W2WF: UMass

The 2018 football offseason and preseason months were some of the most enjoyable in recent memory. Boston College's breakthrough in 2017 made it a preseason favorite, and accolades poured in through the 2018 preseason. It originally made the Eagles a sleeper pick for the ACC Atlantic, but time eventually stripped that label, establishing them as legitimate contenders.

All of that posturing is now over. Saturday afternoon marks the beginning of a journey from potential to reality when BC suits for up for real against a cross-state opponent in UMass.

"The energy level is high," head coach Steve Addazio said. "It's opening day. These guys work year-round for these 12 shots. That's what they're guaranteed. This is one of the precious ones. It's coming right here in front of you. We're trying to do enough to get prepared, but we're also trying to keep our team fresh and fast."

The Eagles are 4-1 in Addazio's previous five opening games, and UMass is one of those victories following a 30-7 decision at Gillette Stadium in 2014. It also represented the first win of the 2016 season, coming just one week after BC lost its opening game to Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland. Those are the only two prior meetings since UMass reclassified to the Football Bowl Subdivision, and it marked the continuation of Boston College's domination in the series. UMass still hasn't beaten BC since 1978, though this year will bring arguably its most competitive roster to Chestnut Hill.

"I personally am very excited," Addazio said. "Our staff is (excited), our whole program is. Opening day is one of the cool things (in a season). You come out of camp and it truly culminates a year's worth of work. You're back in it, ready to roll. We're excited, and I'm excited about the fact that we have a very 'together' team. They love football. There's a great camaraderie and a great chemistry."

College football experts are high on Boston College in 2018. AJ Dillon, Zach Allen and Lukas Denis are among the most notable leaders in the clubhouse in the ACC, which in turn makes them among the best in the nation. Everyone believes the tools are available for a run at Clemson and others for ACC Atlantic Division supremacy. All of that got shelved in favor of a series of "one-game seasons" that starts on Saturday.

"All that matters in game one is getting a W," Addazio said. "That gives you a chance to come back and regroup and get ready for game two. When the fourth quarter is done, you look at the scoreboard, you're 1-0; that's the expectation level. We're going to play a really good opponent, we're going to battle our tails off, and we're going to find a way to sing the fight song in the locker room and be 1-0. That's the mindset."

Here's what to watch for on Saturday:

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Weekly Storylines

Brown is back.

Anthony Brown suffered a season-ending knee injury in last November's loss to NC State. It ended a promising season after consecutive breakout performances against Virginia and Florida State. Surgery and rehabilitation followed, restoring physical strength, but the coaching staff remained cautious in preseason camp. He rotated into practice with the first-string team and saw limited action during preseason scrimmages.

It was part of the roadmap to get Brown ready for the UMass game, and it succeeded. He will earn the start on Saturday, his second consecutive season opener for BC.

"He's 100% ready to go," Addazio said. "The shackles are off; I know he isn't going to be hit until Saturday, but he's been full go here for almost a couple of weeks."

Optimism is high for Brown, but he will still likely need to adjust to action on the field. He hasn't seen contact football in nine months, and the first checks, reads and snaps are the first physical tests since last season. There's confidence he will adjust, but there's also realistic expectations of how to take the next step.

"If you've been away from football for a while and missed spring practice, that kind of stuff, it takes a little bit to get going again, to get in the groove," Addazio said. "That will be an adjustment curve in there, I'm sure."

Intertwining Paths

Addazio began his coaching career with a couple of different stops in Connecticut. In the late 1980s, he was head coach at Cheshire High School, and he got to know the local area head coaches within his network. They included a young head coach at the University of New Haven named Mark Whipple.

"I was head coach at Cheshire High School and lived in Cheshire," Addazio said. "(Mark) lived in Cheshire and was head coach at New Haven. I saw him all the time. He would come over, see me all the time. We used to have these New Haven Foundation dinners on Thursday, and I'd see him there. I always respected him as a good offensive mind. I've talked to him even in my history on different job opportunities."

Addazio and Whipple have taken different career paths out of the Constitution State, but they both wound up back in New England in Massachusetts. Addazio left Cheshire for a position coach's job at Syracuse, and Whipple left New Haven to become the architect of Brown University's Ivy League championship teams.

Addazio eventually found himself at Florida as a coach and coordinator during the Tim Tebow era, while Whipple won a Division I-AA national championship with UMass. Addazio never left what became the FBS and became head coach at Temple before moving to BC, but Whipple matriculated to position coaching positions in the NFL before becoming an offensive coordinator at the University of Miami.

They now intertwine again in Massachusetts as head coaches of the only FBS programs in the state.

"I know him well," Addazio said. "I think the world of him. He's a heck of a football coach. He has built an outstanding program twice, one (in the 90s and 00s). (He's) come back and is doing it now at the I-A level."

