Welcome to Colgate Week!
Boston College football returns this week as the Eagles take on the Colgate Raiders of the Patriot League. This is a big moment for BC football, as this will be the first home game that Jeff Hafley and his staff have coached in front of a live crowd in Chestnut Hill. And from all reports from students, fans and alumni, the excitement is palpable around the program.
Saturday's matchup is the annual FCS game that almost every ACC team schedules yearly. Colgate is a team in a bit of upheaval this season as former head coach Dan Hunt stepped down back in late May "to address personal issues, following the discovery of violation of university policy not involving students". Defensive coordinator Stan Dakosty has taken over the program, and will kick off his first game as a head coach against Boston College on Saturday.
The Raiders are very much a team in flux, and have struggled the past two seasons with a combined record of 4-10 under Hunt. While you never want to disregard a team, this should be a game that Boston College should handle easily. The last time the Eagles played a Patriot League team was 2018 against Holy Cross, a game that Steve Addazio's squad won easily 62-14. For perspective, the Crusaders beat Colgate 31-14 when they last played in 2019.
Even against a team that shouldn't be much of problem, there should be lots to look for from the Eagles. The offense and defense probably will try to keep in vanilla as not to put much on tape for future games, but look for the Eagles to try and dominate up front both defensively and on offense against a smaller team.
This game will hopefully give Jeff Hafley's squad the opportunity to get valuable game experience to some of their freshmen and other players who haven't received much or any live game time. The expectation surely will be for players like Phil Jurkovec, Zay Flowers and many other starters to be pulled early, to get them their reps, but also prevent the possibility of a needless injury. As of this writing, there are reportedly nine true freshmen that are going to be on the depth chart, and expectations should be for all nine to get into the game.
But the coaching staff will never say that this will be a "cake walk" or a "cupcake". They are going to treat the Colgate game just like any other game. The mentality will be the same against the Raiders as it would be against Clemson or NC State. Go in, do your job, and then see what happens.
College football is back at the Heights. Get excited.
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