W2WF: No. 21 NC State

Virtually no history existed between Boston College and NC State when the Eagles joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2005. They were both aligned into the newly-formed Atlantic Division, but the only games prior to BC's entry came in Chestnut Hill in the 1930s. No reason existed for either team to cross each other's path, not even with the occasional crossover from north to south.

That all changed when Tom O'Brien jumped ship from Boston College and became NC State's new head coach after the 2006 season. He was the winningest coach in program history, but the former Virginia offensive coordinator chose to leave Chestnut Hill after just two seasons in the ACC to join one of the league's charter franchises. Once the man who helped BC turn back into a resurgent Big East power, O'Brien was now trusted with rebuilding a Wolfpack program four years removed from a top-ranked finish under Chuck Amato.

Both sides were gracious on the way out the door, but it was clear something was missing. Athletic director Gene DeFilippo told The Boston Globe, "I want to thank Tom for 10 really, really good years here at Boston College. The mark of a coach or an administrator is: Did you leave the program in a better state than you found it? And in Tom O'Brien's case, the answer is yes. He left this program in a lot better shape than the program he found," but there was a clear sting based on how abruptly O'Brien left.

It was right as BC was reaching its apex in the post-realignment world, and it left the Eagles suddenly rudderless after five consecutive bowl victories. They won seven to eight games on an annual basis under O'Brien and finished with two top-25 seasons as a precursor to the nine-win, nationally-ranked years in 2005 and 2006. The team won six of seven games over a stretch during that final season, and the trashing wins over Virginia Tech and Maryland primed them for a run at a big time bowl before Larry Coker's last regular season game at Miami continued a curse dating back to Doug Flutie's Hail Mary.

O'Brien was gone less than two weeks later. NC State received permission to talk to him shortly after Wake Forest beat Georgia Tech in a sleepy ACC Championship Game, and the whirlwind courtship lasted less than 24 hours. As the news broke of an agreement on his impending departure, the stunned Eagles had to figure out who would coach their bowl game, let alone their future.

Just like that, though, a rivalry between BC and NC State was born. O'Brien built the same consistency in Raleigh that he had in Chestnut Hill, but his teams never cleared the hump to fill the power vacuums at the top of his division. Four different programs won the seven Atlantic Division championships between 2006 and 2002, and it was O'Brien's former club at BC that was the only team to win consecutive titles.

Florida State was on the national landscape by the time NC State emerged as a potential power player, and the Wolfpack's ranked finish in 2010 was unfortunately nullified by the Seminoles' division championship. Two years later, O'Brien was fired despite his continued ability to churn out successful seasons.

BC was in a very different place by then, but O'Brien's departure left an indelible mark on a divisional matchup. His presence in Raleigh pushed the Wolfpack and Eagles as identical equals despite the valleys that occurred at BC at the turn of the decade, and the two programs traded wins against one another as they both produced NFL-ready players at an incredible clip.

This season is the 15th anniversary of that beginning, and O'Brien is still the winningest coach in Boston College program history. He is responsible for producing Super Bowl champions and the coach who recruited Matt Ryan, BJ Raji and others. A game against NC State still invariably returns to that conversation about when he left, but he was still the coach when BC was attractive enough to earn the ACC's invitation.

He's the lynchpin of the budding rivalry, and on Saturday, he's a big reason why the two programs will battle over a Saturday night special at the house where he once coached on both sidelines.

Here's what to watch for when the Eagles and nationally-ranked Wolfpack joust for conference positioning:

****
Weekly Storylines (Cars Edition)

Sally: The road didn't cut through the land like that interstate. It moved with the land, it rose, it fell, it curved. Cars didn't drive on it to make great time. They drove on it to have a great time.

Dennis Grosel's progression as a Boston College football quarterback changed him from a young, run-first former walk-on into the person tied with Doug Flutie for the most passing yards in a single game in program history. But ever since Phil Jurkovec was injured against UMass, he's faced steady questions about the system, how it's changed, if it's changed, how he played against stiffer competition and if he is still the quarterback who can handle the rigors of an ACC schedule.

