Game Preview: Virginia Tech Hosts Boston College In Home Opener

• Virginia Tech vs. Boston College: Saturday, September 10, 8 p.m., ACC Network
• Betting Line: VT -3
• Roster cards: Click here
• Game notes from HokieSports: Click here
• Blacksburg weather: Click here
• Gameday information: Click here

Virginia Tech (0-1) hosts Boston College (0-1) in the first home game of the Brent Pry era on Saturday night at 8 p.m. Week one wasn’t pleasant for either team. Tech threw away a game at Old Dominion due to critical errors, while the Eagles lost to Rutgers 22-21, giving up a game-winning 96-yard touchdown drive with less than three minutes remaining.

It was a demoralizing loss for both fanbases. The Hokies lost Brent Pry’s first game due to five turnovers and 15 penalties, and while the 96-yard touchdown drive that the Eagles allowed featured 11 running plays and just one passing play (which was incomplete). BC’s defense was physically dominated at the time they needed to come up big.

The Eagles were picked to finish next-to-last in the Atlantic Division this year, and the Hokies began their campaign with a loss to ODU. Needless to say, both teams come into this game desperately needing a win.

Let’s talk about Boston College and what head coach Jeff Hafley’s team brings to the table.

Star Power On Offense

Boston College comes into Saturday night’s game with one of the most talented quarterbacks in the country and a very prolific wide receiver.

Quarterback Phil Jurkovec (6-5, 214, Gr.) is a Notre Dame transfer who put together a great season for the Eagles in 2020. He missed a big part of the 2021 season due to injury but returned against the Hokies in their ill-fated trip to Boston.

Jurkovec completed 61% of his passes for 2,558 yards in 2020 while throwing 17 touchdowns to just five interceptions. He only appeared in six games last season due to injury. Despite that, some believe that he will be a first round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft.

As talented as he is, Jurkovec hasn’t had the best games against the Hokies…

2020: 28-of-51 (54.9%) for 345 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
2021: 7-of-13 (53.8%) for 112 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT

Those aren’t the numbers you would expect from a potential first round pick, but as we’ll see later, Jurkovec doesn’t have much help. The little help he does have comes from wide receiver Zay Flowers (5-10, 172, Sr.), who introduced himself to the college football world three years ago by burning Virginia Tech’s Jovonn Quillen for a deep touchdown early in the first quarter (and why Quillen was in the game over Caleb Farley and Jermaine Waller is beyond me).

Flowers blew up as a sophomore when he caught 56 passes for 892 yards (15.9 avg.) with nine touchdowns. His numbers were slightly down last year (44 catches, 746 yards) though that’s because Jurkovec missed so much time. If both of them can stay healthy, he’s in line for a huge senior season.

You may view Flowers as a slot receiver because of his size, but he had 40 snaps as an outside receiver and 28 in the slot against Rutgers. That’s how most of his career has gone so far – he’s capable of lining up anywhere, and he’ll end up testing all of Virginia Tech’s defensive backs at various points during the game.

Despite Star Talent, BC Offense Struggles

Despite Jurkovec and Flowers, the BC offense featured many question marks this year. How would the offensive line hold up after losing so many key players? Could the Eagles run the football? Are there any playmakers at all besides Flowers? After one game – a 22-21 loss to a Rutgers team that went 5-8 last season – the early answers are all negative.

How would the Eagles’ new offensive line hold up, and could they run the football? It didn’t hold up well, and apparently they can’t. Here are some rushing numbers from the BC-Rutgers game…

Team rushing: 28 carries, 29 yards
Leading rusher: Patrick Garwo with 14 carries for 25 yards, 1.8 ypc

Garwo (5-8, 208, r-Jr.) ran for 1,045 yards and averaged 5.1 yards per carry last season, and yet couldn’t crack two yards per carry against Rutgers thanks to the BC o-line. And it’s not like they were up against a powerful defensive front – the Scarlet Knights finished No. 79 in rushing defense a year ago and allowed 4.2 yards per carry. Only one other running back, freshman Cam Barfield (5-8, 180, Fr.) had a carry, and he had just one! Jurkovec finished with 10 carries for -10 yards as the Scarlet Knight defense had four sacks.

Per the preliminary PFF grades on Monday, the Eagles had the worst offensive grade of any ACC team over the weekend, and it’s not even close. Their grade of 61.9 is well behind the 66.1 posted by Virginia Tech, so if you didn’t think it got worse than the Hokies’ offensive performance on Friday night, all you had to do is wait a day to see an even worse showing.

