Another October 25th, another matchup with Louisville. Boston College jumped out to a 20-point lead in the 2024 edition, maintained a double-digit lead through three quarters only to squander it in the fourth. They finished the season 9-4, a ‘down year’ for Coach Jeff Brohm after posting 10 wins and appearing in the ACC championship game in ‘23. He’ll be dealing with a high amount of turnover (42%), but he’s utilized the portal to great success in his two seasons.
Game Notes
Saturday, October 25th TBD. Louisville, KY
Series
The Cards have won two straight after the programs traded home wins for a handful of years. Louisville leads the overall series 10-7, 7-4 since joining the ACC. Brohm has an additional win over the Eagles in 2018 beating a then-ranked Boston College with Purdue.
Projection
O/U 8.5 wins, 4th in ACC
Coaching Changes
Deion Branch was promoted to wide receivers coach at his alma mater this offseason. He’s been working in player development these past few seasons, but this will be the first proper coaching matchup against his old offensive coordinator.
Offense: Can the Cards keep flying high?
Gone is quarterback Tyler Shough (Saints), but in slides Miller Moss, the highly-touted USC transfer and former top 100 recruit who can keep Jeff Brohm’s explosive offense humming. Moss actually dominated Brohm’s Cardinals back in the ‘23 Holiday Bowl. Moss is a quick, accurate passer adept in intermediate throws. Though he struggled much of last season and was eventually benched, he has plenty of upside and a great opportunity to bounce back in this system. He’ll need to in order to match an offense that finished 13th in yards per game.
On the ground, the star of the show is running back Isaac Brown, who gashed defenses for 1,173 yards and 11 touchdowns last fall and named the ACC Freshman of the Year. Brown had 102 yards and two scores against the Eagles last season. Together with Duke Watson, they’re among the best backfield duos out there.
The team also loses its top receiving threat, but senior receivers Caullin Lacy and Chris Bell in addition to transfers TreyShun Hurry (San Jose St) and Dacari Collins (NC State) will step up. Lacy is the safety valve and route technician, while Bell offers size and contested-catch dominance. Davon Mitchell, an athletic tight end from Oklahoma, has limited playing experience but was highly recruited.
The Cardinals lose four of their top five offensive lineman, two to graduation and two to intraconference transfers. In response, the program brought in six transfers including Mahamane Moussa (Purdue) and Makylan Pounders (Miss State), and keep ACC Honorable Mention center Pete Nygra.
Defense: Secondary of Sieves
It was a disappointing year for the Cards’ defense last year, ranking among the worst in pass defense. DC Ron English’s aggressive 4-2-5 scheme created turnovers but by and large struggled to generate a consistent push despite some big time playmakers. They started to pick things up in the second half of the season and will hope to carry that momentum forward.
Tackling machine TJ Quinn and linebacker Stanquan Clark are back, but star pass rusher Ashton Gillotte is now hunting QBs with the Chiefs. In total, they’ll be replacing 6 players up front who totaled 200 tackles. On the interior come transfers Jerry Lawson (Abilene Christian) and Denzel Lowry (Old Dominion), and pass rushers Clev Lubin (Coastal Carolina) and Wesley Bailey (Rutgers) impressed in the spring.
Good news, bad news with the poor secondary is that four starters are gone, but one was conference second teamer Quincy Riley who’s now playing on Sundays. This group allowed 236 pass yards per game so the new faces are a welcome sign. There are a lot of DB transfers coming in, but only one from a Power 4 conference. Safety Jojo Evans (FIU) and corner Rodney Johnson (Southern) had ‘dominant’ spring practices, but they’ll need to quickly come together with the rest of the secondary to make progress limiting explosive plays compared to last year’s unit.
Match-Up Versus Boston College
These have been high-scoring affairs for much of recent memory. Brohm’s high octane offense has proven difficult for the Eagles to slow down, but there will be a sour taste after last season’s blown lead. Louisville has had surprise losses to Stanford and Pitt each the past two seasons, and catch BC after a trip to Miami. We won’t forget the 2017 AJ Dillon game anytime soon. This would be a huge win ahead of the Notre Dame game.