He's been analyzed to a degree that he probably understands the experience of a lab specimen, but it's important to remember that he's like any other player in offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti's weekly schemes. He didn't need to answer any questions against Temple, and he handled his responses against both Missouri and Clemson with a personalized style of game management and tempo. Even after a slow first half in Death Valley two weeks ago, he was right there at the end with a chance to win the football game.

The questions didn't really stop, but Grosel entered this week refreshed after the bye week. He used the opportunity to rest and recharge, something he had to learn how to do by becoming the starting quarterback early in the season. He used the time wisely, and he entered this week's practice rejuvenated after healing his body after appearing in each of BC's first five games.

"The bye week, for the offense, came at a good time," Grosel said. "We were a little banged up and got some rest and recovery. With the loss, it was a good mental reset to take a break and come back to get going. It came at a good time, and we're ready to go again."

Getting back into form is exactly what BC and Jeff Hafley will need after surviving the early-season gruel. The team is dealing with some wounded players, but stepping away from the gridiron, even for a few days, clearly improved a mindset that had been worn down by the first half-ish of the regular season. It offered perspective for Grosel in particular after he threw for 486 yards against both Missouri and Clemson but bookended two touchdowns with three interceptions and the fumbled snap at the end of the game in Death Valley, and it enabled him to continue deepening his understanding as the primary signal caller for his team.

That chemistry is the central core tenet of BC's synergetic mindset. The offense can control the clock with Grosel under center and keep an opposing defense off the field. It's more diverse than the tempo-based scheme of years past, but it carries the same idea that an opponent can't score if its offense isn't on the field. By gaining first down after first down, the Eagles can chew the clock while they march into an end zone with the byproduct forcing the other team's offense to rush into mistakes once it receives its return opportunity.

"Our number one job is to stay on the field and keep drives moving," he said. "Any time we can get an extended drive and get momentum, that's what we're playing for. So if we're getting a third down situation, we have to keep the sticks moving. We have to give the defense a blow. I thought in that last game [against Clemson] that they got a little tired and couldn't get off the field. I think a lot of defenses are on the field for so long, and we can extend the drives to give [our defense] a little bit of a breather."

Mater: Ain't no need to watch where I'm goin'. Just need to know where I've been.

Moving the sticks and dictating game tempo isn't a new concept for BC, but the execution against the NC State defense is easily the biggest challenge facing the Eagles. The Wolfpack are owners of the best defense in the ACC in most statistical categories, and they enter Saturday ranked No. 1 in the conference in total defense and No. 3 in scoring defense.

The unit handles situational football better than any other opponent on the BC schedule and possesses the third-best in the nation at getting off the field on third down. There's been only one rushing touchdown scored against it, and while the stats lay pressure on the skill positions to take care of business, it equally lays weight on an offensive line potentially missing one of its core starters after Tyler Vrabel suffered an injury against Clemson.

"Jack [Conley] is a pretty good player too," head coach Jeff Hafley reminded. "I'm not ruling Tyler out at all, but it's called day-to-day. He has to be able to go. He has to be a little [stronger] on Wednesday and Thursday, but we have a good backup in Jack. If Tyler can't go, we'll put Jack at tackle. He's going to have a really good future, but whether or not that comes this week, we'll find out."

Conley admirably replaced Vrabel during the Clemson game and possesses similar physical traits as a six-foot, seven-inch, 318-pound monster on the left side. His pure horsepower approach made him the top-10 prospect in Connecticut coming out of high school and the No. 6 state recruit from Rivals.com. The New Canaan prospect went to the same high school as former BC All-American Zach Allen, and Conley's growing pains to the college game were adjusted last year when he played 11 games on special teams.

Replacing Vrabel is nearly impossible, especially considering his chemistry on the line with Zion Johnson and the rest of his teammates, but Conley is the little brother representative of the next wave of offensive linemen. It's not difficult to envision a future quarterback enjoying his protection alongside Ozzy Trapilo or Kevin Pyne, just as it's equally as easy to forget how Chris Lindstrom, Ben Petrula, Alec Lindstrom and even Vrabel stepped into roles in the past five to six years as young, developing linemen.

