Following two consecutive losses, the NC State football team aims to get back to its winning ways in a conference tilt with Boston College.
The No. 23 Wolfpack (6-3, 4-1 ACC) lost its lead of the ACC Atlantic with a 38-31 heartbreaker loss to Clemson last Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium. After its last two matchups against teams aiming for a national championship, NC State will face a different kind of test when it travels to Boston to take on the Eagles (5-4, 3-3 ACC) who have won three consecutive games, all of which have come against ACC teams.
The Eagles, who are third behind NC State and Clemson in the ACC Atlantic, boast an excellent run offense that is averaging 199 yards a game. Freshman running back AJ Dillon leads the way for Boston College’s offense with 843 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the season. In a 45-42 victory at Louisville, Dillon torched the Cardinals’ defense with 272 yards and four touchdowns. Fellow running back Jon Hilliman and wide receiver Thadd Smith have also contributed over 670 yards and four touchdowns on the ground for the Eagles.
This offense will prove to challenge the once vaunted run defense of the Wolfpack. NC State ranked in the top 10 in the nation in rushing yards per game until it allowed 318 yards against Notre Dame and 224 to Clemson. Now ranked 31st, the Pack faces its third-consecutive run-first offense.
On the passing side of the ball, Boston College is led by another freshman in quarterback Anthony Brown. Brown’s season has been inconsistent at best. There have been good games for Brown, 275 yards and three touchdowns against Virginia, and bad games, 37.9 completion percentage and three interceptions against Wake Forest. A strength of the passing game is the Eagles receivers. The team averages 10.3 yards a catch this season and features six players with over 115 receiving yards.
The struggling passing offense of the Eagles will meet with the mediocre Wolfpack secondary. After a painful start to the season, the secondary has not allowed 200 yards passing in its last three games; however, that was mostly because those teams had success running the ball. The passing defense still allows an ugly average of 286.8 yards per game, but the secondary matchup against a team that throws for only 171.1 yards a game might be the difference maker for the Wolfpack defensively.
NC State’s offense will go to work against a subpar Boston College defense. Allowing almost 400 yards a game, which is split almost evenly between passing and rushing yards, the Eagles are not known for being a strong defensive team but have racked up an impressive 19 sacks and 13 interceptions so far this season. Their secondary also allows fewer yards per game than their rushing defense.
Defensive back Lukas Denis is a standout player for the Eagles’ secondary, recording five interceptions and two forced fumbles. On the defensive line for Boston College, defensive end Harold Landry leads the way with 8.5 tackles for loss and five sacks in eight games this season.
The Wolfpack will look to exploit the Eagles’ rushing defense which is its’ weakest aspect. Junior running backs Nyheim Hines and Reggie Gallaspy will look to bounce back from injury and difficult matchups playing an Eagles team that has allowed 21 rushing touchdowns and over 200 rushing yards per game. Expect the Wolfpack to establish the run early in the game which will open up the playbook and create passing opportunities.
Redshirt junior quarterback Ryan Finley and his receiving group will face one of its toughest matchups of the year against Boston College. As a team, the Eagles allowed just six passing touchdowns and have a whopping 13 interceptions in nine games. One of the premiere matchups of this game will be a Wolfpack receiving corps that was red-hot against Clemson and an Eagles’ secondary that has allowed an average of 191.7 passing yards a game.
Although NC State is favored, this game will be tightly contested with Boston College winning four of its last five games and an NC State team that looks to avenge its last two losses. Whichever team best finds the defensive formula to combat the rushing attack of the other could hold the advantage in this conference battle.
