense: 43rd
Special Teams: 106th

As bad as the Hokies losing to ODU was, Boston College didn’t exactly have a great week either. They dropped their first game to Rutgers after accumulating only 29 yards rushing. Phil Jurkovec also threw for 2 interceptions. The Hokies are going to need to keep Boston College one-dimensional again this week. They will also have to stop Jurkovec’s favorite target, Zay Flowers. Doesn’t is feel like he has been at Boston College for the last ten years? He’s a talented wide receiver and one that will look to do some damage on Saturday. If the rain in the forecast holds, that may slow down BC’s passing offense.

The Hokies offense had a multitude of issues on Friday. They took penalties. They turned the ball over. And the passing game did not look in sync at all. Those all appear correctable but one week isn’t a lot of time. My biggest concern last week was the wide receivers not finding any separation. This offense will not work with only running backs and tight ends. Outside of an injured Kaleb Smith someone else is going to need to step up. Unfortunately, this offense doesn’t have a ton of time to figure it out. This will need to be a learn-on-the-job moment for the Hokies young wide receivers. Grant Wells needs more targets to throw to.

One positive on Friday was that the running game worked pretty well. Keshawn King ran for over 100 yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry. If he can handle the load, the Hokies would be wise to feed him the football on Saturday. Boston College gave up 212 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns to Rutgers on the ground. The Hokies need to pound the rock while they figure out their issues in the pass game. Grant Wells also looked pretty good passing out of play action last week. A strong running game benefits the passing game. This offense would be wise to establish the run early and often.

The Hokies aren’t as bad as they looked on Friday. They still have a lot to clean up but there were the signs of what could be areas of strength. The defense looked very good. The run game looked good. The issues were penalties and turnovers. If the Hokies can clean those up and continue to play stout defense, they should be in good shape. A return to Lane Stadium comes at a good time against a beatable Boston College team. But first the Hokies need to show that they’ve cleaned up some of their issues from last week. If not, it could be a long season. Hammer the under.

Prediction: Virginia Tech 24, Boston College 20

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Boston College Q&A with AJ Black from Eagle Insider

This week we are joined by AJ Black from Eagle Insider.

Tell us about yourself and your podcast.

My name is AJ Black and I’m the publisher for Eagle Insider, part of the 247 Sports Network. I am also the host of Locked on Boston College, the only daily BC podcast out there and you can listen to that on Youtube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tell us about your team this year. What are your expectations for Boston College this season?

Before Saturday’s game, I was pretty high on my expectations about the direction of the Eagles. I thought that their offensive line would be problematic, but had some faith that even with five new guys they would be serviceable and that would be enough to keep them competitive. Well, after Saturday’s loss to Rutgers, we got a first hand glance at how wrong I was. BC’s line was okay in the first half in pass protection, but once Rutgers dialed up the heat they fell apart in the second half, and the offense went with it. This is a major problem for the Eagles, and one I don’t see them fixing any time soon. 

What are your thoughts on the annual rivalry series with Virginia Tech being discontinued?

Given the three teams that Boston College ended up with, I’m fine with it. I was a student at BC during the ’07 and ’08 ACC Championship games and look back fondly to Matt Ryan’s heroics in Blacksburg, but I think the “rivalry” has run it’s course. Talking to multiple Tech fans and writers, there isn’t much juice left in it, so for BC getting three teams (Pitt, Syracuse and Miami) that they have history with is a fair trade off. 

How do you view the Virginia Tech program?

Love the hire of Brent Pry, and think he was a perfect fit for the culture and history that VT has put together. That being said, it probably will be a few years to get everything in order after a disastrous run with Justin Fuente. But if he’s given time, I think he will have the Hokies back to where they were under Frank Beamer in a few years. 

What are your thoughts on coming to Lane Stadium to play a night game?

