Boston College vs. NC State: Weekly Kickoff

The Colorado State game feels so long ago doesn't it?

Boston College returns to the gridiron this week for its first game outside the state of Massachusetts. At 3-2, it's not the record the Eagles probably could have, but they're still on pace for bowl eligibility as long as they can take care of business against the right opponents.

NC State represents one of those teams. A win on Saturday in Raleigh would go miles to improving BC's chances at how we feel about them getting into a bowl. Despite getting them one win closer, it would put BC within two shots with both Wake Forest and Syracuse remaining on the schedule. Let's also remember that where it matters most at this point - the ACC record - BC is only 0-1 opening up their Atlantic Division schedule on Saturday.

That said, any given Saturday can produce any given result.

Let's get right into it:

This Week's Storylines (Shawshank Redemption Edition)

"Let me tell you something, my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane." - Red

Red had been in prison so long, he'd lost all sense of hope. All he saw was the disappointment. What he didn't know was that Andy Dufresne had hope because he had a plan. I guess that's my recommendation to everyone this week. You might look at the BC season and see the loss to Colorado State, but I'm recommending instead to have hope. I have hope because I'm seeing the larger plan, that BC is tunneling its way to a bowl berth by using its own plan. It might sound insane, and you might shy away from it because it's crazy and you don't want to be disappointed by the stench of failure. But I really believe BC has a plan to get this team up to 6-6. I believe this team is heading for a bowl berth. At the beginning of the season, I said 6-6 was the team's record. As of October 6, I still believe 6-6 is going to be the final record.

And for anyone who thinks coaching at BC lost that game, I suggest rewatching the last five seconds of UMass-Miami. That's how coaching loses a game. BC didn't coach badly against Colorado State. I reiterate that.

"I believe in two things: discipline and the Bible. Here you'll receive both. Put your trust in the Lord; your ass belongs to me. Welcome to Shawshank." - Warden Norton

The BC Eagles might need to be praying because I think practice is going to pick up in a big way. In their bye week, BC lost one of their starting defensive backs when Bryce Jones was tossed off the team for a violation of team rules. With Jones out, there's a massive hole in the defensive backfield. But it also means Steve Addazio is grabbing control of this team. These guys tackled like utter crap against Colorado State. They better pray to the Lord because this week is about discipline. There will be tough, physical practices reinforcing the fundamentals. It might seem harsh, but it'll get this team in line. Come Saturday, they'll need to be executing the game plan a helluva lot better than they did two weeks ago.

"The man likes to play chess. Let's get him some rocks." - Red

Coach Addazio has to mold this team from a bunch of unshaped rocks into a football team using whatever live game experience he can. Into October, this season is still very young. This week, for the first time, BC heads to the road out of Massachusetts. They do it for the first time following a bye week. For that reason, we're going to see, this week especially, how the coaching staff molded the rocks they've had. They're looking for some particular types of rocks so they can mold them how they intend to mold them. We'll see this week if they're closer to making chess pieces or if they cost us two packs of smokes for being way wrong about them.

Special bonus quote: "Andy Dufresne - who crawled through a river of s--t and came out clean on the other side." - Red

We're in the middle of the river of excrement. Let's see how we come out on the other side before we make presumptions about anything about this week or this season, shall we?

Matchup Fun Facts

School: North Carolina State University at Raleigh
Nickname: Wolfpack

Founded: 1887
All-Time Record: 565-552-55
Claimed National Championships: 0
Bowl Games: 27
Postseason Record: 14-12-1

Head Coach: Dave Doeren
All-Time Record: 7-11

Years at School: Two

Head-to-Head With BC

All-Time Series: BC leads, 7-4
Streak: BC, 1
Last BC Win: 2013 (38-21 at BC)
Last NCSU Win: 2012 (27-10 at NCSU)
First Meeting: 1936 (BC 7, NCSU 3)