Boston College Football Week 5 Poll: Wake Forest Game

Of course one of the biggest stories from last week's trouncing of UMass was the return of tailback Montel Harris. The ACC preseason Offensive Player of the Year was relatively quiet, rushing the ball 9 times for 27 yards. However even in his limited role his impact was still felt when he blasted ahead for first on a huge 4th and 1. Because of the previous injury to his knee, Harris gone from BC's biggest weapon to the Eagles' biggest question mark. Now with another week of practice under his belt, we are all left to wonder how effective he will be against Wake Forest this weekend.

Spaz was guarded when asked about the role Montel will play this weekend. 

"Well, he obviously was very limited going into last week, and he was limited there and you know, we have tried to step up his workload a little bit this week, and you know, we'll ask Montel to do whatever Montel can do and handle as much as he can."

What can we take from Spaz's comments? Montel is still not a 100 percent and is still building back his stamina which isn't much of a surprise. Does that mean we can expect 15-20 carries out of Harris with a solid mix of Andre Williams and Tahj Kimble? Or will Spaz really push Montel and try to put him 25 carries or more? My personal opinion is less than 20 carries, but that remains to be seen. 

How will the defensive matchup effect Harris's game?

Wake Forest has an excellent rushing defense, allowing an average of 84.0 yards a game. True it's only three games, and one of those games was against pass happy Tom O'Brien, but those still are impressive defensive statistics. Wake's defensive front is small, with no defensive linemen weighing in more than 260 pounds. But what they lack in size, they make up with speed which could cause problems for the much larger BC offensive line. If the Wake defenders are constantly beating the BC linemen off the ball, Harris is going to have an ineffective day. 

I know I sound like a broken record when I say this, but if BC wants to have a chance against any of their remaining ACC opponents (and Notre Dame), they need an effective Montel Harris. He takes the pressure off of Chase Rettig and the passing game, and just the threat of Harris gives the wide receivers just enough cushion to get open and make big plays. The other backs are great complimentary backs at this point, but just don't cut it. With Montel Harris, goes the Boston College Eagles.