Funny you ask this. On my podcast before the season and before the game time was announced, I had BC as a favorite in this game. But when I heard it was a night game, my expectations changed. Lane is a different animal at night, and ESPECIALLY given how BC’s offensive line has been playing, I think this is a perfect situations for the Hokies.

What are your expectations for the Virginia Tech game?

A bit of a mess? A low scoring affair, with mistakes on both sides. 

What’s your prediction for the game?

Given what I saw last week out of the Eagles, and the fact that VT lost to Old Dominion so they are going to be riled up at home and at night, going to go with VT winning this 24-14.

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Boston College Preview and Prediction

Virginia Tech’s loss to North Carolina was disappointing but not necessarily unexpected. UNC looked like the better team. But that game did raise a couple of questions. Could the Hokies have won if Hendon Hooker had started? What if the Hokies had their full roster of defensive players? What happens if Khalil Herbert gets more than two carries in the first half? The reality is that the Hokies got outplayed on defensive side of the ball. You don’t need to analyze it more than that. Anybody watching could see that.

SP+ Rankings

Boston College is a sneaky good team. This is the type of team if you aren’t ready for what they are bringing, they can get you. On offense, it’s a two-man show with Phil Jurkovec and Zay Flowers. There about as good a QB-WR combo as there is in the ACC. Boston College ranks 7th in the nation in passing offense. And Zay Flowers ranks 4th in the nation in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He’s a talented player who you can expect to be playing on Sundays. The Hokies need to put Waller on Flowers to keep him in check. The good news is that BC is one of the worst rushing teams in the country. So if you can keep them from beating you through the air, they won’t beat you on the ground.

Defensively, they are solid all around. Not great but not bad either. This defense has kept BC in every game this year — including the North Carolina game. They should present some problems to a Hokies offense that has been moving the ball at will against everybody they’ve played this year. If the Hokies can stick to the balanced attack they’ve shown in the first three weeks, they should be in good shape against Boston College. It will be important to establish the run game with Khalil Herbert to open up the passing game over the top. The Hokies will need some contributions from their top receiving threats to move the ball against this defense. Tre Turner and James Mitchell need to have big games.

The Hokies are double-digit favorites going into this one, but the matchup looks closer than that on paper. The Hokies were obliterated in the run game against North Carolina. Will that happen against BC? Probably not. But they need to show that they have corrected a couple of things on that side of the ball. Next, can the Hokies stop the potent Jurkovec-Flowers combo? If Tech can get their full complement of defensive backs on the field, the Hokies stand a good chance of winning their fair share of those matchups. My biggest concern is Virginia Tech being able to stop the run. If the Hokies can show they can do that, they have a very good chance to win. But if Boston College is rushing for 5+ yards per carry, the odds don’t seem nearly as good. Put me down as thinking the Hokies bounce back this week defensively and have another good offensive performance.

Prediction: Virginia Tech 38, Boston College 28

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Boston College Preview and Prediction

The Hokies get started trying to bounce back from their first losing season since 1992. First up is Boston College. The Eagles have regularly given the Hokies trouble with a tough defense and strong running game. This year should be no different but this is a different looking Eagles team that the Hokies faced last season.

On offense, the Eagles return star running back AJ Dillon. Dillon is a player to watch and key to the Boston College offense. He is the type of runner who is difficult to bring down and is a threat to take it the distance if he gets some space or breaks a tackle. The Hokies young defensive line needs to bottle him up if they hope to slow down this offense. The best gameplan against the Eagles would be to stop the run and force Anthony Brown and his receivers beat the Hokies through the air. Tech will need to be prepared to stop the run sideline-to-sideline as the Eagles like to get their wide receivers involved in the running game.

On defense, the Eagles are breaking in some new starters. Only four starters from last year’s squad return. If the Hokies are to have success, they will need to challenge Boston College’s young secondary. This is an inexperienced group that the Hokies should be able to exploit with their senior quarterback and talented weapons on the outside. The Hokies need to hit on some big plays in the passing game.

