Boston College Football vs Virginia: Football Preview

Somehow, someway we made it. Kudos to Jeff Hafley and crew for making it this far without a whiff of the COVID. It’s the last game of the regular season for Boston’s College. The Eagles head down to Charlottesville to take on Virginia this Saturday at 3:30. The Cavaliers are riding a three game win streak with big wins over UNC and Louisville, but remain 4-4 overall. Last weekend’s game against Florida State was postponed and subsequently cancelled due to COVID.

The Eagles are of course coming off a win over the Cardinals to improve to 6-4. UVA has yet to beat BC (0-6 all time) on the gridiron. Who knows what happens after this, but this will be the last BC football game for a bit, and I’m sure the Eagles are looking to end the season right. UVA still has a makeup game against rival Virginia Tech next weekend.

Game Preview

BC Offense v UVA Defense

Quarterback Phil Jurkovec and running back David Bailey were both knocked out of the Louisville game last weekend, but both appear good to go this weekend. Virginia has been a passing sieve this season, worst in the ACC, so expect the Eagles to make it rain. They’re allowing nearly 300 yards per game in the air, and Jurkovec is averaging 260.

UVA is still likely without their pair of starting safeties in Joey Blount and Brenton Nelson. Their star linebacker, Charles Snowden, suffered a season-ending injury in their last outing against Abilene Christian. Snowden was named a Butkus Award semifinalist for the nation’s top linebacker. He’s logged 44 tackles, 10 for loss, and six sacks. The Virginia defense racks up tackles for loss and have a strong pass rush, but without Snowden and with BC’s offensive line playing very well of late, I expect BC’s offense to hum.

Eagles Defense v Cavaliers Offense

UVA QB Brennan Armstrong has been a pleasant surprise this season for the Wahoo faithful. He missed most of two games due to injury which both resulted in losses. He’s a dual-threat, our favorite, throwing for over 1,500 yards and running for 400 yards. Armstrong is averaging about 4.2 yards a carry and is the team’s leading rusher. Still, he’s thrown eight interceptions on the season, but only two in the past three outings.

Billy Kemp is the team’s leading receiver with over 500 yards and is averaging the most receptions per game in the ACC (6.5). He’ll line up all around, while freshman Lavel Davis Jr. will serve as a deep threat. Davis leads the ACC in yards per reception, but that’s only because Zay does everything.

Overall, the Cavaliers’ offense is about average, but will pose a good challenge for the Eagles defense. The Eagles should be more battle tested against Armstrong’s mobility given the recent weeks, but he’ll still have a considerable advantage. If they can continue to force turnovers, that should make up for most.

Oddsmakers

BC is down to +4 point underdog after initially spotted 7 points. The disrespect.

over/under 54.5

BC +160 / UVA -182

Prediction

BC 30 - UVA 24

Post-Game Narrative

This BC team picked to finish near or at the bottom of the conference will finish in the top half. Jeff Hafley and co. are well on their way, exceeding all expectations and putting the league on notice. Look for them to be the class ‘dark horse’ pick as soon as next season.

Wa-hoo-wa, all the ‘hoos in who-ville have a special surprise in store for them.