Way-Too-Early 2026 Virginia Tech Football Preview and Prediction: Week 4, @ Boston College

Like Virginia Tech, Boston College will be featuring a new starting signal-caller this fall.

Virginia Tech Athletics

After embarking on its first road test of the 2026 season, Virginia Tech football makes another out-of-state trip, traveling to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, to open ACC play against Boston College.

Like VMI and Old Dominion before it, the Eagles will be another one of Virginia Tech's opponents that enters the clash with a new signal-caller at the helm. Grayson James graduated after a 1,196-yard, seven-touchdown, five-interception season, while Dylan Lonergan made the decision to transfer to Rutgers with two years of eligibility remaining.

As such, Boston College has opted to go for a Division II quarterback, perhaps in search of the next Trinidad Chambliss. Mason McKenzie is the presumptive starter for Boston College heading into 2026. The redshirt sophomore spent three years at Division II Saginaw Valley State of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

McKenzie, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound rising redshirt junior from Caledonia, Michigan, totaled 2,086 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in the 2025 season. in 2024, he logged 2,054 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and four picks. Though McKenzie thrived at points, there were also low marks as SVSU stumbled to a 1-3 start. Northwood held McKenzie to a 131-yard, one-touchdown, two-pick game, while the quarterback went 12-for-26 for 137 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions in a narrow 20-19 win over Grand Valley State.

Saginaw Valley State went 6-5 under McKenzie, and in his final two games, he threw for five touchdowns to two picks. McKenzie served as a true dual-threat quarterback, pacing the team in rushing yards (942) and producing five 100-yard efforts. Against Wayne State, he produced 115 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on 17 carries, though he coughed the ball up twice (both times, it was recovered).

When the Cardinals took on Ferris State, he produced 85 rushing yards on 23 carries and scored three times on the ground, though he again coughed the ball up twice (lost once). As a rusher, McKenzie ran for 5.7 yards per carry in his redshirt freshman year (2024) and 5.9 last season (2025), logging 10 rushing touchdowns on 159 carries in the 2025 campaign. for his efforts, McKenzie was named GLIAC Player of the Year.

In Virginia Tech and Boston College's last matchup, the Hokies romped to a 28-0 halftime lead before yielding three third-quarter touchdowns to slice the lead to seven. However, Virginia Tech eventually won 42-21 behind a career-high 266 rushing yards from running back Bhayshul Tuten — which also currently stands as the single-game program record. Tuten did so on 18 carries, logging four total touchdowns (three rushing, one receiving), including rushing scores from 83 and 61 yards out.

This year, Boston College will head into the season without its No. 1 quarterback from last season (Lonergan) or its No. 1 running back Turbo Richard (Indiana). Last year, Boston College's run game ranked third-to-last in the ACC with 103.9 yards per game, and this season, it'll likely be Liberty transfer Evan Dickens that arrives as the new No. 1. Dickens compiled 1,339 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns last season with the Flames.

At wideout, Reed Swanson — who clocks in at 6-foot-6, 215-pounds — comes from Colgate after a 939-yard, eight-touchdown season, part of a 28-player transfer influx. On the defensive side of the ball, defensive back KP Price returns after logging 178 total tackles over the past two seasons (93 in 2025, 65 of which were unassisted) and two interceptions in 2025. Against then-No. 16 Georgia Tech on Nov. 15, he logged 10 tackles — nine of which came alone.

New coordinators are on both sides of the ball for the Eagles — a byproduct of Boston College's 2-10 season last year, their worst since 2012.

Head coach Danny O'Brien served as the head whistle at Penn State in 2012 and 2013, compiling a 15-9 record before leaving for the NFL to coach the Houston Texans. Franklin followed him, and he went 104-45 — including six 10-win seasons — over 11-plus seasons before being fired six games into the 2025 season.

While Boston College may be a cut above its 2-10 (1-7 ACC) campaign in 2025, I don't think that the Eagles will make enough of a jump to slice into Virginia Tech's improvement. With the win, the Hokies would jump into a provisional 4-0 start in my "Way-Too-Early" series. This is the kind of matchup that Virginia Tech can do well to claim and avoid falling into a trap situation. Even despite the Eagles' presumptive upgrades, they should be amid the ACC's lower tier this year, offering an opportunity for the Hokies to start league play off on the right foot.

Virginia Tech benefits from playing another squad in the midst of trying to integrate a new signal-caller — of the Hokies' first four opponents, only Maryland enters 2026 with the same starting quarterback it ended 2025 with.

Virginia Tech's contest against Boston College will start on Saturday, Sept. 26. No time or TV channel has been set for the contest as of yet. After Boston College, Virginia Tech returns to Lane Stadium for its ACC home opener to play Pitt on Friday, Oct. 2.