Playing with the older players represents an immeasurable experience, and having the cocoon around him from those experienced veterans is the safety net every young lineman dreams about. Tyler Vrabel would rather rip his own legs off than sit on the sideline, but in the event that he can't go, it's going to be interesting how BC adjusts to its new blindside tackle.

Lightning: I'm a precision instrument of speed and aerodynamics.
Mater: You hurt your what?

The fifth offensive lineman position clearly drew pregame conversation, but the real test of facing the NC State defense isn't limited to the one-on-one matchup. It's certainly not along the line either since the Wolfpack are more well-known as a nickel, 3-3-5 formation that gives players the freedom to roam and make plays for themselves in open space and in the second level.

Sam linebacker Drake Thomas is the team's leading tackler as a sophomore, and Isaiah Moore had 10 tackles against Louisiana Tech while patrolling the middle mike position two weeks ago. Tanner Ingle is third on the list was a hard-hitting safety, and the defensive cornerbacks know how to lock down wide receivers both with press coverage at the line of scrimmage and with their vision and legs downfield.

"They're big and physical," Jack Conley said. "Their defense is awesome. They're stout guys. They're really good and well-coached. They're physical and fast. It should be a good test."

BC has at least one advantage in its back pocket because its own defense is on a similar, elite level, and Jeff Hafley loves making his first team offense practice against the top back end unit. It exposes the offense in some ways, but it hardens the Eagles by making them go against the best of the best, something they have to do every week on game day. That type of experience is immeasurable, and though the idiosyncrasies of a unit makes it unique, it's a way for BC to battle on a weekly basis to prepare for a team like NC State.

"I think we're closing the gap on some teams," Jeff Hafley said. "I like where we're headed. We need to get better, but we're better than we were last year. I feel confident about that. We just have to build on it and [stay] healthy. We don't have a ton of depth, and we have a bunch of key guys that are banged up. So I need to do a good job of making sure that the guys are healthy."

*****
Countdown to Kickoff

10…Jeff Hafley is one of four coaches and the only Power Five coach from the 2020 coaching carousel that has at least 10 career wins through his first year-plus.
9…NC State has appeared in nine bowl games since 2010 with a 5-4 overall record. BC, meanwhile, has been to seven games but has only won one, in 2016.
8…BC scored first in eight of Jeff Hafley's games as a head coach since last year, with a 7-1 overall record. The Eagles are 3-0 in such games this year.
7…BC is 4-1 for the seventh time since joining the ACC. In six of those seasons, the Eagles finished with at least eight wins.
6…Saturday night will likely be BC's sixth time playing a game where temperatures range between 40-59 degrees at kickoff in the Jeff Hafley era, but the Eagles are only 1-4 in their previous five games.
5…Saturday breaks a string of five straight BC-NC State matchups that started at either noon or 12:30 p.m.
4...Four of BC's top-10 performances for points scored in an ACC game came against NC State with the 52 points scored in 2009 standing as a league individual record for 10 years.
3…BC has won three in a row when playing its first game after its first bye week.
2...Dave Doeren-coached teams have only posted two losing seasons in his 10 years as a head coach at NIU and NC State.
1…Boston College only has one player on its roster from North Carolina (Bryce Steele).

*****
BC-NC State X Factor

Complementary Football

BC's offense is going to face very obvious, tough sledding against NC State's defense, and while that doesn't mean the Eagles will struggle on executing their overall gameplan, it does indicate the defense has to prepare to balance out the other side of the ball. That seems relatively obvious, but it's the very definition of a complementary football style that's suited BC very well this year during successful weeks.

"It's not to me about taking away their confidence," Jeff Hafley said. "It's about us getting to the point where we're confident that we can go in and play [a certain] way. I think we've gotten to that point in every game of the season, and I know we lost against Clemson [but] I felt a big confidence pregame. I felt the confidence running out of the tunnel, and I felt the confidence in the second half."

