Boston College at Virginia Tech: Bottom Line & Pick
By Joe Micik
You have to admit, this doesn’t look too promising on paper.
Virginia Tech are ranked anywhere from 12th to 16th, depending on what poll or what ridiculous computer formula you ask. Boston College clearly is not.
This pick has nothing to do with how the Eagles have gotten blown out in both of their road games so far this year (combined score against, 66-17), because those are just two games, and everything to do with their body of work so far. It also has a lot to do with Virginia Tech’s body of work, and how they’re a very good team as they typically are.
The matchup, simply put, is bad for BC. Virginia Tech’s offense will probably have a significant advantage over our defense, even in spite of having one of the best linebackers in the country, and their defense will have an extraordinarily large advantage over BC’s offense. They are one of the best defenses in the nation across the board, and BC is one of the worst offenses, which makes for an extreme mismatch. I would not be surprised if the Eagles don’t score until garbage time.
I know some people out there are thinking upset, and you know what, if you’re a BC fan, that’s fine. You’re entitled to believe in your team, even when they’re 1-5. I want to believe in them, even though they haven’t given me much reason to (and I still legitimately feel for the players),and I’m going to be just as irritated as you when/if they lose. Let’s be real though: just like the last game at Clemson, BC would have to play the game of their lives combined with Virginia Tech playing hands-down their worst game of the season so far for the Eagles to be in this one at the end. When you come into it knowing that the defense is going to have to virtually pitch a shutout for your guys to have a chance, you know it’s going to be an uphill climb.
Some of those same people are probably thinking about the game down there four years ago, but this isn’t 2007; we’re not #2 (#2 from the bottom, maybe) and Matt Ryan, Jeff Jagodzinski and Rich Gunnell aren’t walking through that door. It’s more like 2009, and we all know what happened when the Eagles went down to Lane Stadium then. That ’09 team found a way to gut out eight wins, however; this ’11 BC team will have trouble winning their second. That victory, if it comes, almost certainly will not be on Saturday. Clemson showed us that the Hokies can be beaten, but I do not think we’re the team to follow in their footsteps. Virginia Tech 31, Boston College 10.
But don’t worry, you’ll still have some of the usual suspects in the print media telling us not to believe our lying eyes and that things are actually much better than they look, and that the coach is fine because he bought BC employees lunch one day. (And you won’t hear anything about Virginia Tech being really good despite the fact that they, like BC, have young players and are winning games with a sophomore QB and a handful of key injuries.) All is well, all is well!