Maine at Boston College: (No) Opening Line & The Basics

For as long as Boston College football fans had been looking forward to the season-opening game against Miami, we’re already moving on to Week 2. Fortunately for the Eagles, it is highly likely to be the week that yields their first win. On Saturday at 1pm Eastern, BC will host the Maine Black Bears on ESPN3.

The Eagles will head into that contest at 0-1 after losing to Miami on September 1, 41-32. In that contest, BC amassed over 500 yards of total offense for the first time since October 4, 2008 when they beat NC State, 38-31. Chris Crane had 428 passing yards there, while Chase Rettig had 441 against the Hurricanes in one of the best passing performances the school has had in almost two decades (since Glenn Foley, 1993). The defense received a large share of the blame for the loss, as they had difficulty tackling and got torched several times for big plays, but the offense had its own problems despite the massive yardage gains. A number of pass drops, fumbles, and a mostly-ineffective running game did not help matters.

Meanwhile, Maine will open their season at Alumni Stadium. The Black Bears ended last year at 9-4, after having advanced in the FCS playoffs. They are the preseason #16 FCS team, which doesn’t count for a whole lot against a BCS conference club, but they are in fact one of the better I-AA teams.

There is no betting line for this contest, and there might not be one. If there was one, the Eagles would doubtlessly be a solid favorite. Not an Oklahoma State-Savannah State sort of favorite, but a favorite, probably by several touchdowns. Even a sub-par BC team last season cleaned up against their FCS ritual sacrifice, so we approach this game with the mindset that this will be a good weekend for the Eagles.