Boston College had one of the least efficient special teams in the country last season. The Hokies should prepare to make some plays on special teams to take advantage of this matchup. This is particularly true in the first game of the season where special teams are normally not in mid-season form. There are some yards and field position to be had in the return game.

The Hokies have a talent advantage in this matchup. Boston College is normally a hard nosed team that is a tough out but the Hokies should have the horses to take care of business in this matchup. The key for Tech will be to not turn the ball over and the defensive line will have to keep AJ Dillon in check. If the defensive line is ineffective at containing the run, it could be a long day (see the Pitt game last year). This is a matchup where the Hokies have more weapons on offense and a defense that has played more snaps together than the guys on the other side. I see this as a lower-scoring game where we will see a couple gaffes on both sides but ultimately the Hokies come out on top.

Prediction: Virginia Tech 31, Boston College 24 

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Boston College Preview and Prediction

This has been a very different kind of season for Virginia Tech. I can’t remember a season where the offense has been asked to carry the defense like they have this season. As I mentioned in my season preview, this defense was always going to be young and inexperienced. But you add on dismissals and injuries and this defense looks pretty thin at a lot of positions. Give this defense another year of experience and recruiting, I think things will be okay but for now hold on to your butts.

Virginia Tech

Overall S&P+ Rank: 55th
Offensive S&P+ Rank: 24th
Defensive S&P+ Rank: 91st 👀
Special Teams S&P+ Rank: 10th

Boston College

Overall S&P+ Rank: 38th
Offensive S&P+ Rank: 69th
Defensive S&P+ Rank: 32nd
Special Teams S&P+ Rank: 88th

This Boston College team is exactly what you expect from Boston College – great defense and a strong running game. AJ Dillon is going to be a handful. He’s is rated as one of the top running backs in the nation. He leads the team with 807 rushing yards and 7 rushing touchdowns. His physical running style will make life difficult on Virginia Tech’s defense. Expect him to get a heavy workload on Saturday.

Boston College’s defense is ranked 16th in Passing Efficiency Defense. Which means they don’t give up a lot thru the air. If you want to consistently get yards against this defense, you need to do it on the ground – something Virginia Tech hasn’t been particularly good at this year. This defense also wreaks havoc in the backfield piling up tackles for loss and sacks. This is a game where the Hokies need to avoid getting in long yardage situations. Watch out for Wyatt Ray coming off the edge.

This is another bad matchup for the Hokies. The Hokies defensive personnel are on the smaller end in size but they are quick. That can work against spread teams like Duke and UNC. But against teams that will line up and smack you in the mouth like Georgia Tech and Boston College – not so much. Since the Boston College is a more traditional, pro-style offense the Hokies will have more success than last week against Georgia Tech. But it’s still a terrible matchup and the Hokies will need to outscore Boston College to hope to win. Likely into the 30s, if not the 40s.

Prediction: Boston College 38, Virginia Tech 24

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Boston College Preview and Prediction

Hokie Nation did a fantastic job last Saturday. GameDay looked great. Enter Sandman looked great. The ESPN folks went out of their way to talk about how great the atmosphere was. We don’t get that kind of love from ESPN very often. You can tell they still like our program but they are still waiting for us to be “back”. If the Hokies can get back to winning 10 games consistently again, there will be more ESPN love and GameDay appearances in our future.

Virginia Tech

Overall S&P+ ranking: 22nd
Offensive S&P+ ranking: 64th
Defensive S&P+ ranking: 10th
Special Teams S&P+ ranking: 84th

Boston College

Overall S&P+ ranking: 96th
Offensive S&P+ ranking: 124th
Defensive S&P+ ranking: 33rd
Special Teams S&P+ ranking: 62nd

This isn’t the tough as nails Boston College we’re used to. Trips to Boston in the past have given the Hokies a lot of trouble. Between 2006 and 2013, the Hokies lost 3 out of 4 trips to Chestnut Hill. After a big win in 2015 and two straight in the series, it looks like those days are in the rearview.