Imposing the synergetic approach on BC doesn't mean the defense needs to match an offense's hair-on-fire approach, nor does it require an offense to slog through hard, muddy drives with two yard draw plays into the line. Quick defensive stops with well-timed explosive plays go hand-in-hand with long, sustained offensive drives, but there's elements of preventing red zone scores and finding the right situational scheme while scoring the right points after continuing drives in the same situations on the other side.

It's about controlling pace over tempo, and while it means BC can play at any speed, the issue in the past was when units would dictate or force a situation where it wasn't producing. NC State is ultra-talented, so it's more about finding the right pace to both dictate flow and keep the Wolfpack slightly off-center. Opportunities won't exist in a keyhole, but creating that brand of luck is almost as critical as identifying the right moments.

"We have to prepare hard and do everything we can each day so we can walk onto the field and feel confident," Hafley said. "We have to execute at a high level. It's going to be a very, very physical game. We have to bring our toughness because that's a tough football team. We have to take care of the football, and I think [within those elements], the game is going to come down to who can execute at a higher level."

*****
Dan's Non-Sports Observation of the Week

I love coffee.

I used to pride myself on never drinking it, but I discovered a whole new area of my life when I started consuming it after I got out of college. It quickly transformed into a morning staple, and my flavor palette gradually gravitated from the sweetest, most un-coffee-like tastes to a more bitter, welcome morning rush of caffeine.

Coffee gets a bad rap in Massachusetts because of our regional obsession with Dunkin' Donuts, and it's true that the best day of my vacation to Nashville was the day I found a "proper cup of Dunks" wandering around Vanderbilt. I had a panic attack the first time I traveled and didn't see at least four Dunks in a drive across a city, and it's a twice-per-week staple in my house even though my order's never been correct (seriously - ask any Bostonian how they take their coffee, and they'll respond before immediately saying, "But they screw it up every time.").

I never bargained for a passion for it, but the last few years led me to discover different beans and styles from around the country. My office has four coffee shops within walking distance, and I was known to hit one for the morning and another in the afternoon. It wasn't a yearning need to caffeinate as much as it was a love for the taste, but I didn't bargain for the subsequent caffeine addiction.

So you can imagine what happened last week when we ran out of coffee in my house. I'm usually good at noticing this because I set the coffee maker before I go to sleep, but I somehow neglected it last Tuesday night before crawling into bed. When our daughter woke up the next morning, I fed her and anxiously awaited the coffee maker's customary gurgle.

Because I never preset the coffee, it never turned on, and it turned even worse when I realized we didn't have any grounds left in the can. I attempted to put the baby in the car seat to go for a ride, but her hysterical screams instead woke up my wife, who had a particularly late night trying to get her to sleep. We calmed the baby, and my wife went back to sleep, but my intent to go out and buy coffee was foiled when I realized the car keys were in the bedroom.

So I sat and waited until my wife woke up a couple of hours later, at which point my body was starting to develop a caffeine headache the likes of which I hadn't experienced in years. It felt like a freight train collided with my skull, and not even the extra large caffeinated delight from Dunkin' Donuts soothed the carnage.

My crankiness spilled over into the next day, and even though I'm back to normal, I registered a couple of key realizations. First, it's time to cut back and make a concerted effort to not drink three solid cups of heavy coffee in a day, and second, don't ever make the mistake of not having an emergency pound available somewhere in the house. Just buy one. Keep it somewhere, and if you open it, replace it immediately.

*****
Scoreboard Watching

The ACC absorbed some pretty big hits when it lost non-conference games at the start of the season, and it's now increasingly obvious that the league champion won't advance to the College Football Playoff with the current roadblock occupying the top-10 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll. It's not an outright SEC/Big Ten party, but the presence of both Cincinnati, Oklahoma and Oregon are the only things standing between the two conferences and a sweep of the top 13 spots.

The good news is that the logjam eventually has to even out with intradivisional matchups, and it should open a road for the ACC champion as long as it doesn't lose two to three games. Yet that is the inherent issue with the league since only the herd thinned down to a handful of teams before Halloween, and the programs climbing the conference standings won't have the necessary weight to earn anything more than the automatic qualifier.