It wasn’t just one or two issues holding Boston College back; it was everything. Here were the grades across all offensive categories…

Overall: No. 13 out of 14
Passing: No. 10 out of 14
Pass blocking: No. 9 out of 14
Receiving: No. 11 out of 14 (tied with UVa)
Running: No. 12 out of 14
Run blocking: No. 11 out of 14

This is an offense that appears to lack talent and depth across the board despite the presence of Flowers and Jurkovec. Garwo is solid but limited due to that offensive line. Jurkovec himself didn’t have a very good game, though obviously he doesn’t have a lot of help. Flowers is the only offensive player for Boston College to grade out around 70, according to PFF, and only three Eagles graded out better than a 62.7.

Flowers had an excellent game, catching 10 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns, and tight end George Takacs (6-6, 247, r-Sr.) was solid with seven receptions for 84 yards. However, the rest of the receivers combined for just four catches, and as the Hokies found out the hard way on Friday night, you can’t rely on a passing game with only two productive pass-catchers.

Lack Of Size At Many Positions

If you go back as a Virginia Tech fan, you are used to the Eagles having a big, physical offensive line along with a bruiser at running back. That’s not the case this year. As noted above, the BC offensive line struggles to block, and the running backs are small. Here are BC’s top five backs…

Patrick Garwo: 5-8, 208, r-Jr.
Alec Sinkfield: 5-9, 183, r-Sr.
Cam Barfield: 5-8, 180, Fr.
Xavier Coleman: 5-7, 179, r-Fr.
Alex Broome: 5-8, 185, Fr.

Garwo can be a load at 208 on a 5-8 frame, but those other guys are small. That’s as small a group of running backs as you’ll see in FBS college football these days, especially at the Power 5 level.

They’ve got several small receivers in the two-deep as well…

Jaden Williams: 5-9, 175, So.
Jaelen Gill: 5-11, 183, r-So.
Lewis Bond: 5-10, 188, r-Fr.
Zay Flowers: 5-10, 172, Sr.

Flowers is really good, but those other three guys combined for four catches against Rutgers. BC’s two biggest receivers are Taji Johnson (6-3, 212, Jr.) and Joseph Griffin (6-4, 200, Fr.) and they combined for zero catches against the Scarlet Knights. Griffin has no career catches since he’s a freshman, while Johnson has just one career reception.

BC even lacks size at tight end. The No. 2 guy on the depth chart is true freshman Jeremiah Franklin, and he weighs in at only 217 on a 6-4 frame. With that size, he’s not ready to play, yet he was on the field for 10 offensive snaps against Rutgers.

Overall, this is a smallish and under-developed offense with two scary players, a couple of solid guys and a lack of depth. Boston College has a poor offensive line, too. Speaking of which…

Breaking In A New Offensive Line

Despite there being an “OR” listed between first and second string players at four of the five positions up front, just six different offensive linemen played snaps against Rutgers. Only one of those could have any claim of having a decent game, and even he struggled with pass blocking.

Here are the linemen Boston College played against Rutgers, and note how few snaps they’ve played throughout their careers…

LT Ozzy Trapilo (6-8, 304, r-So.): 238 career snaps. Trapilo was an offensive guard last season before switching to tackle, and he had a tough time protecting the quarterback last weekend.

LG Finn Dirstine (6-4, 316, r-Sr.): 109 career snaps. Over half of Durstine’s career snaps came last week, and the redshirt senior had an average performance.

C Drew Kendall (6-4, 283, r-Fr.): 86 career snaps. Kendall is a bit light, and he was soundly beaten in the running game by Rutgers. Tech’s defensive tackles dominated ODU center Xavier Black, whose PFF grade was a 28.8, which is possibly the lowest single-game PFF score I’ve ever seen. This is a great matchup for the Hokies.

RG Jack Conley (6-7, 316, r-Jr.): 294 career snaps. Conley is another guy who lacks in-game experience. Sometimes he’ll align as a jumbo tight end in an unbalanced set. He had a pass protection grade of 46.8 last week, while his protection grade in 226 snaps last year was a 26.7!

RT Kevin Cline (6-6, 314, r-So.): 86 career snaps. The inexperienced Cline put on an average performance in his first career start.

LG/RG Dwayne Allick (6-2, 294, r-So.): 29 career snaps. Allick played both guard spots last week, and though he pass blocked well, he struggled in the run game.

