After a battle of antiquity against the Holy Cross Crusaders, the Eagles will fly south to BB&T Field to go up against ACC rival Wake Forest for BC’s first conference clash of the season. The past few contests against the Deacs have always left mixed feelings in Eagles fans; sometimes sweet and other times full of bitterness and disgust. It is what makes this conference rivalry all the more enjoyable because you simply never know what you are going to get. Aside from two ties in the early 1950s, Wake Forest has an overall losing record against BC at 10-13. Since the last five games have brought us Eagles fans nothing but sheer surprise, let’s take a look at how those games unfolded.
Game # 21 (2013): Boston College - 24 vs Wake Forest - 10
- Location: Chestnut Hill, MA
- In this night tilt game, we saw an excellent game of classic ACC rival football with Andre Williams stealing the spotlight.
- Williams ran for 204 yards of 35 carries and one touchdown.
- QB Chase Rettig was rather conservative with the ball as he only attempted 14 passes but connected on two touchdowns to wide receivers Alex Amidon and Spiffy Evans
Game #22 (2014): Boston College - 23 vs. Wake Forest - 17
- Location: Winston-Salem, NC
- In this mid-season tilt, Tyler Murphy continued his dominance on the ground rushing for 77 yards on 14 carries. However, it was Jon Hilliman that would lead the Eags in the running game as he broke the century mark by running for 102 yards on 20 carries and collecting two TDs on the way.
- Shakim Phillips also grabbed his only reception of the day for 37 yards and a BC TD
- On the defensive side of the ball, future Bronco Justin Simmons snagged a pick.
Game #23 (2015): Boston College - 0 vs. Wake Forest - 3
- Yeah, I think this pic does this game enough justice
Game #24 (2016): Boston College - 17 vs. Wake Forest - 14
- Location: Winston-Salem, NC
- With this being a late season match-up, BC’s bowl eligibility was on the line against the Deacs making this game extremely pivotal for the Eagles.
- BC’s offense was not quite productive in the day as they were only had 167 yards on the ground. Nonetheless, BC’s defense stood firm and kept the Eagles in the game.
- Harold Landry had one pick and 9 total tackles on the day. Lukas Dennis also grabbed an interception on WF’s last drive of the game to seal the deal and get a win for BC.
- On the offensive side, RB Myles Willis had an 11 yard scamper into the endzone making it his longest rushing attempt of the evening
- Patrick Towles also connected with Tommy Sweeney for another BC TD. Towles finished with only 74 yards passing on the day.
Game #25 (2017): Boston College - 10 vs. Wake Forest - 34
- Location: Chestnut Hill, MA
- This was QB Anthony Brown’s first glimpse at the Wake Forest defense and needless to say it did not bode well. He was able to find Jon Hilliman for a short 6 yard TD pass, but that would be the only touchdown for the Eagles on the day. Brown ended up throwing three interceptions with a completion percentage of 37.9%. It wasn’t before long that Daz ended up subbing out Brown for backup QB Darius Wade who too was not very productive.
- RB AJ Dillon was consistently stuffed at the line of scrimmage as he finished with only 43 yards on 15 carries, thus averaging 2.9 yards per carry.
While BC does have a slight edge in the series, by no means should this be chalked up as an easy win. Wake Forest in known to keep these contests close and I am confident in saying that this game could go either way. It all comes down to who shows up on game day. With confidence, I will argue that it will be Heisman-Hopeful AJ Dillon who will be looking to get revenge on a team that prevented him from showcasing his talents one year prior.