Wake Forest is obviously the league front runner with a perfect 6-0 record, but the 4-0 ACC mark still doesn't include games against NC State, Clemson or Boston College. Those three teams are the remaining undefeated or one-loss league teams, though the Tigers have two losses overall. BC and NC State are both 4-1 but will only play their second league game this weekend when they play each other in Chestnut Hill.

The window of opportunity is therefore huge because Florida State's 2-2 league record is tempered by a 2-4 overall mark, and Syracuse, a front runner to start the year, dropped to 0-2 when it lost to Wake last weekend. The Orange are now 3-3, which is a considering factor when bowl positioning eventually becomes part of the conversation.

The Coastal Division isn't that chaotic, but every program either has two or three losses overall with the exception of Pittsburgh's 4-1 season. The Panthers have only played one game in-league, though, a note that changes this weekend when they travel to Virginia Tech for a 3:30 p.m. start. Like the BC-NC State game, it's a possible eliminator, especially for the Hokies, who already have two overall losses.

The thinning will continue behind them, and the pack of two-loss teams will inevitably grow or turn into three-loss teams before the weekend ends. Miami, despite all its flaws, is only 0-1 in league play and heads to North Carolina this week, while Virginia hosts Duke in a must-win game. Nearly all of those teams already have three losses overall - the lone exception being the Cavaliers' 4-2 overall record - and Georgia Tech awaits Virginia next week. Any losses in any of these games will inevitably call bowl eligibility into question, a previously-unthinkable conversation after Miami and UNC started the season as front runners for the Coastal Division.

Calling five team's bowl prospects into question within a seven-team division shows how thin the margin of error is this week, and it sets the table for a dramatic, tense day of games. The Duke-Virginia game kicks that off at 12:30 p.m. before Miami and UNC battle at 3:30 opposite Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech, and NC State's game at Boston College rounds things out at 7:30. A sneaky-tough matchup is on Friday night at the Carrier Dome when Syracuse, the last team to beat Clemson on the road, hosts the Tigers at 7 p.m.

The heightened possibilities and potential fallout adds that same spice to a national radar teeming with ways to watch college football on Saturday. No. 3 Cincinnati is officially on playoff watch, which means every week is must-see theater for the Group of Five, AAC-based team. It hosts Central Florida this week at noon on ABC, the same time as No. 12 Oklahoma State's game at No. 25 Texas. In the SEC, three games are loaded for noon, including No. 20 Florida's trip to LSU and No. 21 Texas A&M's game at Missouri. No. 17 Arkansas, the loser of a 52-51 shootout against Ole Miss, hosts Auburn.

It's a very front loaded national schedule, but it's the perfect appetizer for a day that will feature two major Boston sporting events in the evening. During commercial breaks, it's also worth popping into the games involving No. 2 Iowa and No. 5 Alabama, both of which are on national television at 3:30 p.m .and 7 p.m., respectively.

******
Around the Sports World

That big time Boston Saturday is right smack in the middle of a rare weekend when the stars are perfectly aligning and the cosmos is building an upward trajectory to a potentially-dreamy crescendo. Any Boston sports fan knows what that means because it's happened before, but after years of not experiencing the apex, this weekend kicks off a time when every major sport encircles the city in one way or another.

The Red Sox are obviously front and center in that scenario after advancing to the American League Championship Series in walk-off fashion this week. They've spent the last 20 years rewriting the narrative that existed under The Curse of the Bambino, but it still never gets old watching Fenway Park explode after hanging onto the pure drama of a postseason baseball game. Game One against Houston is on Friday with Game Two on Saturday, and the nighttime first pitch in the first game only precedes a 4:20 p.m. start in the second game - or perfect viewing material for those tailgating at Alumni Stadium.

The Bruins are at home that night, though, and launch their 2021-2022 season with their first game against the Dallas Stars since February 27, 2020. It's the first game against any team that wasn't in the East Division in the NHL's temporary realignment since COVID-19 threatened the 2019-2020 season, and I'm personally looking forward to a return to games against longtime rivals the B's didn't see last season (here's looking at you, Montreal).

