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Boston College vs. Wake Forest
Groves Stadium, Winston-Salem, NC
3:30 PM ET on ESPN3, select networks
Photo courtesy of qbweekly/flickr
When Spencer Rositano’s pick in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter last weekend sealed the Eagles (2-6, 1-4 ACC) first conference win, a season marred by lousy defensive performances and gut-wrenching turnovers seemed not lost. Now, a win against Wake Forest (4-4, 2-4 ACC) this coming weekend could relatively salvage BC’s season—provided that a number of things go right for the Eagles down south.
Chase Rettig is emerging into a fine quarterback. He showed great poise in the final, game-winning drive against the Terrapins last weekend. Throughout the series, Rettig’s passes hit his receivers in sync, especially when he connected with Johnathan Coleman for a 14-yard touchdown that put the Eagles on top.
A continuance of Rettig’s late-game heroics against UMD would be welcomed against Wake Forest. His completion percentage at other stadiums (54.8%) is slightly below his percentage at Alumni Stadium (57%), but he should come out firing with a recharged mentality and a conference win already under his belt.
Wake Forest is ranked 78th in the country in passing defense and has given up 13 passing TD’s thus far. Look for Rettig to expose the Demon Deacon secondary and establish an upbeat tempo and rhythm found to be nonexistent against Maryland.
Rettig’s two favorite targets—Alex Amidon and Johnathan Coleman—have combined for 9 of Rettig’s 15 total TD’s. Both of these wideouts will be crucial in shaping the outcome of Saturday’s game; the running offense of BC is too average to expect that Andre Williams or Deuce Finch will make a noticeable difference.
Rettig’s counterpart Tanner Price leads an offense ranked 91st in the FBS in passing, a considerable gap from Rettig’s praise-worthy ranking of 34th in the country. BC would be foolish to not tightly cover junior wide receiver Michael Campanaro, though, as he is averaging 10.1 yards per catch against conference opponents this season.
Coming off an improved performance against Maryland, BC’s defense needs to marginalize the effects of Wake’s running game. The pressure will definitely be on the defensive line and linebacker corps this week to halt the talented tandem of Deandre Martin and Josh Harris. They have accounted for a total of 12 of Wake’s 21 touchdowns so far.
It is key for the Eagles to build on their successes if they wish to stand a shot against Notre Dame, the last big-time game looming on their schedule.
ESPN announced a six-day hold for the announcement of the game time for the ND-BC game, pending how well both teams fare against their opponents this weekend.
A win against Wake would certainly make the Holy War a more entertaining affair than what it already is—likely pushing it to an 8 PM start on ABC as opposed to a noon start if BC loses to Wake.
For the sake of an exciting ND-BC matchup: Eagles edge the Demon Deacons, 21-17.
Born in New York, from Philadelphia, but meant to live in New England.
