BC Opens as 21-Point Underdog Against No. 13 Wake Forest
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
Coming off its bye week, Boston College has opened as a 21-point underdog at No. 13 Wake Forest, according to Action Network.
Action Network has the over/under set at 61.5 points, and the BC moneyline is +950. The Eagles are 1-4 against the spread this season. The only time they covered was in their win over Louisville in Week 5 when they were two-touchdown dogs.
BC (2-4, 1-3 ACC) is off to its worst six-game start since 2017. That year, however, the Eagles turned things around after then-head coach Steve Addazio's famous "It'll come together, and it'll be beautiful" postgame presser. BC finished the regular season 5-1, averaging 36 points per game in that span, continuing what is now a bowl eligibility streak of six consecutive seasons.
That streak is in jeopardy in 2022.
BC still has three of the ACC's five AP top-25 teams remaining on its schedule: No. 13 Wake Forest, No. 23 North Carolina State and No. 14 Syracuse.
The Demon Deacons (5-1, 1-1) also had their bye in Week 7. After falling to Clemson at home in a double overtime track meet, Wake Forest has bounced back with a pair of wins: first at Florida State and then against Army.
Wake has followed up a remarkable 2021 campaign—that saw the Deacons crack the AP top-10 for the first time in program history and reach the ACC title game—with similar success.
Quarterback Sam Hartman missed the first game of the season with a non-football medical condition, but, once he returned, he picked up right where he left off last year. Hartman has posted a 16:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio this season while averaging 9.4 yards per attempt, which is tied for the second most of any signal caller in the ACC.
That said, as much as the odds are stacked against BC—which has lost 24 straight games to AP-ranked opponents—in this matchup, road field advantage has been kind of a thing in this series.
The road team has won each of the last seven meetings. Overall, BC holds a 14-12-2 lead over the Deacons all-time. But Wake has won two in a row, dating back to 2019 (the teams didn't play during the COVID-19-affected 2020 campaign).
Last year, the Deacons blew out the Eagles, 41-10. It was the largest margin of victory for Wake in the series. In the week leading up to the regular season finale, the injury-riddled Eagles had 32 players contract the flu, including quarterback Phil Jurkovec. BC entered intermission trailing, 24-10. Its best chance to get back in the game was when star wideout Zay Flowers reversed for a highlight-reel, 73-yard touchdown at the start of the second quarter. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the touchdown was nullified because of a bad blind side block call on Jurkovec.
Generally, however, these have been close games. Five of the last seven have been decided by one score.
This is the first of two straight road games for BC. The next is at UConn.
