Boston College vs Virginia Tech - Offense Preview

Virginia Tech has limped to a 4-4 record this year in large part to their mediocre offense, who are putting up just 17.5 PPG against ACC competition this year. Of course, Boston College’s offense is just flat-out bad. Either way, the BC defense may have an easier time dealing with the Hokies than previous opponents. They don’t make many mistakes, but they also aren’t generating a lot of scoring opportunities. Let’s lay it out:

Quarterback

Braxton Burmeister is the starting QB for the Hokies and he’s been underwhelming for them, but not bad. Through 8 games he’s throwing for 187 YPG, 1 TD per game, rushing for 34 YPG, and has gotten 2 total rushing TDs. Burmeister is not lighting the ACC on fire, but with a 54.3% completion percentage and only 3 INTs on the year, he’s getting the job done.

Running backs

Virginia Tech has a dual attack at the RB position, relying on both lead back Raheem Blackshear as well as complimentary back Malachi Thomas to split the bulk of the rushing. Combined, these two have racked up 82.5 rushing YPG and 7 total rushing TDs. Blackshear can also occasionally put in some work through the air, as he has 180 receiving yards so far this season, but these two primarily work on the ground. Those numbers aren’t super impressive, so BC may have an easier time dealing with the rush than they had against the Syracuse Orange’s rush-heavy attack.

Receivers

Virginia Tech’s star WR is clearly junior Tre Turner. He had a 187-yard performance last week against Georgia Tech and is averaging a whopping 17.7 yards per catch over 8 games and 34 total receptions. That is a big number for a guy who catches that many passes. The Hokies also have a couple other threats, like their pair of sophomore WRs Tayvion Robinson and Kaleb Smith, but they’re about as skilled as any other depth WRs in the ACC.