BC’s best offensive line performers last week were completely average, while some players were thoroughly trashed by Rutgers up front. The Eagles’ wide receivers and Trapilo, the left tackle, were good in the run game, but everyone else was stonewalled.

This should be a good matchup for Virginia Tech. It needs to use that advantage to get pressure on Jurkovec, who was just 3-of-13 passing when under pressure by the Rutgers defense.

The Boston College Defense: Good Against The Pass, Not-So-Good Against The Run

Before the final Rutgers drive of the game, the Scarlet Knights had just 226 yards of total offense, barely cracking the 100-yard mark in rushing yards. Though the Boston College offense had struggled for most of the game, it appeared the Eagles were going to hold on for an ugly win thanks to the performance of their defense. But that’s not how it played out.

That sounds like a pretty familiar ending for Virginia Tech fans, though in reality, the game-winning drives for Old Dominion and Rutgers were much different. The Monarchs hit a couple of jump balls against man coverage, which they hadn’t shown the ability to do all game. Rutgers went about their game-winning drive a lot differently. Here’s a play-by-play breakdown…

1: Running play, 5 yards
2: Running play, 4 yards
3: Running play, 1 yard
4: Passing play, incomplete
5: Running play, 9 yards
6: Running play, 4 yards
7: Running play, 15 yards
8: Running play, 6 yards
9: Running play, 3 yards
10: Running play, 4 yards
11: Running play, 23 yards
12: Running play, 22 yards, Touchdown

Yikes. After physically dominating the game, the Boston College defense had its manhood stolen on that final drive. I don’t know if that way of losing the football was worse than what Virginia Tech came up with in Norfolk, but either way, I’d rather not be on the wrong side of that experience again for a long time.

The Eagles are capable of playing better than that, though they did struggle to stop the run for most of last season. They finished No. 92 nationally in rushing yards allowed per game and No. 94 in rushing yards allowed per attempt. This would be a fine time for the Hokies to start blocking better because if they do, they’ll have a good chance of establishing something on the ground this week.

Meanwhile, the Eagles were third nationally in pass defense last year, a trend that continued into the first week of the 2022 season. The Scarlet Knights used two quarterbacks against Boston College, and they combined to go 13-of-22 for 110 yards with an interception.

The Boston College Defensive Line, And One Intriguing Matchup

The Eagles have a pair of veterans at defensive end in Shittah Sillah (6-4, 240, Sr.) and Marcus Valdez (6-0, 256, r-Sr.), but neither player was as effective against Rutgers as they could have been. That especially applies to Valdez, who has had an excellent career in Chestnut Hill. That’s why his play last week was especially surprising. Here are his PFF overall grades for his career…

2018: 67.3
2019: 79.7
2020: 77.4
2021: 73.8
2022: 53.0 (one game)

It would be a surprise to see the veteran play like that two weeks in a row. He generally lines up on the left side of the Boston College defensive line, which means he’ll be matched up against Virginia Tech right tackle Parker Clements. After a good freshman season last year, Clements inexplicably struggled against a middling ODU defensive line last week. Here are his PFF grades from last year as compared to week one in 2022…

2021: 74.2
2022: 49.5 (one game)

The Clements-Valdez matchup is an interesting one. It features two guys who played very well in the past but struggled in week one of 2022. Both will be looking for redemption this week.

The Eagles don’t have tremendous depth at defensive end – they played their fourth end for just 10 snaps last week. The third end is Donovan Ezeiruaku (6-2, 236, So.), who generally lines up on the right.

Boston College also lacks depth at tackle – its fourth tackle only saw nine snaps against Rutgers. The headliner is Chibueze Onwuka (5-11, 286, r-Sr.). He missed last season with an injury, but he’s back for his final year and was one of BC’s standout performers against Rutgers last weekend.

Both of BC’s backup defensive tackles are freshmen: Kwan Williams (6-1, 290, Fr.) and Ty Clemons (6-2, 259, r-Fr.). Clemons is very undersized, though he got more reps than Williams last week. That’s a matchup that the interior of the Virginia Tech offensive line needs to win.

The Boston College Linebackers: A Mediocre Group Overall

The Eagles have one linebacker who has played well throughout his career in Chestnut Hill: Florida State transfer Jaiden Woodley (6-0, 222, r-Sr.). However, he isn’t listed as a linebacker on the depth chart. Technically he’s a strong safety, though 50 of his 67 snaps against Rutgers came in the box as an extra linebacker. Here’s how his snaps broke down last season…

Box: 272
FS: 128
Slot: 110
DL: 63
CB: 9

He’s a guy who can line up all over the place. He was BC’s best linebacker on Saturday, and as you can see, the rest of them weren’t very effective….

