Game Preview - vs. Boston College

by Brian "Where's the Ice"

The Storyline

This Thursday night, the Hokies square off against the Eagles of
Boston College, one of the great rivalries preserved from the Big East
fallout to the ACC. Beyond that commonality, several other comparisons
exist for this matchup. One, both teams are 4-1. Two, both teams
dropped their first and only loss of the season so far to an
in-conference opponent. Three, both teams need to win this game to
keep themselves in the race for their respective division titles.

One differentiator between the Eagles and the Hokies track record this
season lies in the Eagles handing a very good team, Clemson, their
sole loss of the season to date. Another lies in Boston College's only
loss. They played a close game against NC State only falling to them
by two points because of a last minute, fluke touchdown. Virginia
Tech, on the other hand, struggled in their loss to Georgia Tech with
a still developing quarterback and an inexperienced offensive line

Sean Glennon still has some development to do before he reaches the
potential needed to carry the Hokies to a second ACC conference title.
His development will continue to progress as a challenging one over
the remainder of the season because the offensive line has needs of
development and growth of their own. However, I expect to see the best
performance to date by the Hokie offensive line this week. Last week's
matchup against Georgia Tech favored the Ramblin' Wreck because the
strongest aspect of their defense exploited the greatest weakness of
the Hokie offense. Georgia Tech's blitz just cut right through the
offensive line over and over again. Also, remember that Sean Glennon
doesn't play the quarterback position as we've observed in Michael
Vick, Bryan Randall, or Marcus Vick. He won't dazzle us with bursts of
speed and agility, but he can pass the football and execute plays.
While we as fans have to get used to watching that style, it can work
for this Hokie offense, especially when you consider the abilities of
the Hokies' running game and depth of their wide receivers.

However, while we as fans watched a gridiron disaster last game, let's
not forget to make two positive observations. One, the Hokies didn't
let their spirits get down when they found themselves trailing 21-0.
They battled back to put 13 points on the board before the half. That
shows some comeback potential, something that hasn't really happened
with great frequency in past seasons of Hokie football. (For the most
part, Beamerball involves getting a few points on the board early and
overwhelming the opponent with rock solid defense and big plays from
special teams.)


The Statistics

The statistics of the games played so far paint a different picture
than a first glance comparison. The Virginia Tech defense has allowed
only 701 yards of passing, the best in the ACC, while Boston College
has allowed 1283 placing them last in the conference. For defense
against rushing yardage, Virginia Tech only outperforms Boston College
518 yards to 577.

On offense, Boston College inches ahead of Virginia Tech's passing
1231 yards to 1222 yards, another statistic that only differs
marginally. For rushing Boston College definitively outdoes the Hokies
630 to 517 yards.

One thing to remember in light of these numbers, Boston College has
had a stronger strength of schedule to date than Virginia Tech.
Considering this, I don't think these numbers resemble an apples to
apples comparison.


Who to Watch

The Eagles' quarterback, Matt Ryan stands 6'5" and has passed for 1222
total yards with a 60% completion rate. At this point of the season,
he's almost matched his total numbers from last year, so the Virginia
Tech defense can expect a well seasoned quarterback to show up on
Thursday night.

Junior taleback L.V. Whitworth, weighing in at 220 lbs, has amassed
314 yards and one touchdown. Andre Callender, also a Junior weighing
204 lbs., has 266 yards of rushing and one touchdown. These numbers
show Boston College's ability to move the ball on the ground, but they
turn to their passing game more often to get into the paint and put
six on the board.

Wide receiver Kevin Challenger stands 5'9" and has 236 yards on
receiving and two touchdown receptions. Tony Gonzalez stands 5'11" and
has 214 yards on receiving which includes four touchdown receptions.
Challenger is a Senior, and Gonzalez is a Junior. Both of these
players also bring a lot of experience to the Eagles' offense.

Looking at the Eagle defense, linebacker Brian Toal returns from an
injury. Boston College considers him one of them most valuable
defensive players if not the most valuable of all. While the Eagle's
blitz probably doesn't have the punch that Georgia Tech's does, the
Hokie offensive line will have their hands full with Toal. An
interesting note about Toal, he will sometimes carry the ball at the
tailback position, so he can also do some damage on the other side of
the ball.

Virginia Tech vs. Boston College
Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006, 7:45 pm EDT
Alumni Stadium (44,500)
Chestnut Hill, Mass.
ESPN