Boston College Athletics
Undefeateds Ready to Collide in Carolina
September 11, 2018 | Football, #ForBoston Files
BC opens conference play on Thursday against Wake Forest
The first two weeks of the season seemed like something of a preparation. The Eagles blew away UMass and Holy Cross fast enough to spend most of the games working on depth and taking advantage of the new redshirt rules. Second and third team units worked on invaluable in-game experience that will ultimately serve players well if and when situations arise for them.
Those two weeks enforced a reputation that BC is a team to watch in 2018 and brought the Eagles to the verge of a national ranking. That's all outside noise, though, and it's nothing the team can focus on as it finally enters conference play preparations with a short week before a road game at Wake Forest on Thursday night.
"We've had a busy week in our preparation," head coach Steve Addazio said. "I think we've done a great job with our preparation, and we're anxious to get down there and have an opportunity to play."
Wake Forest offsets several of the advantages the Eagles enjoyed in the first two weeks. The familiarity of a conference opponent is reinforced by a budding rivalry in which BC holds a 13-10-2 all-time record. The Eagles are 3-2 against the Demon Deacons under Addazio and just two years removed since a 17-14 win earned bowl eligibility. Last season, the Deacs came north and defeated BC, 34-10, in a game highlighted by Ben Petrula's debut at center.
"The program top to bottom is outstanding," Addazio said. "It will be a tremendous challenge for us. I have the utmost respect for Dave (Clawson) and his staff. I think they're truly one of the best programs in the country. They do things the right way; they are great football coaches. Our staff and our team knows the challenges that we will have this week and the quality of the opponent we're going to be playing."
Wake is one of those teams that can physically match up with BC. Greg Dortch is a superstar wide receiver with game breaking physical abilities. He torched Towson last week for seven receptions, 94 yards and a touchdown before adding two punt returns for scores. Pro Football Focus' college coverage rated a passer rating of 111.1 when targeting Dortch, an absurd but completely believable number when he's on the field.
"He's a dominant, explosive guy in the ACC," Addazio said. "As a return guy, as a receiver, he can alter the game. So we've got a lot of attention to that right now. He's one of the better ones I've seen. Obviously, I've seen a lot of good players in the ACC, never mind the other conferences. This guy is as good as anybody."
Dortch makes life easier for an offense transitioning at quarterback. John Wolford graduated and created a void currently filled by true freshman Sam Hartman. Hartman excelled in his first two starts by completing over 60% of his passes for over 600 yards. He went 31-of-51 for 378 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener and followed it up with 242 yards and two more scores against Towson. He's also shown dual-threat ability with 64 yards rushing in both games.
"He's like John Wolford," Addazio said. "He's a highly competitive guy. He looks like he has a lot of 'it factor' to him. He's going to take chances. He does not play like a freshman, and I think he's very, very talented. They found another guy that's terrific for them. He's a real, real good football player."
The rushing attack, meanwhile, swamped Towson for 340 yards and six yards per carry last week. All of that combines to create a challenge for a star-studded Boston College defense that held UMass and Holy Cross to an average of 289.5 yards but played the bulk of its backups.
"When you play them, they're really well put together," Addazio said. "So I have a lot of respect for them. I expect this to be quite a big-time game for both teams. We'll see when, where, how, and everything else this is going to go. They're different than they were a year ago. We're different than we were a year ago."
Offensively, the Eagles offered an impressive look in the first two weeks at both Anthony Brown and AJ Dillon. Dillon ran for 149 yards on six carries on Saturday, scoring three touchdowns on the game's first series. It earned him ACC Player of the Week honors, and Dillon produced the first highlight-reel runs many expected from him.
It came one week after Brown torched the UMass defense for the best single-game passer rating since 1996. He threw for 279 yards and four scores in the opener and enters Thursday against a defense averaging over 300 yards allowed in its first two games.
That said, the statistics from the first two weeks skew and make it nearly impossible to offer a prediction. Boston College averaged 604 yards of offense, for example, but spent most of the first two games without its first team on the field. Wake Forest's defense averages well over 300 yards allowed, but Towson quarterback Tom Flacco threw for 378 yards on 31-of-51 attempts last week. It pushes statistics to the background, and it instead pushes the game film and eye tests to the forefront of preparation.
"Neither one of us have played a conference game," Addazio said. "We're making assumptions right now, and I'm careful to do that until I see a body of work against in-conference opponents. I don't know what the value (is) of those stats. They're not real to me. I see the film, but did 200 yards come when their 1's weren't in the game? All that matters.
"I see a really athletic team," he said. "They're very athletic. They have good team speed. They've got really quality players. I see that on the tape for sure. It's a whole different level of play than what we've seen the last two weeks, and it will be the same for them as well."
