Brian: Last season, the Eagles handled Kent State pretty easily in Chestnut Hill, jumping out to a 34-0 lead before backup (and now starting) QB Spencer Keith put the Golden Flashes on the board for their only score late in the fourth quarter. Despite putting up sub-par numbers in the win, a trio of BC quarterbacks were able to handle Kent State easily.
BC has outscored Kent State 55-7 in their only two meetings in program history. Will this year be any different or do you expect BC to once against roll in their third and final scheduled meeting with Kent State? How do you see Saturday's game going down?
Jeff: I see tomorrow's game going very similar to last year's game. Is Kent State better than Weber State? Certainly. But I'm not so sure there is a huge gap. Weber State is a top 20 I-AA school and Kent State is a bottom 30 or so Division I program right now. But, since BC is fimiliar with Kent State and Kent State is a Division I school, I think BC will be able to keep the intensity up longer and they will run Harris more, which will lead to winning comfortably instead of getting up 31-3 and then being significantly outscored from there as they did last Saturday.
Brian: After the Kent State game, BC takes a break from their annually scheduled MAC series until 2015, when they'll face Buffalo in 2015-16. Senior DE Alex Albright is looking forward to the coin toss as he will be reunited with two friends from high school that are captains of the Kent State team. I've always felt that playing the annual MAC game was a good way of keeping BC relevant in the Midwest, particularly in Ohio and the Cincinnati areas where BC has traditionally recruited well.
Do you think that not playing a MAC team over the next few years will adversely affect BC's recruiting efforts in their Ohio pipeline?
Jeff: We've seen BC players get excited before when playing MAC schools like when Kiwi and Trueblood got to go home before their game against Ball State but I don't think this will hurt future recruiting. Even if it does currently have a significant effect on recruiting in that area, recruits will remember BC playing MAC schools for the next 2-3 recruiting seasons and then coaches will be able to point to the future schedule and tell recruits that we're playing MAC schools in the coming years.
Big Finish
Brian: Would you rather BC wear UA uniforms where you can't make out the numbers or any one of Nike's hideous Pro-Combat uniforms?
Jeff: I really like some of the Pro-Combat uniforms.
Jeff: Were you happy with the 34,000+ attendance number last week and will we break that number this weekend?
Brian: No, and definitely no.
Brian: Herzlich was on the field for a total of 31 snaps in the opener against Weber State. Over/under 31 snaps in tomorrow's game against Kent State?
Jeff: Absolutely over.
Jeff: HD has the Eagles at #8 in her latest power rankings, behind N.C. State. That cool with you?
Brian: No. Not when their own fans say last week's performance feels very "five winnish."
Brian: After just one week of play, the Orlando Sentinel predicts a Boston College-Notre Dame rematch in the Champs Sports Bowl. Chances that this happens this year?
Jeff: Gotta be slim at this point. Great chance BC slips lower than the Champs Bowl in the ACC bowl pecking order.
Jeff: The ESPNU commercials for this weekend's game say Kent State is taking on Dave Shinskie and the Eagles. Does the WWL know something about the BC QB battle or lack thereof that you don't?
Brian: Nope. Shinskie is the named starter. He's the leader, hence "Shinskie and the Eagles."
Brian: Last one. With an 11 tackle performance in the opener, Luke Kuechly now has 10 straight games of 10 or more tackles. Does he push that streak to 11 games this weekend?
Jeff: I'm going to say no with Herzlich and some others getting some more reps and Kent State won't run as many plays as Weber did last weekend.
Pick 5
Week 1 didn't start out too great for either Jeff or myself. Jeff finished the weekend 2-3 while I went a paltry 1-4 (at least Boise State came through for me, even though the line moved from -1.5 to +1.5 after I picked the Broncos). Amazingly, after 2 years and 1 week of our Pick 5 competition, Jeff and I are tied with an all-time record of 80-70 (.533).
Jeff:
Duke at Wake Forest -6
Kent State at Boston College -17.5
LSU -9.5 at Vanderbilt
Buffalo at Baylor -16
N.C. State +3 at UCF
Brian:
Florida State +7.5 at Oklahoma
Michigan at Notre Dame -3.5
Miami at Ohio State -8.5
Syracuse +13 at Washington
Oregon -11.5 at Tennessee