Boston College has struggled with recruiting in recent years and it’s starting to show on the field. The defense is still good but the offensive can’t do much… at all (see the offensive S&P+ ranking above). The most points they’ve scored in a game this year is 28 last week against Central Michigan. Against Power 5 opponents this year, they are averaging 12 points per game. Ouch.

In games like this I like to look at what the opponent does well. Boston College has a very strong pass defense only giving up 154 yards per game thru the air. The Hokies will need to move the ball on the ground to move the chains consistently. BC has also forced 7 interceptions in 5 games, which is 3 better than the Hokies have this year. When BC gets into the red zone, they score 87.5% of the time (56.3% TD). They also have a dangerous punt returner who is averaging more than 18 yard per return.

Other than that, BC is not a dangerous team this year. There is a reason the Hokies are favored by 16.5 points. Their stats remind me more of what we usually see from UVA than what we’ve been used to from BC. Simply put, they don’t have the offensive firepower to consistently put points on the board. Much less against a defense like the Hokies. But their defense is good enough to keep them in the game. Likely into the 2nd half and maybe into the 4th quarter if they play like they did against Clemson. But ultimately, if the defense is on the field too long, they will wear out and the Hokies take can advantage in the 2nd half. I like the Hokies to win by around the Vegas number. They won’t pull away until late in the game but eventually they will get the better of the BC defense.

Prediction: Virginia Tech 27, Boston College 10

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Boston College Preview and Prediction

Stop. Fumbling. The. Football. If the Hokies had been able to hold on to the football on Saturday, they likely would’ve won. Or at least would’ve had a good chance to win.

Oh well. On to the next one. Up next is Boston College. Here are their last 9 ACC games:

Florida State Seminoles Lost 14-0
at Duke Blue Devils Lost 9-7
Wake Forest Demon Deacons Lost 3-0
at Clemson Tigers Lost 34-17
at Louisville Cardinals Lost 17-14
Virginia Tech Hokies Lost 26-10
NC State Wolfpack Lost 24-8
at Syracuse Orange Lost 20-17
vs Georgia Tech Lost 17 – 14

0-9 in their last ACC games? Easy sledding, right? Not so much. Boston College had the #1 defense in the nation last year. This year, they have the #3 defense in the nation. And it’s not smoke and mirrors. They’re really good.

This might be the toughest defense that the Hokies play all season. They allow 48 rushing yards per game. And they’ve already played Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech only managed 2.7 yards per carry against them. This is a team that you cannot run on. If you want to beat BC, you have to beat them thru the air.

You know what else makes this an intriguing matchup? Scot Loeffler. He’s the Eagle’s new offensive coordinator. You can bet he knows our personnel pretty well and he know Bud Foster’s defense. If there is anyone who knows how to exploit our personnel on defense, it’s him. It should not surprise you if BC has a couple of tricks up their sleeve against our defense.

The Hokies are 2-9 in their last 11 home games vs the Power 5. It’s time for that to change. Boston College have lost their last 9 ACC games. You would think this should be an easy game. Not likely. BC is the type of team that can beat you with defense alone. Especially if you’re prone to making mistakes and turning the ball over. I still expect the Hokies to win but the offense is going to need to make some plays thru the air. This one won’t be easy.

Prediction: Virginia Tech 17, Boston College 13

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Boston College Preview and Prediction

If you like crisp offensive football, don’t tune in on Saturday. This one is going to be ugly. Like Wake Forest 2014 ugly. Boston College has one of the worst offenses in FBS but they also have one of the best defenses. This is going to be a game where neither offense will be able to do much and the game will be decided by field position and turnovers.