Make a Meal with Sauce

Dillon is the special, rare athlete who lived up to the hype of his freshman season. Nobody has to search hard to find a story about him this offseason, with his legend already joining former Eagle greats like William Green and Andre Williams.

"He's a big, strong, powerful guy with great speed, and I think he's going to take his game to the next level," Steve Addazio said. "Last year he was a first and second down player, and now he's an every-down player. I think that will enhance us on offense, with him obviously in the backfield and not knowing whether it's run-pass or him catching the ball in the perimeter."

BC's recipe for success isn't a huge mystery. Running the football is a key component, even as Steve Addazio and Scot Loeffler sped up the tempo. The Eagles can run 90-plus plays in a game, but it's a steady tempo designed to control the clock. They can pass, but there's a central focus on the offensive line opening holes for Dillon. So they enter Saturday looking to establish all of that within actual game atmosphere.

"We're trying to get the best game tempo we can take," Addazio said. "We did not have a game on Saturday. Obviously if you have a game with a bunch of injuries, maybe that's not so good. (But if) you have a game, come out healthy, get that under your belt, that gives you a chance to work out some of the kinks a little bit."

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They Said It

"It's nice to be in a position where people can recognize some of the growth in the program. That being that, it doesn't make it a reality. That's up to us to make it reality." –Steve Addazio on the preseason love

"If it's not getting done, we don't leave until it gets done. So when we get into the games, we're really confident because we've experienced and seen all the looks (in practice)." -Zach Allen on practicing with the coaches

"It's been an insane amount of preparation. The bowl game obviously didn't go the way we wanted it to, so we all took a step back and realized where we needed to improve individually and as a team." -AJ Dillon on getting ready for the first game

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Meteorology 101

This week brought unbearable and dangerous heat indices to the Greater Boston area, but it will break by the time kickoff rolls around. Friday is expected to be much cooler than midweek, and cloudy weather will stick around through Saturday. Temperatures are expected to hit the mid-70s with some humidity, but that's just fine compared to what was going on during Wednesday afternoon.

I look forward to being wrong all year with these.

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Scoreboard Watching

College football is officially back, and the NCAA will run uncontested football games all weekend long as part of a Labor Day celebration of the game. The ACC in particular will be all over the map with five days of games beginning with Thursday night's Wake Forest-Tulane matchup.

The biggest matchup is No. 8 Miami's game against No. 24 LSU on Sunday night at AT&T Stadium in Texas. Both teams enter the season ranked, and the Hurricanes are a preseason favorite to challenge for the conference and national championship. It's also the return of the Turnover Chain cultural phenomenon from last season.

The most important game, though, is on Monday when No. 19 Florida State hosts No. 17 Virginia Tech. It's the first season opening game between two ranked ACC opponents since 2006 and just the fifth time overall. The last three have all been between FSU and Miami in consecutive seasons from 2004-2006. The only other game came in 1959 when No. 18 Clemson beat No. 12 North Carolina.

BC's next opponent, Holy Cross, takes on Colgate at 1 p.m. Be sure to check your local listings to see which games are available in your neck of the woods.

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Pregame Quote & Prediction

The Rule of Sibs: If your sibling gets something you want, you 1) try to take it; 2) break it; or 3) say it's no good. -Patricia Fleming

Saturday's game feels like a good old-fashioned sibling rivalry. BC and UMass are the two FBS teams in Massachusetts, which pairs them together, but their differences highlight their uniqueness.

UMass is in the 413 area code where land is more sprawling and population less dense. It's an FBS Independent navigating the waters after reclassifying less than 10 years ago. Boston College is the school located on the Green Line of the MBTA, and it has a longer, richer history of Division I-A football. Yet BC is the smaller, private institution in comparison to its large, public counterpart.

The season opener is the next chapter in this sibling rivalry. Boston College is looking for its 10th straight win in the series, a run dating back to the last Minuteman victory in 1978. For BC, UMass isn't a primary rival, but the game remains important. It's a chance to earn bragging rights in the Bay State, a place where that kind of pride runs deep into its soul.

Boston College kicks off at 1 p.m. against UMass at Alumni Stadium on campus in Chestnut Hill. The game can be seen via the ACC Network Extra with Doug Sherman and former New England Patriot Matt Chatham on the call. It can also be seen online via WatchESPN.com.

The game is available on radio via the BC IMG Sports Radio Network with Jon Meterparel, Pete Cronan and Scott Mutryn calling the action. It can also be heard on satellite radio through Sirius channel 134, XM channel 364 and Internet channel 970.

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Players Mentioned

Zach Allen

Anthony Brown

Lukas Denis

AJ Dillon

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