Boston College Football 2019: Welcome To Virginia Tech Week!

Last night Miami lost a close ugly matchup with Florida, and with that the college football season was under way. This week most of the other schools who haven't played yet get their chance to get their season started on the right foot, and Boston College gets started with a tough matchup, the Virginia Tech Hokies, at 4pm at Alumni Stadium. Normally these weekly kickoff posts will be up on Monday's, but with so much going on leading up to this Saturday's game I figured it would be worth getting it up early.

Why is this going to be a tough matchup for the Eagles? Virginia Tech brings back the fourth ranked quarterback in the conference Ryan Willis, along with talent on both sides of the ball that should challenge a Boston College squad that is young on defense and on the offensive line. Tech is coming back from a tough offseason after going 6-7, and losing a lot of talent via the transfer wire. They had an uncharacteristic year, marred by poor tackling, a defense that finished 98th in the country, and most recently a story was leaked that made it sound like the Hokies tried to throw the final game to prevent going to a bowl.

However, many Hokies writers believe that Justin Fuente weeded out some of those bad seeds from 2018, and that the locker room is in a much better place. They believe that the difficulties on defense, and team chemistry issues are a thing of the past and that this team. On top of that this is Bud Foster's final season, his 33rd with the Hokies, you have to imagine that his defense is going to want to step up for him as well.

Storylines Going Into This Game: There are so many questions going into this season we are just going to have to see to believe starting in Week 1. Can Anthony Brown continue to improve? Will Steve Addazio be able to better manage AJ Dillon's workload this year? Can a young and talented offensive line gel? How is the defensive line going to play? If this is a tight game can Steve Addazio effectively manage the team to a win?

Vegas Line: Hokies (-2.5). Last season Boston College was 2-1 against the spread as underdogs.

Player To Watch: Tate Haynes, Cornerback. Last year Willis threw for almost 2800 yards along with 24 touchdowns. Boston College lost three of their starters in the secondary, and will rely on sophomore Brandon Sebastian to be a top corner, something I believe he can be. However, it is going to be his counterpart, Haynes that could be the key in this game. Tech has two solid wide receivers in Damon Hazelton and Tre Turner. If Haynes struggles, we could see Ryan Willis throwing his direction more frequently, something Ryan Finley did to Brandon Sebastian last year when the youngster struggled. However if Haynes can hold his own, and BC looks to have two solid corners, that could really change the complexion of the defense.

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Later this week BC Maven will reveal and analyze the first Boston College depth chart, dive into Steve Addazio's press conference, produce another episode of the BC Maven Podcast, and end the week with the always great, always classic Final Thoughts And Predictions. And of course we will have analysis during and after the game on Saturday, so be sure to check back here frequently for all your game week needs. Go Eagles!