It says a lot about the Eagles’ defense that they like to bring their strong safety up into the box on a regular basis, yet they still struggle to stop the run.

Last season, Virginia Tech was able to establish the run against Boston College, which was amazing considering the Hokies went nearly the entire game with no passing threat with Braxton Burmeister injured.

Malachi Thomas: 13 carries, 70 yards, 5.4 ypc
Raheem Blackshear: 12 carries, 67 yards, 5.6 ypc

Tech was without Tre Turner in Chestnut Hill, too, and had to play Knox Kadum at quarterback. (Playing for McNeese State against Montana this past week, Kadum went 11-of-21 for 126 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.)

Blackshear is gone, and I highly doubt we’ll see Thomas on the field for the Hokies this week. However, Keshawn King had 19 rushes for 111 yards (5.8 avg.) in Norfolk. Either way, it’s important for Virginia Tech to establish a running game because Boston College’s pass defense is a tough nut to crack.

BC’s Talented and Experienced Secondary

Virginia Tech may not face a pair of better corners this year. Josh DeBerry (5-11, 177, Sr.) and Elijah Jones (6-2, 178, r-Sr.) are extremely experienced players. On paper, they’ll make life very difficult on a group of Hokie receivers who struggled last week against Old Dominion.

Both players will line up in a variety of roles and can play both inside and out. For example, DeBerry played 38 snaps in the slot last week and 22 as a side corner. Jones played 37 snaps as a wide corner and 16 as a slot corner. DeBerry has 1,305 career snaps and is the better of the two, though Jones is pretty good in his own right. He’s has seen 1,632 defensive snaps during his career.

Free safety Jason Maitre (5-10, 188, r-Sr.) hasn’t been great against the run, but he’s a good, experienced player against the pass. He’s not at the same level as DeBerry and Jones, but he’s solid with 1,423 career snaps under his belt.

The Eagles bring perhaps the best mix of talent and experience in the secondary that Virginia Tech will face this season.

Special Teams

Former Radford High School kicker Connor Lytton (6-0, 198, So.) returns as BC’s starting kicker. He missed his only attempt last week against Rutgers, which turned out to be costly, but he made 11 of his 12 attempts last year with a long of 49. He was also a perfect 25-of-25 on extra points. If you see any BC fans in Lane Stadium, there’s a good chance they are related to Lytton.

Danny Longman (6-1, 193, r-Sr.) has handled kickoffs and field goals at various times during his Boston College career, and he’s added punting to his resume in 2022. He averaged 43.4 yards per punt last week against Rutgers, and the Scarlet Knights didn’t manage to get a return. It’s very important for DJ Harvey to do a better job with fair catches this week because the Hokies can’t afford that lost field position.

Jaden Williams (5-9, 175, So.) returned all three of BC’s kickoffs last week, but that was his first action ever as a kickoff returner, so he’s an unknown. Jaelen Gill (5-11, 183, r-Sr.) has some experience returning punts, though he’s never been the type to break off big plays. Zay Flowers (5-10, 172, Sr.) is also listed on the depth chart here but has never been employed this way in the past. Still, watch out if you see No. 4 back to return punts. Considering the limitations of the BC offense, it might be a good idea for them to find ways to get Flowers as many touches as possible.

Final Thoughts

BC’s offense is limited, while the Virginia Tech defense played very well last week. Conversely, the Eagles have a dominant secondary that is a very tough matchup for a Tech passing game that didn’t distinguish itself last Friday in Norfolk. Yes, this one has the makings of a grand ‘ole rock fight, especially when you throw in the fact that there’s a chance of rain on Saturday night.

Do I trust Virginia Tech to beat a subpar Boston College team? No, I don’t. However, when I put the shoe on the other foot, if I were a BC fan, I wouldn’t trust the Eagles to beat what appears to be an offensively challenged Hokies team, either. 30 years ago I may have picked a tie.

What I do know is that Virginia Tech can’t really afford to lose this one. If the Hokies do, they’ll be staring down the barrel of a 1-3 start (Wofford is a horrible FCS team) after which they must run the UNC-Pitt-Miami-NCSU gauntlet in October. Three of those October games are on the road, too. September is the time for Virginia Tech to rack up wins, combined with a kinder November schedule. However, that plan was partially botched with the loss to ODU last week.

