Boston College at Massachusetts: Opening Line & The Basics

Our sixth season of Boston College Eagles football on Soaring to Glory begins with the pregame point spread & other basic facts about Saturday’s Boston College at Massachusetts game.

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Finally, we are beyond the stage of predicting and guessing (until our weekly picks segments, that is) and it is time to play the game. Stuff is actually happening in Boston College sports now, and once more we get to converge upon Alumni Stadium. Eagles fans will do that seven times this year, in fact.

But before we can meet on Shea Field for beers and burgers, Boston College’s road will take them through Foxboro.

The Eagles and Minutemen will open their respective 2014 seasons against one another, both looking to get the year started off right. The primer is as follows:

Boston College at Massachusetts: The Line

Boston College -14.5

Boston College at Massachusetts: Us

• Head Coach Steve Addazio (2nd; 7-6)
• Last game: defeated by Arizona in AdvoCare V100 Bowl, 42-19
• This season: 0-0 (0-0 ACC)
• Won season opener in 2013 against Villanova; have only lost two season openers (2011 Northwestern and 2012 Miami) since joining ACC

Boston College at Massachusetts: Them

• Head Coach Mark Whipple (7th; 49-26 overall as an FCS team)
• Last game: defeated by Ohio, 51-23
• This season: 0-0 (0-0 MAC)
• Fully joined FBS in 2013, posted a 1-11 (1-7) record
• Transitional FBS membership in 2012, also posted a 1-11 (1-7) record
• In both cases, UMass’s lone win was against a team that went winless in the MAC

Boston College at Massachusetts: The Game

• 25th all-time meeting between Eagles and Minutemen
• Eagles lead series, 19-5
• Boston College 7-2 on road against UMass all-time
• Most recent meeting: 2011 (BC wins, 45-17)
• Eagles on seven-game win streak; have not lost to UMass since 1978

• Saturday, August 30, 2014, 3:00pm ET
• TV: ESPN3
• Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts
• Long-range forecast: Partly cloudy, 78

Boston College at Massachusetts: Initial Evaluation

There is little doubt that the Minutemen are going to come out with a lot of energy, seeing as this is being built up to be the “Battle for the Bay State” and returned head coach Mark Whipple very clearly sees this as a rivalry.

Nevertheless, whatever Boston College’s troubles may be at this point, the Minutemen are in their second season as a full-fledged FBS team, going 2-22 since leaving the CAA. Whipple will make UMass fans more optimistic than Charley Molnar, but the Minutemen are a bad team, hence the Eagles are two-touchdown favorites.

Boston College will have to prepare themselves to ride out an initial wave of emotion, and come up with one of their own.