Team Capsule: Boston College Eagles

Our next installment in our preview of the 2017 Wake Forest football season previews the Boston College Eagles, in what has become affectionately known as “The Rivalry”.

August 31st - Presbyterian

The Demon Deacons will travel to Chestnut Hill to take on the Eagles on Saturday, September 9th at 1:00 pm.

Be sure to check out our Q&A with BCInterruption, our SBNation partner blog covering all things Boston College sports.

Team: Boston College Eagles

Location: Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

Total Enrollment: 14,250

Conference: Atlantic Coast Conference (Atlantic Division)

Home Stadium: Alumni Stadium (44,500 capacity)

Head Coach: Steve Addazio (5th season, 24-27 at BC, 37-38 overall, 2-2 in bowls)

2016 Record: 7-6 (2-6 in ACC, tied for 6th in Atlantic Division, won bowl game)

PPG: 20.4 (118th of 128 FBS teams)

PAPG: 25.0 (44th of 128 FBS teams)

Best Win: The Eagles had three 30+ point wins, against Wagner (42-10), Buffalo (35-3), and UConn (30-0). But their best wins were probably on the road at fellow ACC opponents NC State (21-14) and Wake Forest (17-14). The win against Wake made them bowl eligible.

Their best win was in the QuickLane Bowl against Maryland by the score of 36-30. It was their first bowl win since 2007.

Worst Loss: Boston College suffered several blowout losses, coming at the hands of Virginia Tech (49-0), Clemson (56-10), Louisville (52-7), and Florida State (45-7). But these were all against ranked teams that were blowing out the competition the entire year.

Probably the worst loss came at home against a Syracuse team that failed to make a bowl game and would finish with only four wins. This loss had many analysts and fans saying that Boston College was headed for another losing season and another year without a bowl game appearance.

Vegas Over/Under: 4 wins, -120 (vegasinsider.com)

Boston College had a decent year last year based on recent seasons. They got to a decent bowl game and defeated a worthy opponent in Maryland.

But their offense was terrible, as they struggled to score against opponents with even decent defenses. BC has been one of four teams nationally to score fewer than 100 total points in conference play in each of the last two seasons. Also, the Eagles were 127th in the nation — second to last — in total offense with an average of 292.8 yards per game last season.

Steve Addazio will need his team to score much more this year if he wants to build off the success of last year.

In terms of rebuilding a program, Addazio is about a year further along in that process than Dave Clawson, but has seen about the same amount of success. Like Wake Forest, BC is looking to build on its success and use that to propel themselves into at least the middle of the division, if not towards the top. They are probably still a few years away from being able to compete with Clemson, Florida State, and Louisville however.

A key player from last year returning for the Eagles is senior defensive end Harold Landry, who led all players at the position last year with 18 sacks, while also adding seven hits and 44 hurries. He should be the anchor of another strong defense, and terrorize opposing offensive lines without the strength to block him.

Leading tackler from last season linebacker Connor Strachan is also featured as one of seven returning starters from a defense that ranked second in the conference behind only Clemson last season.

This should be yet another exciting installment of “The Rivalry”, and I would give BC a slight edge only because the game is in Chestnut Hill this year. It will be interesting to see how much the Boston College offense can progress against a Wake Forest defense that despite losing coordinator Mike Elko to Notre Dame is still expected to be one of the best in the conference.