|
|
Boston College - Wake Forest Matchup
#14 Boston College (5-1) will take on Wake Forest (2-4) this Saturday at Alumni Stadium. The Eagles
will look to avenge losses to the Demon Deacons in both 2003 and 2004. The Eagles are coming off a
28-17 penalty-filled win over Virginia last week. Wake Forest lost to Florida State 41-24. The
Eagles are a 14 point favorite. Here are the key players:
The Quarterbacks |
|
Quinton Porter -- 70.7% comp, 890 yards, 6 TD, 3 INT |
|
Cory Randolph -- 75.5% comp, 353 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT |
Top Rushers |
|
L.V. Whitworth -- 426 yards, 4.5 ypc, 3 TD |
|
Andre Callender -- 414 yards, 5.5 ypc, 1 TD |
|
Chris Barclay -- 586 yards, 5.9 ypc, 6 TD |
|
Micah Andrews -- 503 yards, 5.7 ypc, 0 TD |
Top Receivers |
|
Will Blackmon (WR) -- 24 catches, 266 yards, 2 TD |
|
Larry Lester (WR) -- 19 catches, 222 yards, 0 TD |
|
Nate Morton (WR) -- 19 catches, 252 yards, 1 TD |
|
Demir Boldin (WR) -- 8 catches, 108 yards, 0 TD |
Top Defenders |
|
Ray Henderson (LB) -- 33 tackles, 1 INT |
|
Brian Toal (LB) -- 27 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss |
|
Mathias Kiwanuka (DE) -- 23 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 1 FF |
|
Josh Gattis (FS) -- 40 tackles, 2 INT, 4 PBU |
|
Patrick Ghee (SS) -- 39 tackles |
|
Jon Abbate (MLB) -- 35 tackles |
The Kickers |
|
Ryan Ohliger -- 6/11 FG, 14/15 PAT |
|
Sam Swank -- 9/13 FG, 15/15 PAT |
The Punters |
|
Johnny Ayers -- 40.8 yards per punt |
|
Ryan Plackemeier -- 46.0 yards per punt |
The Kick Returners |
|
Will Blackmon -- 18.8 yds per KO return, 6.0 yds per punt return (1 TD) |
|
Kevin Marion -- 18.6 yards per KO ret |
|
Willie Idlette -- 6.1 yards per punt return |
Final Analysis
The Wake Forest offense is capable of putting lots of points on the board. They have scored 31 points
or more in four of their last five games and rushed for 247 yards last week against a stingy Florida State run
defense. Cory Randolph has completed 75% of his passes and running backs Chris Barclay and Micah
Andrews are averaging 5.9 and 5.7 yards per carry, respectively. This will be an interesting matchup
for a BC defense that is ranked 5th in the nation against the run.
The Wake Forest defense has had all kinds of problems the past two weeks, surrendering a whopping
1,041 total yards to Clemson and Florida State. The Demon Deacons have had little success stopping
the run or the pass in recent weeks. This is great news for a BC running game that seems to be
getting better each week and for Quinton Porter, who should be healthier than he was last week against
Virginia.
The kicking game essentially cost BC a win last year at Wake Forest. BC is having problems with field
goals once again. The advantage in the kicking game clearly goes to Wake Forest. Both teams
have had little success returning punts or kickoffs this season.
Boston College has been better than Wake Forest in each of the past two seasons, but the Deacons
are 2-0 during that time because of BC mistakes. If BC continues to commit penalties and turn the
ball over, they could certainly lose to Wake for a third consecutive year. If they limit mistakes
and get off to a good start, this should be a relatively easy win. Wake Forest has a solid running
game but they cannot win this game at the line of scrimmage. BC's offensive line outweighs Wake's
defensive line by an average of 63 pounds per man. Wake Forest's offensive line outweighs BC's
defensive line by just three pounds per man. BC will try to make this a battle in the trenches.
Wake Forest will attempt to use their speed to make big plays. This should be a fun game to watch and
hopefully, there won't be any chop blocks.
Final Score: Boston College 34 Wake Forest 23
|
|
Wake Forest by the Numbers
Wake Forest has beaten BC in each of the past two seasons
Chris Barclay is third in the country in career rushing yards among active players with 3,491
|
Statistic |
BC |
WF |
Offense - Run |
38 |
17 |
Offense - Pass |
35 |
102 |
Offense - Total |
26 |
64 |
Defense - Run |
5 |
64 |
Defense - Pass |
39 |
95 |
Defense - Total |
10 |
84 |
|
|