After a big win over Louisville, the Boston College Eagles (3-4) will go on the road to play the resurgent Virginia Cavaliers (5-1) at Scott Stadium. This Saturday’s game will take place at 12:30 EST between these two ACC members. The game can be found for those who have Charter Sports Southeast.
The Eagles may’ve had one of their worst defensive games this season, but the surprising surge on offense allowed them to out-do Lamar Jackson and the Cardinals. Their 45 points was the most they scored against an FBS opponent since November 9th, 2013.
They have an improved run game with freshman AJ Dillon running for over 4.8 YPC. After getting beat out by a freshman QB to start the season, senior Darius Wade provided timely spark at the quarterback position last weekend. With all that said, it’s clear the Eagles will still rely heavily on their defense.
Virginia will do much of the same with a defense that’s only given up over 23 points once this year. They have the 30th-ranked scoring defense in the country and have been particularly tough against the pass.
Speaking of passing, they have a quarterback in Kurt Benkert, who’s been impressive so far, with 15 touchdowns to only three interceptions. It helps when you have an electric commodity like WR Olamide Zaccheaus. This man can be a danger on the perimeter who even a lot of ACC teams have trouble matching up against.
Virginia comes in as 5-point favorites, with the spread tipping toward Boston College more and more.
Don’t let Virginia’s record fool you. Being 5-1 is fine no matter who you’ve played, but in Virginia’s case, it wasn’t against the best competition. The win on the road against Boise State is their biggest win, but even the Broncos are having a major down year.
Boston College is coming off their biggest win in some time, and finally has confidence on offense. They have the senior leadership at QB they’ve been looking for and a running back in Dillon who could blow the top off this game. Virginia is prone to giving up a healthy chunk of yardage on the ground to better running teams.
BC has their own issues stopping the run, and that’s been their downfall in lopsided losses to Clemson and Notre Dame. But Virginia only averages 3.6 YPC in total, so the Eagles may be able to bottle it up much like they did against Virginia Tech.
The Cavaliers won’t turn the ball over very often, if at all. But Boston College has the opportunity to grind this game out. Virginia’s defensive numbers are good, but not against very many strong offenses.
Boston College’s 3-4 record is a little misleading, because they’ve had to play at Clemson and against Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. Though Virginia is on a four-game streak ATS, so are the Eagles. And they’ve figured how to beat one of the most talented QBs in the nation on the road.
Though it’ll be close once more, they’ll extend their winning streak over Virginia to four come Saturday.