It's one day after the Celtics play their final preseason exhibition game against the Miami Heat, who grew into a healthy rival during the NBA Bubble's 2020 postseason. I can't put my finger on what exactly I don't like about the Heat other than Pat Riley, but that's largely because my dad taught me about his central spot of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry in the 1980s.

The New England Revolution, meanwhile, are back at home at Gillette Stadium that night to continue their assault on the MLS standings. They'll play the Chicago Fire as they continue to steamroll through the Eastern Conference, having already clinched the top seed, a second round bye and qualification to the CONCACAF Champions League next season.

Everything quiets down a bit on Sunday in time for the NFL, and the Patriots' home game against Dallas is a sneaky-competitive matchup for those of us who haven't lost faith in New England. I'm eternally convinced that something is brewing with Mac Jones and this particular team, but whether or not they can beat a marquee opponent will either be revealed or concealed at the 4:25 p.m. kickoff.

It's the calming presence, ironically enough, before the Red Sox storm returns to Fenway on Monday and Tuesday nights, and the postseason baseball leads directly into the Celtics' regular season opener on Wednesday. The Bruins are in Philadelphia that night

Baseball quiets down on Sunday in time for the NFL, but the Patriots host Dallas in a sneaky-competitive matchup at Gillette Stadium in the 4:25 p.m. block. I'm convinced there's something brewing in Foxborough with Mac Jones and this team, and I guess I can leave it at that.

The NFL usually stands alone, but it's more of a calming presence around that Red Sox storm, which returns home for Game Three and Game Four on Monday and Tuesday. Postseason Fenway then leads directly into the Celtics' regular season opener on Wednesday, a night on which the Bruins are playing in Philadelphia, and a possible Game Five should the series extend, as it probably will, past the regular four games.

I'm not sure when all of this will subside, but it's the perfect indication of what's happening during the "crossover season" in this region. It's the time when summer, fall and winter all blend together, and it's the most magical time for any fan. It didn't exist last year after COVID-19 forced bubbles, realignments and restarts, but it feels like the grand reopening for a sports title town after the pandemic sank our society more than 20 months ago.

*****
Pregame Quote and Prediction

No true Bostonian would trust a place that was sunny and pleasant all the time. But a gritty, perpetually cold and gloomy neighborhood? Throw in a couple of Dunkin' Donuts locations, and I'm right at home. -Rick Riordan

Saturday night is tailor made for a great night at Boston College. The weather forecast is calling for stereotypical New England autumn conditions, and while the rain looks like it's going to hold off, the thought of the leaves crunching under the hoodie-clad Bostonians is enough to get anyone excited for a college football game.

The fact remains, though, that BC has been searching for the springboard victory ever since it beat USC during the 2014 season. The 2018 wins over Miami and Virginia Tech felt like they were those moments, but the subsequent loss to Clemson pushed a nationally-ranked team back into the recesses of the Atlantic Division. The next year, a similar situation happened when BC had an opportunity to open the season with a 4-0 record, but the loss to Kansas derailed any opportunity to proceed through a potential 5-1 or 6-0 record before the Clemson game.

The team is closer than ever, though, and this week's game is almost more critical because those years were marked by one team's ACC dominance. This year, the Atlantic Division is wide open, and BC, like it was two weeks ago, is knocking on the door of a breakthrough. It ultimately fell short against Clemson, but NC State's previous win over the Tigers made this game the gateway to the rest of the season.

A win on Saturday would open the doors to the rest of the ACC schedule, while a loss puts the Eagles at a distinct disadvantage as Halloween looms. This is the opportunity that BC has longed to take, and it's at home on a Saturday night in the greatest sports city in the world.

Boston College and No. 21 NC State will kick off on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. from Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The game can be seen on the ACC Network and via the ESPN family of online platforms for cable subscribers with access to the channel. It can also be heard via radio broadcast on the Boston College Sports Network from Learfield, locally in Boston on WEEI 850 AM with satellite broadcast on Sirius channel 135, XM channel 193 and Online channel 955.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Conley

Dennis Grosel

Zion Johnson

Phil Jurkovec

Alec Lindstrom

Ben Petrula

Kevin Pyne

Bryce Steele

Ozzy Trapilo

Tyler Vrabel