2018 Wake Forest Football Preseason Opponent Preview: Boston College

Coach Steve Addazio embarks on his sixth season as the Boston College Eagles Head Coach. If there’s a word to describe Addazio, some would say consistent, as BC has finished with a 7-6 record in four of the five seasons with him at the helm. Traditionally not a powerhouse, BC has been satisfied to some degree by the consistent winning of Addazio, as he is under contract through 2020.

In the 2017 season, BC had it very rough, starting the season at 2-4 with plenty of the tough ACC slate up ahead. However, something very cool happened with the offense and it became pretty unstoppable with a 35-3 dismantling of Florida State. Entering 2018, BC fans are wondering which team is “real”. The team that beat up on Florida State, scored 45 against Louisville, and finished winning four of the last five ACC games, OR the team that got walloped by Notre Dame and Wake Forest, and barely escaped a game against Northern Illinois.

The offense went from averaging 4.2 yards per play in the first six games, to a dominant 5.9 yards per play in its final seven games. That was good enough to bring its offensive production from the 20th percentile up to the 62nd percentile.

There is a buzz around Chestnut Hill entering the season and most of it was due to the offensive transformation. BC found a formula after picking up the pace and leaning on RB A.J. Dillon and QB Anthony Brown. Similarly to Wake Forest, BC returns all five of their starting offensive linemen. Brown was a strong QB for the Eagles, but did get injured in November. The success of the BC offense may rest on his recovery and ability to come back better than ever.

On the defensive side of the ball, BC did lose second round pick, Harold Landry. Last season, the BC defense was surprisingly underwhelming, especially against the run. The Eagles defense allowed 4.8 yards per carry and 26 rushing TDs against them. Compare those numbers to the 2016 defense which allowed 3.3 yards per carry and 15 touchdowns. The defense has continuously trended downwards on that side of the ball but hopes to rebound entering 2018.

Overall Boston College is projected to record 5.7 wins according to S&P+, but that is likely way too low due to the injuries and inconsistent playing time last year on both sides of the ball.

BC Football is also getting a new indoor facility and the parallels and similarity in timing with Wake Forest is somewhat cool to see as traditionally, both schools haven’t been considered football-strong schools.

While last season Wake Forest did very well (somewhat surprisingly) against the Eagles in the early ACC matchup, this year is no different as both teams square off in Week 3 with the expectations of both to be 2-0 entering the game. A key battle for Wake will be to contain Dillon, who was voted as the Pre-season ACC Player of the Year.

Week 3 will be an interesting battle to gain an advantage for the rest of the ACC slate. With Kendall Hinton still suspended, the stakes of the game are painfully high to not have the starting quarterback. Look for both teams to try and play a strong run-dominated game but hopefully not as painful as the 3-0 game a few years ago.....