Final Thoughts & Predictions - Boston College vs Louisville

Tomorrow afternoon, the Boston College Eagles host the Louisville Cardinals at Alumni Stadium at 12pm ET. Boston College is 1-3 and still seeking their first FBS win of the season after dropping games to Rutgers, Virginia Tech, and FSU. Louisville is 2-2 and has already found its first 2 FBS wins against UCF and USF, but they sit at 0-2 in the ACC after losses to Syracuse and Florida State.

After being utterly obliterated by the Florida State Seminoles last Saturday night by a score of 44-14, BC is looking for any positive momentum they can find against a Louisville squad that is likely to be one of the more beatable teams in the ACC Atlantic. The Cardinals have struggled in losses against ACC teams like Syracuse and Florida State early this year, which may indicate that they could end up towards the bottom of the conference standings. But BC itself is on a trajectory to land at the very bottom of the ACC, so any conference win for them will be a challenge regardless.

What to Watch For

• Malik Cunningham. Louisville boasts one of the nation’s best QBs in senior Malik Cunningham, and stopping him will be task #1 for Boston College’s defense. Cunningham put up over 1,000 rushing yards and almost 3,000 yards passing last season, good enough for 5th and 6th place in both categories among all ACC players (not just QBs). BC’s front 7 is faster than ever under Jeff Hafley, but they lack size and may struggle to bring down such an effective rushing unit.
• Louisville’s coaching. Louisville fans have been complaining all season (and last year) about their team’s play-calling and general coaching ability. The offense can get a bit uninspired despite the weapon they have at QB, the special teams unit is mistake prone, and the penalties can come in bunches at bad times. If Louisville has a particularly bad gameplan or execution from their coaching staff, they could let BC hang around too long and possibly give up a late surprise upset.
• Yes, BC’s offensive line. I’m getting tired of talking about it, but it has to be mentioned. BC’s Achilles heel this season has been its offensive line and, while they did show some flashes of improvement in certain drives against FSU, there remains tons and tons of growth for this unit. The rest of the BC offense simply can’t open up until the OL improves, particularly the rushing attack. Pat Garwo has been running into a wall all season and Phil Jurkovec is facing more pressure than any other QB in FBS football. It’s bad and probably won’t get much better soon.

Tailgate Treat of the Week

A 12pm kickoff means another morning tailgate, so why not spice up your morning with a little taste of the new fall season? I’m sending you to Brothers & Sisters Co. over in Brookline to pick up their Honey Pumpkin Latte. Just a short trip down the D-line, Brothers & Sisters is a fantastic little coffeeshop making great drinks (and ice cream) year-round. I recently had a Lavender Lemonade there and it was remarkable how well they combined the two distinct flavors. The Honey Pumpkin Latte will give you the extra honey-sweet boost you need for what will be a long day of tailgating and fall football.

Prediction: Louisville 28 Boston College 20

I see this as a progress game for Boston College, but not one they pull out with a W. Louisville is at a level where BC shouldn’t be completely uncompetitive against them and may be able to string together some good plays leading to scores and stops. The Eagles hopefully can start building up some small successes that lead to progress in improving their dreadful start to the season. It will be a slow process, but there is hope that this team will start figuring some things out, and Louisville is the perfect opportunity to start doing so.

Or maybe the toilet flush keeps spiraling. We’ll find out on Saturday at noon.