Breaking down Boston College-Virginia Tech matchup
Boston College heads to Virginia Tech on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU) for a battle between interdivision — and old Big East — rivals. ACC reporters Matt Fortuna and David Hale break down the matchup.
How to beat Boston College: Neutralize the Eagles' defense as much as humanly possible. They have a new coordinator and some new faces this year , but the Eagles have looked sharp on that side of the ball through two games this season. They came up with some timely turnovers last week at UMass, and while no one will be mistaking the Minutemen for the Hokies anytime soon, it was an impressive performance considering the circumstances, as BC was coming off a tough loss and, more importantly, jet lag from its Dublin trip a week earlier. The Hokies offense has had turnover issues so far, but they did getTravon McMillian going in the ground game last week, something they'll need to build off to keep BC honest defensively. -- Fortuna
How to beat Virginia Tech: Based on the first two games, the answer would seem to be to wait for the Hokies to beat themselves. They’ve already coughed up nine fumbles, more than 62 FBS programs lost all season in 2015. Add to that 12 penalties in two games -- several of which cost Virginia Tech big gains -- and it’s pretty clear the Hokies are their own worst enemy. How else to explain outgaining Tennessee by 70 yards and still losing by three touchdowns? This is a team that needs some discipline, and Hokies coach Justin Fuente is still in the early stages of instilling it. Meanwhile, BC is a team that thrives on forcing mistakes and has a defense more than capable of capitalizing on them. -- Hale
Patrick Towles made the home team pay with some deep balls. Now, will that translate as smoothly against Bud Foster's defense and a secondary that likes to call itself D-B-U? Probably not, but Virginia Tech has to at least account for the fact that BC won't hesitate to air it out if it sees an opening, which is something the Eagles weren't able to do last year. -- Fortuna
How Virginia Tech beats you: Nobody loves to get after the quarterback quite like Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster. The Hokies have blitzed on 31 percent of opponent dropbacks this season and rank 14th among Power 5 schools in QB contact rate. Boston College has had offensive-line problems and there’s no doubt Foster will look to take advantage. So far this season, only Colorado has allowed fewer yards-per-dropback than Virginia Tech, and since 2013, the Hokies have 116 sacks on defense, ninth-most in the country. -- Hale
Boston College X-factor: Jeff Smith. A former quarterback, Smith is now a receiver and he made UMass pay multiple times last week, turning into Towles' favorite target. Smith had five catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns in Week 2, taking some pressure off Jon Hilliman and the ground game. Also, because this is Virginia Tech and because "Beamer Ball" will always be associated with the program regardless of the coach, don't overlook the special-teams game, an area in which BC has struggled in recent years. --Fortuna
Virginia Tech X-factor: Jerod Evans. What do we really know about the Hokies’ new QB so far? He’s been solid, connecting on 67 percent of his throws and averaging 7.3 yards per attempt with five touchdowns and no picks. He’s also proven to be a powerful runner. But Fuente hasn’t asked a lot of his QB thus far, relying more heavily on the ground game against Tennessee and running a healthy dose of option football to boot. It’s clear Evans has the arm to go downfield, and he has a terrific set of weapons in Cam Phillips, Bucky Hodges and Isaiah Ford. As he gets more comfortable with the offense, he’ll only become more dangerous. -- Hale
Predictions:
Boston College heads to Virginia Tech on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU) for a battle between interdivision — and old Big East — rivals. ACC reporters Matt Fortuna and David Hale break down the matchup.
How to beat Boston College: Neutralize the Eagles' defense as much as humanly possible. They have a new coordinator and some new faces this year , but the Eagles have looked sharp on that side of the ball through two games this season. They came up with some timely turnovers last week at UMass, and while no one will be mistaking the Minutemen for the Hokies anytime soon, it was an impressive performance considering the circumstances, as BC was coming off a tough loss and, more importantly, jet lag from its Dublin trip a week earlier. The Hokies offense has had turnover issues so far, but they did getTravon McMillian going in the ground game last week, something they'll need to build off to keep BC honest defensively. -- Fortuna
How to beat Virginia Tech: Based on the first two games, the answer would seem to be to wait for the Hokies to beat themselves. They’ve already coughed up nine fumbles, more than 62 FBS programs lost all season in 2015. Add to that 12 penalties in two games -- several of which cost Virginia Tech big gains -- and it’s pretty clear the Hokies are their own worst enemy. How else to explain outgaining Tennessee by 70 yards and still losing by three touchdowns? This is a team that needs some discipline, and Hokies coach Justin Fuente is still in the early stages of instilling it. Meanwhile, BC is a team that thrives on forcing mistakes and has a defense more than capable of capitalizing on them. -- Hale
Patrick Towles made the home team pay with some deep balls. Now, will that translate as smoothly against Bud Foster's defense and a secondary that likes to call itself D-B-U? Probably not, but Virginia Tech has to at least account for the fact that BC won't hesitate to air it out if it sees an opening, which is something the Eagles weren't able to do last year. -- Fortuna
How Virginia Tech beats you: Nobody loves to get after the quarterback quite like Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster. The Hokies have blitzed on 31 percent of opponent dropbacks this season and rank 14th among Power 5 schools in QB contact rate. Boston College has had offensive-line problems and there’s no doubt Foster will look to take advantage. So far this season, only Colorado has allowed fewer yards-per-dropback than Virginia Tech, and since 2013, the Hokies have 116 sacks on defense, ninth-most in the country. -- Hale
Boston College X-factor: Jeff Smith. A former quarterback, Smith is now a receiver and he made UMass pay multiple times last week, turning into Towles' favorite target. Smith had five catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns in Week 2, taking some pressure off Jon Hilliman and the ground game. Also, because this is Virginia Tech and because "Beamer Ball" will always be associated with the program regardless of the coach, don't overlook the special-teams game, an area in which BC has struggled in recent years. --Fortuna
Virginia Tech X-factor: Jerod Evans. What do we really know about the Hokies’ new QB so far? He’s been solid, connecting on 67 percent of his throws and averaging 7.3 yards per attempt with five touchdowns and no picks. He’s also proven to be a powerful runner. But Fuente hasn’t asked a lot of his QB thus far, relying more heavily on the ground game against Tennessee and running a healthy dose of option football to boot. It’s clear Evans has the arm to go downfield, and he has a terrific set of weapons in Cam Phillips, Bucky Hodges and Isaiah Ford. As he gets more comfortable with the offense, he’ll only become more dangerous. -- Hale
Predictions:
- Fortuna: Virginia Tech 21, Boston College 17
- Hale: Virginia Tech 21, Boston College 20