Boston College will play at Wake Forest on Thursday night at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem. The game can be seen on national television on ESPN and online at WatchESPN.com. It can also be heard via the Boston College IMG Sports Network on WEEI 850 AM and nationally on satellite radio Sirius, XM and Internet channel 84. Streaming audio is available via the TuneIn app.
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Those two weeks enforced a reputation that BC is a team to watch in 2018 and brought the Eagles to the verge of a national ranking. That's all outside noise, though, and it's nothing the team can focus on as it finally enters conference play preparations with a short week before a road game at Wake Forest on Thursday night.
"We've had a busy week in our preparation," head coach Steve Addazio said. "I think we've done a great job with our preparation, and we're anxious to get down there and have an opportunity to play."
Wake Forest offsets several of the advantages the Eagles enjoyed in the first two weeks. The familiarity of a conference opponent is reinforced by a budding rivalry in which BC holds a 13-10-2 all-time record. The Eagles are 3-2 against the Demon Deacons under Addazio and just two years removed since a 17-14 win earned bowl eligibility. Last season, the Deacs came north and defeated BC, 34-10, in a game highlighted by Ben Petrula's debut at center.
"The program top to bottom is outstanding," Addazio said. "It will be a tremendous challenge for us. I have the utmost respect for Dave (Clawson) and his staff. I think they're truly one of the best programs in the country. They do things the right way; they are great football coaches. Our staff and our team knows the challenges that we will have this week and the quality of the opponent we're going to be playing."
Wake is one of those teams that can physically match up with BC. Greg Dortch is a superstar wide receiver with game breaking physical abilities. He torched Towson last week for seven receptions, 94 yards and a touchdown before adding two punt returns for scores. Pro Football Focus' college coverage rated a passer rating of 111.1 when targeting Dortch, an absurd but completely believable number when he's on the field.
"He's a dominant, explosive guy in the ACC," Addazio said. "As a return guy, as a receiver, he can alter the game. So we've got a lot of attention to that right now. He's one of the better ones I've seen. Obviously, I've seen a lot of good players in the ACC, never mind the other conferences. This guy is as good as anybody."
Dortch makes life easier for an offense transitioning at quarterback. John Wolford graduated and created a void currently filled by true freshman Sam Hartman. Hartman excelled in his first two starts by completing over 60% of his passes for over 600 yards. He went 31-of-51 for 378 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener and followed it up with 242 yards and two more scores against Towson. He's also shown dual-threat ability with 64 yards rushing in both games.
"He's like John Wolford," Addazio said. "He's a highly competitive guy. He looks like he has a lot of 'it factor' to him. He's going to take chances. He does not play like a freshman, and I think he's very, very talented. They found another guy that's terrific for them. He's a real, real good football player."
The rushing attack, meanwhile, swamped Towson for 340 yards and six yards per carry last week. All of that combines to create a challenge for a star-studded Boston College defense that held UMass and Holy Cross to an average of 289.5 yards but played the bulk of its backups.
"When you play them, they're really well put together," Addazio said. "So I have a lot of respect for them. I expect this to be quite a big-time game for both teams. We'll see when, where, how, and everything else this is going to go. They're different than they were a year ago. We're different than we were a year ago."
Offensively, the Eagles offered an impressive look in the first two weeks at both Anthony Brown and AJ Dillon. Dillon ran for 149 yards on six carries on Saturday, scoring three touchdowns on the game's first series. It earned him ACC Player of the Week honors, and Dillon produced the first highlight-reel runs many expected from him.
It came one week after Brown torched the UMass defense for the best single-game passer rating since 1996. He threw for 279 yards and four scores in the opener and enters Thursday against a defense averaging over 300 yards allowed in its first two games.
That said, the statistics from the first two weeks skew and make it nearly impossible to offer a prediction. Boston College averaged 604 yards of offense, for example, but spent most of the first two games without its first team on the field. Wake Forest's defense averages well over 300 yards allowed, but Towson quarterback Tom Flacco threw for 378 yards on 31-of-51 attempts last week. It pushes statistics to the background, and it instead pushes the game film and eye tests to the forefront of preparation.
"Neither one of us have played a conference game," Addazio said. "We're making assumptions right now, and I'm careful to do that until I see a body of work against in-conference opponents. I don't know what the value (is) of those stats. They're not real to me. I see the film, but did 200 yards come when their 1's weren't in the game? All that matters.
"I see a really athletic team," he said. "They're very athletic. They have good team speed. They've got really quality players. I see that on the tape for sure. It's a whole different level of play than what we've seen the last two weeks, and it will be the same for them as well."
Boston College will play at Wake Forest on Thursday night at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem. The game can be seen on national television on ESPN and online at WatchESPN.com. It can also be heard via the Boston College IMG Sports Network on WEEI 850 AM and nationally on satellite radio Sirius, XM and Internet channel 84. Streaming audio is available via the TuneIn app.
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