Boston College Football: Taking A Look At The Rest Of The Schedule

Boston College's remaining seven opponents went just 4-3 this past Saturday, though two of those three losses were because two future opponents played each other--Louisville over Wake Forest, 20-10, and Florida State over N.C. State, 56-41.

With five games down, here is a look at how the remaining seven opponents on Boston College's schedule have fared so far this season:

@ N.C. State Wolfpack (4-1) -- Welcome to the Moral Victory over Florida State Club, N.C. State. Punch and pie. The Wolfpack kept it close with top-ranked Florida State for three quarters before falling apart late. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett, another Florida transfer, threw for 359 yards and 3 TDs on 32-of-48 passing. N.C. State rolled up 520 total yards of offense on Florida State which has looked mortal over the past few weeks. Even with a road game at Clemson this week, don't be surprised if State is a significant home favorite in two weeks when they host the Eagles.

Clemson Tigers (2-2) -- The Tigers rebounded from their OT loss at Florida State by rolling up 528 total yards of offense (436 through the air) on North Carolina en route to a 50-35 victory over the Heels. Clemson's passing attack ranks ninth in the nation this week; nightmare fuel for Don Brown's dudes. Despite a disappointing 2-2 start to the year, Clemson's looking like a team that might not lose another game in 2014.

@ Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-3) -- Despite out-gaining Wake Forest by 328 yards, Louisville won an ugly game over the Deacons, 20-10, on Saturday. The Cardinals limited the Demon Deacons to -22 yards rushing, but committed 11 penalties and fumbled three times in an ugly W. Wake is looking at BC as its best chance of notching another victory this season. Unfortunately, BC is looking at Wake as its best chance at another W, too.

@ Virginia Tech Hokies (3-2) -- The Hokies snapped a two-game slide with a 35-17 victory over Western Michigan, but Frank Beamer is still not pleased, calling Tech a "work in progress." Tough to really say what this year's Hokies team is all about, but I suspect we'll know much more by the time BC is ready to head down to Blacksburg to take on Tech. The Hokies next three games before the BC game are all within the Coastal Division: @ North Carolina, @ Pittsburgh and Miami.

Louisville Cardinals (4-1) -- The Cardinals gutted out a pretty ugly 20-10 victory over Wake Forest this past weekend. Louisville is 4-1 on the year but only has one moderately impressive win on the season: its season-opening 31-13 victory over Miami. The back half of the schedule gets tougher for Petrino's bunch. The Cardinals still have games against two teams ranked in the top 10 this week--#1 Florida State and at #9 Notre Dame--as well as ACC road games at Syracuse, BC and Clemson. Even a season ending game vs. Kentucky isn't looking like a gimme at this point.

@ Florida State Seminoles (4-0) -- The Seminoles have looked strangely human the past few weeks and probably should have lost at home vs. Clemson (albeit playing without QB Jameis Winston). I find this past weekend's struggles against N.C. State and mobile QB Jacoby Brissett oddly comforting in a way, even if BC has little to no chance of notching its second top 10 opponent of the season.

Syracuse Orange (2-2) -- The Orange wrapped up non-conference play with a listless 31-15 loss to Notre Dame in the Meadowlands. Despite turning over the Irish offense five times (!) and rolling up 429 total yards of offense, the Orange offense could manage just 9 points (a FG, a touchdown but a missed PAT). I went into this season pretty down on Syracuse as a program and nothing they've really done up until this point seems to suggests otherwise. The nightmare #OrangeEagle scenario where both BC and SU enter the final weekend needing one more win to become bowl eligible beckons.

Record of Boston College's remaining 10 opponents: 21-11

A couple things stand out. Obviously not very ideal that four of BC's final seven games are on the road; particularly given the Eagles' poor results away from Alumni Stadium last season (2-4 record with late-fourth quarter victories over New Mexico State and Maryland). BC will also likely play two teams ranked in the top 25 at game time the rest of the way: Florida State and Clemson.

Despite losing what appeared to be a very favorable bowl eligibility cushion with the loss to Colorado State, there seems to be enough toss-up games where a path to three more wins and bowl eligibility isn't too far out of reach. The @ Wake Forest game is shaping up to be a near must-win for BC's bowl hopes, but outside of, say, Florida State and Clemson, there are enough toss up games that it's certainly conceivable to get to three more Ws.