If there was ever an offense that was going to make the Virginia Tech defense look good, this is it. The BC offense lacks talent at the skill positions and there really isn’t a player that scares you.  The only player that I’d be concerned about is Jeff Smith as a running QB. The Hokies have had a ton of trouble stopping running QBs this year and you know that the BC coaches have seen enough film to know to use Smith as a weapon.

As good as the BC offense is going to make the Hokies defense look, their defense is going to lay waste to our offense. I’m concerned about Michael Brewer and his surgically repaired collarbone. The Hokies haven’t seen a defense like this since Ohio State and this defense might even be better than Ohio State’s. This is a game where the Hokies offense needs to be patient and show balance. If the Hokies get behind early and have to throw often against this aggressive defense, look out. The best you can hope for is that the defense sets up the offense with good field position and the Hokies offense can put some points on the board.

This is a difficult game to pick. Both teams need this win in a big way as they are both looking to qualify for a bowl game. I’m going to go with BC to win because I think their defense against the Hokies offense is a mismatch and should be enough to pull out the victory. It’s good that this game is on Halloween because it is going to be ugly enough to terrify any college football fan.

Prediction: Boston College 16, Virginia Tech 9

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Boston College Q&A with @SoaringtoGlory

You can follow Joe @SoaringtoGlory on Twitter.

What are your thoughts on your team so far?

Boston College is right around where I expected them to be overall, but didn’t get there the way anyone expected.  Beat USC, lose to Colorado State?  Take Clemson to the wire, nearly blow a 20-point lead against Wake?  The Eagles are unpredictable but I never bought the media’s prophesies of doom for this team, especially those that killed BC after losing Andre Williams.  BC wasn’t massively underrated, but they were underrated to an extent, which is nothing new to us really.  We’re looking like a bowl team again and I’m satisfied.

What are your expectations going into the VT game?

Were the Hokies still ranked, the expectations would be minimal.  The Eagles haven’t played a good game at Lane Stadium in years, but Boston College is catching Virginia Tech at the right time.  This is about as good a chance they’ve had of beating VT in their building since we had Matt Ryan.  I am not expecting a win at this point but I am expecting that the Eagles will at least be in the game in the fourth quarter.  Part of it is that nobody knows how the Hokies are going to respond to the Miami embarrassment.

What are your thoughts on VT being BC’s inter-division rival? Do you like the arrangement or would you like to see BC matched with another team?

This rivalry game has served us well for a long time — I noted on my own site that these two teams have only gone one year since 1993 where they did not see one another.  There is a familiarity with playing the Hokies every year, and while I wouldn’t mind one-year breaks now and then, I have no issues with keeping the series going indefinitely.

What is your prediction for the game?

I’m debating this — my response might change several times from now until Saturday morning.  As for now, you caught me at a time when I’m expecting a narrow VT win.  The Hokies are clearly in trouble but I don’t think they’re as bad as they looked last Thursday.  Thing is, their run defense looked porous at best and that’s bad news if the Eagles run game gets going.  I don’t put too much stock into BC being 3-0 on the road as they’ve played lesser opposition all three times.  Even beating a relatively down VT team on the road would be worthy of praise.

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Why can’t the Hokies have an SEC-sized offensive line?

It seems whenever the SEC plays, I see Hokie fans on message boards and on Twitter pose the question, “Why can’t we have an o-line like [insert SEC team here].” In a recent Twitter conversation with @hokiesmash, he posed the question why can’t the Hokies have an offensive line at least as good as Pitt or BC’s? Pitt and BC might not be the gold standard for great offensive play but they are consistently good in the ACC and should be a model for the Hokies to follow. So the question is, why are Pitt and BC’s offensive lines better than the Hokies? Let’s look deeper into if that’s true and if so, why?

