Back from bye, Boston College (4-2, 1-1) football takes on Virginia Tech (3-3, 1-1) this Thursday night at Lane Stadium. Tech was last seen handily taking out ACC newcomer Stanford before a break of their own. The Hokies were viewed as an ACC dark horse entering the season, but have stumbled a bit out of the gates. They’ve had close losses to Vanderbilt, looking better at this stage, Rutgers, and on the road to Miami while their three wins came against less heralded competition.
Va Tech’s offense has some shades of BC. Kyron Drones is a dual threat quarterback who operates best out of script and does a great job keeping plays alive. Drones has 1,155 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions on the year. His completion percentage has improved a tad to 61% and Tech’s overall passing offense is on par with BC’s about 100th in the country at under 200 yards/game. Last season, he struggled after the first read and had 14 turnover-worthy throws. He was inaccurate on the deep ball, among the worst in adjusted accuracy on throws of 20 or more yards. But he’s shown some improvement this year. Here he is against Miami.
On the ground he has been a very willing runner, going for 278 yards with three touchdowns. He is more than capable of putting the team on his back, but has had up and down performances so far.
Protection has continued to plague the team, as it did did last year, putting more onus on Drones to extend plays. They showed some signs of life recently thanks to some rotation, but the jury’s still out for a unit that has given up a little over 2 sacks a game.
Bhayshul Tuten leads a strong rushing attack alongside Drones. Tuten has 607 yards and 9 touchdowns, averaging 5.7 a carry. He’s a speedy, one-cut runner who carries a lot of power. You’d be best to forget the hat-trick he had against the Eagles in last season’s rout including this strong run.
In the air, he’s a solid pass catcher, but production has taken a small step back from last year. He and four other receivers have 15 or more catches. Jaylin Lane is leading a very talented group with 325 yards and has excelled down the field. Two brothers Stephen and Benji Gosnell are two other top reliable receivers, and Da’quon Felton is the big 6-5 target to contend with. It’s a veteran group with strong depth. However, the offense has struggled to find a quick rhythm and two minute offense is not exactly their strong suit. BC can’t afford to fall behind early, keeping Tech on their toes.
Defense
Some quicker hits on the revived Lunch Pail defense.
Coming off a 39 sack season and 20th in total defense, this Hokies defensive line finally got back to the Tech defense of old. They bring back eight starters and plug in some new transfers particularly on the front.
‘Sacksburg’ is still going strong this year. Antwan Powell-Ryland has been a menace again with 7 sacks, only trailing one Donovan Ezeiruaku in conference. His disruption has been critical and he’s forced and recovered two fumbles on his own. Duke transfer Aneas Pebbles has fit in perfectly at his new home. He was Duke’s highest rated player and hasn’t missed a step here with three sacks from the inside.
This being said, they haven’t been strong defending the run, particularly with mobile quarterbacks, allowing 170 yards per game (by contrast BC is at 105. This might be the game Tommy needs to channel some of last season’s energy. These pass rushers have had a tendency to rush past the quarterback, and while you can imagine that containment is going to be a point of emphasis in this game, the BC offense can’t experience spells where they go away from the run.
Their pass defense has been top 30 in the country. They have two true strong corners in Dorian Strong and Mansoor Delane. Strong is a lockdown guy, and though Delane struggled early, he has since rounded into form with two of the team’s five interceptions. They don’t get beat deep so easily, but BC will have to work the short range to move the sticks.
Not Another Kicker
Their kicker has already made a 57 and 52 yard field goal this season. That is all.