BC Football 2019: Ranking The Opponents By Difficulty

Boston College football is only about 8 weeks away, and it's time to really start breaking down this schedule. What games could be easiest, what will be the most challenging. To rank these opponents I am going to go from easiest to hardest. Let's take a look at how I broke down the schedule.

12. Richmond Spiders: Obviously the FCS sacrifice will be the easiest opponent on this schedule. Richmond isn't very good, they don't have a very effective offense or defense, and I don't see how they figure out how to stop BC's offense this early in the season.

11. Rutgers Scarlet Knights: True this game is on the road, but we are talking about a team that lost 11 straight to end the season, and had one win, against Texas State. Their offense is atrocious 128th in the country, averaging 13 points a game, only better than UTSA and Central Michigan. This should be a slam dunk for the Eagles.

10. Kansas Jayhawks: Sorry I am not buying the Hat's miraculous return to college football. Their rushing defense was bad last year, 75th in the country, while the passing defense wasn't much better. Les Miles may be a historic coach, but I think the rebuild for the Jayhawks will take more than one season.

9. Louisville Cardinals: I really believe that Scott Saterfield is going to return Louisville to contending status, but he has a ton of work ahead of him, as this team was really bad last year and will need a rebuild. The only hesitation I have on this one is that the game is on the road.

8. Florida State Seminoles: Florida State as we know beat BC on the road last year after Addazio shot himself in the foot. Willie Taggart is putting the program back together, but I see this game lining up nicely for the Eagles, at home and on Red Bandana Night.

7. Pittsburgh Panthers: Teams that match up well with BC historically have been up tempo teams that can move the ball quickly....which is the complete antithesis of Pittsburgh football. A slow trodding offense, I think BC matches up well with them, and at the end of the season I like AJ Dillon's chances in a low scoring bruising battle.

6. Virginia Tech Hokies: I think Virginia Tech will win the Coastal this year, but I think BC gets them at just the right time. The Hokies defense is very young, and they are plugging in a ton of guys after transfers really hit the roster hard. BC getting the Hokies Game 1 is a huge advantage for BC.

5. NC State Wolfpack: If Matthew McKay is the answer at QB for NC State I could see this rating as much higher degree of difficulty, as the Pack has some nice assets around him to make this a competitive team. . But BC gets them at home, and the last two years they were competitive with them and only lost on a bogus Ben Glines fumble, and after Anthony Brown's horrific injury in 2017.

4. Wake Forest Demon Deacons: There is a lot of positive talk about WF going into this season and for good reason, they have a stout defense, and a dangerous offense, one that shredded BC for most of the game in 2018. I could definitely see this being a tricky game for the Eagles.

3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Notre Dame clearly will be a Top 10 this season, and this could easily be a blow out. But a big physical team that instead of trying to fling the ball all over the place like Syracuse, tried to punch ND in the mouth, maybe we could see a little BC magic?

2. Syracuse Orange: I don't like this matchup at all. BC has struggled mightily against Dino Babers blistering offenses, and having to do it on the road is going to be a huge challenge for the Eagles.

1. Clemson Tigers: On the road, in probably the hardest road stadium to win at, against the defending champions, who will be starting a QB who probably will be in the talk for the Heisman Trophy. Yeah, I don't see BC winning that one either.