Narrative talking point that you’ll tire of by the end of the game. “Matt Ryan blah, blah, blah, Matt Ryan, blah, blah, blah.” I love Matt Ryan more than anyone, but my fear is that with him back in town and playing Virginia Tech we’ll hear too much about the Falcons star. If Crane plays well: “he looks like Matt Ryan right there.” If he struggles: “They could use Ryan right now.” If Davis comes off the bench and plays well: “you know Ryan came off the bench early in his BC career.” The possibilities are endless. And you know what? None of it matters. To paraphrase Rick Pitino, Matt Ryan is not playing Saturday night. BC is going to win or lose with the guys we have.
Three Simple Keys
1. Force Taylor to throw the ball. Contain, contain, contain on the runs. If Taylor is forced to put it in the air, the Hokies become much less efficient. I hope he throws 25+ times Saturday night. The more he throws, the better things get for BC.
2. Stick with the run. Although we ran the ball less in our win than we did in our loss last year, I actually think being patient and a little stubborn with the rushing game is the way to go against the Hokies. We moved the ball better in Jacksonville and had more total yards. (The loss was due to redzone issues.) Running over and over will also help Chris Crane.
3. Improve kickoff coverage. The Interruption guys and I had a talk about this offline. Jeff actually timed Bennett’s hangtime on kicks. The numbers were mixed. Regardless of hangtime, the kicker is not the only issue. Our coverage has not been good. Giving the Hokies a short field will kill us.
Gambling Notes
-- Jags is 10-3 when favored
-- Virginia Tech is 4-3 as an away underdog over the last eight years.
-- Beamer is 5-2 in Chestnut Hill
The current line is BC-3
Factoid
Since BC broke Virginia Tech’s long win streak in the series, the Eagles are 3-2 against the Hokies. However, Virginia Tech has actually outscored BC 100-96 in those five games.
Scoreboard Watching
We are the night game so technically most of the games will be over by the time we take the field. Still I will be paying attention to Clemson-Georgia Tech. How will the Tigers react? I hope it is a rough loss and they have completely thrown in the towel by the time we play them.
I hope to see…
BC fluster Taylor. In my opinion, he is the key to the game. If we can force two or more turnovers from him and have him complete less than 50% of his passes, BC wins.
BC is in trouble if…
The right side of the line cannot protect Crane. Lapham and the Claiborne/Rossi combo have been pretty good this season. This will be their biggest challenge to date. They need to be perfect Saturday so that Crane has time in the pocket.
Bottom Line
I really like how our defense matches up against their offense. Georgia Tech and North Carolina both held them to 20 points. We can do the same or better. I don’t think Chris Crane will have another NC State day, but Harris/Haden will pick up the slack.
Final Score: BC 24, Virginia Tech 16
Posts
12 comments:
Gotta also scoreboard watch Wake @ Maryland ... root hard for the Terrapins to knock off the Deacons.
That will even up the Atlantic division standings and I like our chances of beating Maryland at home much more than having to go to Winston-Salem to take out the Deacs.
I have two tickets to the game and probably cannot go so if anyone in the NYC area would like tickets, I will sell both for the price of one. Email me at garveysc@hotmail.com is you're interested.
I'm surprised we are favored by 3. Va Tech stung BC by 14 points in the ACC Championship....and we had Matt Ryan.
Our defense got exposed against NC State, giving up 24 points. I hope we win but I'm not feeling comfortable right now.
On the other side of the coin, the O-line is playing lights out and if Crane has time and Harris gets a few carries, I think BC can at least hang with Va Tech.
Utterly and completely laughable. ATLeagle is so far in the tank for BC and Georgia, he makes the MSM seems truly fair and balanced.
eagleboston - while i am also surprised by the three point line in our favor, i don't think remembering the ACC championship game is a good comparison. I mean Va Tech graduated all their receivers and a few of their top defenders. also, they had glennon having a career game and he isn't even the starter anymore. alot has changed. plus, our D giving up 24 points is a little deceptive. I was equally critical of the D watching the game, then found out we only allowed something like 275 yards. our season average before the game was 250, so they didn't really get exposed. As usual with our D, it was the big plays that killed us.
Bravesbill - while there is no doubt ATL is quite biased, i am glad we don't have a BC blog preaching that Spaz will blow it and we will lose 35-7 as i am sure you would predict, judging by your dislike for Spaz. I tend to be a pessimistic fan (BC has done that to me over the years), and expect to have at least 5 anger fits saturday night, but i don't think 24-16 is completely "in the tank". if last year's game taught me anything, it is that anything is possible
Spaz has given me tons of material to work with the past few years. That said, I don't think it will come down to the BC defense this game. It will be all about the offense. If BC can score 20+ points, it will win. If it can't, it will lose. It will be a fairly close game and Va Tech will win. Final predictions won't be out until Saturday.
ATLEagle may be biased, but isn't that kind of the point? The blog is about BC athletics. He wears his bias out on his sleeve, just like pretty much ALL of the college sports bloggers. Unlike the MSM, bias in the blogosphere is probably a good thing.
Unit the New York Times renames their publication to "Utterly Contemptible Liberal Rag in New York", then there's no comparison.
Bravesbill, you are just picking up that I am biased now? What gave it away? The fact that I haven't picked against BC in any of these game previews. The fact that I spend free time watching the games back. That I blog in my spare time. Or the subheader at the top of the blog that reads: "A Boston College sports blog capturing the highs and lows of being a BC fan living 1,000 miles from Chestnut Hill."
I am a fan. As for UGA, in the big I really don't give a $hit about them. You know where I was the night of UGA-Alabama? Having dinner with BC friends in Boston. No TV in sight. I can't tell you how many huge UGA games I've passed up tickets to so I can watch BC take on the Kent States and Armies of the world. The reason I have UGA high in my blogpoll ballot is because I think they are good.
i love you atl eagle
Actually Christopher, we do have a blog that predicts major BC losses and blasts Spaz, but no one reads it. That's why its author is so "bitter" he has now resorted to attacking the credibility of other bloggers-- on their blogs!
ATL,
Keep doing what you do! It's nice to have other BC fans like me out there in the world. I don't think there is a game we play that we won't win. Bravesbill and eagleboston what is the point of think we are going to lose? Might as well not even watch the game. You are still living in the TOB days when he thought we could only "hang" with a team. F that we can and we will win. If you don't think so F off.
ATL - here's another vote of confidence. keep up the good work.
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