Recruiting

Where do Pitt and BC recruit their linemen from and how talented are they perceived to be when they enroll?
* Star values come from 247sports.com’s composite rankings

Pittsburgh

2014 Commits: PA (2), MI, CT
1 4stars  3 3stars

2013 Commits: PA (3), OH, NY
1 5star 3 3stars 1 2stars

2012 Commits: PA, WI
1 4stars 1 2stars

2011 Commits: PA, NY
1 3stars 1 2stars

States Represented: PA (7), NY (2), CT, OH, MI, WI
Average Stars: 3.08 stars 3stars

Pittsburgh

Boston College

2014 Commits: MA (2), GA
3 3stars

2013 Commits: No Offensive Line Commits

2012 Commits: VA, MA, NJ
3 3stars

2011 Commits: MA (2), IL (2), PA, MD
4 3stars 3 2stars

States Represented: MA (4), IL (2), NJ, PA, MD, VA, GA
Average Stars: 2.77 stars 3stars

BostonCollege

Virginia Tech

2014 Commits: NJ (2), PA, OH
4 3stars

2013 Commits: VA (3)
3 3stars

2012 Commits: VA (2), PA (2)
1 3stars 3 2stars

2011 Commits: VA
1 3stars

States Represented: VA (6), PA (3), NJ (2), OH
Average stars: 2.75 stars 3stars

VirginiaTech

Do the Hokies recruit the same areas as Pitt and BC? Yes. All three schools have recruited the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

Do the Hokies have roughly the same recruiting success as Pitt and BC? Pitt’s offensive line recruiting has been better than both BC and VT. Pitt has one 5-star and two 4-star offensive line recruits. BC and VT have no 4 or 5 star offensive line recruits.

How have the results been different on the field been different over the last 4 years?

Pittsburgh

2014 Rushing Offense Ranking: 19th
2014 Sacks Allowed: 51st

2013 Rushing Offense Ranking: 102nd
2013 Sacks Allowed: 118th

2012 Rushing Offense Ranking: 92nd
2012 Sacks Allowed: 102nd

Boston College

2014 Rushing Offense Ranking: 8th
2014 Sacks Allowed: 34th

2013 Rushing Offense Ranking: 20th
2013 Sacks Allowed: 44th

2012 Rushing Offense Ranking: 115th
2012 Sacks Allowed: 106th

Virginia Tech

2014 Rushing Offense Ranking: 77th
2014 Sacks Allowed: 51st

2013 Rushing Offense Ranking: 109th
2013 Sacks Allowed: 96th

2012 Rushing Offense Ranking: 79th
2012 Sacks Allowed: 60th

oline-rankings

Boston College has by far been the most successful team on the offensive line. The 2012 season was nightmare that they rebounded nicely from. Pitt has not been better than the Hokies for the last two years before a huge improvement this year (hello James Conner). For the Hokies, 2012 was a mediocre year on the offensive line. 2013 was downright awful. So far, 2014 has been a return to mediocrity. So what does all this tell us and what do the Hokies need to do?

Well, out of the three teams analyzed, the Hokies are definitely getting the least out of their recruits. You can blame it on coaching transitions (three coaches in the last three years) or you can blame it on the quality of those coaches. I do not have enough insight into the program to give you the answer to that question but the level of production is clear. So what’s the answer? In my opinion it’s two-fold – pick a fertile recruiting area where you feel like you can be successful then get those recruits to sign with your program. Stacy Searels appears to be favoring the Southeast (Virginia to Florida) but he has gone as far as Massachusetts for a recruit. The biggest issue is picking an area where the Hokies can win the recruiting battles. It doesn’t make sense to spend a lot of time recruiting guys in the South who are going to the SEC anyway. It would seem like the low-hanging fruit would be recruiting the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic but if Stacy Searels feels like he can be successful in the Southeast – I hope he feels like he can close the deal with those recruits. Otherwise, the Hokies will not be getting any better on the offensive line any time soon. Virginia Tech will not be successful with the SEC’s leftovers. They are better off following Pitt and BC’s example by recruiting the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Then have some stability on the coaching staff to get the most out of those recruits.

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