Boston College Football: Welcome to NC State Week!
The second half of the 2019 season is upon us as the Boston College Eagles prepare for their battle with NC State on Saturday. This Homecoming matchup is an absolute must win game for the Eagles, as they sit at 3-3, with a gauntlet of difficult games coming up against Clemson, FSU, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. If BC wants a chance of making it to a bowl this season, they have to beat NC State this weekend, and if they don't there is a possibility that the wheels will completely come off.
Dave Doeren's NC State team is kind of an unproven commodity at this point, with gritty wins against Syracuse and convincing victories against lower conference opponents like ECU and Western Carolina. But on the other hand they have struggled against FSU who beat them soundly, and a loss to WVU a team at the time that looked like it would be rebuilding this year.
What is the makeup of this NC State team? They certainly are not an explosive offensive team, which should hopefully be a good sign for a Boston College defense that has not been able to consistently make a stop over their past two games against Wake Forest and Louisville. They switched the starting QB from Matthew McKay to Bailey Hockman who gives NC State less of a threat to run but a more accurate passer, but still the jury is out on him.
On the other hand they rank 29th in the country on defense, which could be due to their schedule, but that is discounting some real talent they have on that side of the ball. The team has 26.5 sacks already this year, good for 5th in the country led by Larrell Murchison with 7.5 sacks already this year, which is more than the entire Boston College team.
Storylines Going Into This Game:
Steve Addazio's is firmly on the hot seat and this game could either turn the gas up on his seat or give him a temporary reprieve. How will he get his team ready and respond to the past two losses? Dennis Grosel will be the starter it appears, how will he look against a very good Pack defense? Can BC's defense make some stops against a below average offense? How will the offensive line look against the best defense they've played all year?
Vegas Line:
NC State (-1)
Random NC State Factoid: The school was founded in 1887 as the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (known as A&M College)