I feel like I don’t even know Boston College. The Eagles used to be a big, physical team that pounded the rock, and now they are pass-heavy. Defensively, they used to be tough against the run but had unathletic corners who you could beat with superior athletes. It’s the opposite these days.

I don’t know who I think is going to win. It’s a toss-up as far as I’m concerned. The Hokies are favored by three points, which covers the home field advantage, so Vegas views it as a toss-up as well. I can’t think of any real compelling reasons to pick either team to win, to be honest, but the rules say that somebody has to.

Bottom line…I’m a jaded Virginia Tech fan who watched the Hokies lose to Old Dominion this past weekend. Tech is 5-8 since they beat UNC to open last season and is 11-16 dating back to the last two games of 2019. This team loses more often than it wins, and until I see the Hokies win another football game (Wofford doesn’t count), I’m going to pick them to lose.

Chris’s Prediction: Boston College 24, Virginia Tech 17

Will Stewart’s Take: I used to joke that I would never, ever pick Boston College to beat Virginia Tech. That’s probably not the best approach to take anymore, given that BC has won three of the last four and five of the last nine.

Chris’s preview sounds pretty dismal for both teams. The betting line on this game is essentially even, given that it’s a three-point spread and home teams generally get about a three-point advantage.

Looking at the all-important matchups on the line of scrimmage, things look encouraging for the Hokies D-line against the BC O-line, but the Eagles D-line could also give the Hokies O-line problems. I don’t think this is a push. I think VT has a slight advantage on the line of scrimmage, but I also think that advantage is nullified by the fact that BC will have the best QB (Jurkovec) and WR (Flowers) on the field.

BC’s pass defense sounds like it can really throttle the Virginia Tech passing offense, while on the flip side, the BC offense has some guys that can make some plays, even if the VT defense is generally playing well.

I think the Hokies’ best pathway to victory is to play a really good defensive game and win the special teams battle. The second item is something that did not happen against ODU.

I’m concerned about the Tech offense for two reasons: (1) the WRs ability to get separation and make plays against a good BC pass defense; and (2) the interior offensive line didn’t have a good game run-blocking against ODU.

I don’t think that Virginia Tech will have anywhere near 15 penalties or five turnovers this week, so this one’s going to be tight and will come down to just a few plays (I know … most football games do). Like it or not, with Jurkovec and Flowers, BC has the two players on the field most likely to make the winning plays.

If Virginia Tech holds down those two guys and has someone step up and make plays, that’ll be good news, and that’s what we’ll be talking about next week.

I was *just* about to pick BC to win, but then I remembered our picks from last year and how we waxed and waned with the team. I’m going to go against that here, put that ODU game in the rearview mirror, and make my pick based on the belief (hope, haha) that the Hokies will find some playmakers this week. Sometimes a prediction is more of a wish/hope …

Will’s Prediction:  Virginia Tech 20, Boston College 13

David Cunningham’s Take: This is a peculiar game, one that could go either way. Virginia Tech is better than its result in Norfolk, at least on paper. 15 penalties is absurd, and seven of those occurred pre-snap on the offense, as Will Stewart penned on Monday. Brent Pry spoke on Tuesday about how Sunday’s practice was spent cleaning that up, and I have a feeling we’ll see a more disciplined side against Boston College.

I think a lot of Tech’s offensive potential depends on the health of wide receiver Kaleb Smith, whom Pry listed as “day-to-day” on Tuesday. As Chris alluded to, the Eagles have a solid secondary. Balance is important, and Keshawn King showed what he can provide against ODU. Tech needs at least some receiving threat against Boston College to relieve some pressure from Wells.

Pry also said cornerback Brion Murray, who served a one-game suspension, is back this week. He’ll provide more depth at corner for Dorian Strong and Armani Chatman, who played the majority of the snaps in the opener. If Murray was available to give Tech some relief at that spot against Old Dominion, is Strong in a better position to defend that 38-yard pass at the end of the game from Hayden Wolff to Ali Jennings? We’ll never know the answer, but Murray’s presence should be helpful this weekend.

I was impressed with Virginia Tech’s defense for the majority of the season opener. It got pressure, was solid in coverage and held ODU to 2-of-15 on third down. That’s pretty good. Against a sub-par Boston College offense with two good playmakers, can we expect a similar result? I don’t think it’s out of the question.

I think it’ll be close, but I’ve got the Hokies in this week’s game. It’s going to be a packed house under the lights in Brent Pry’s first game in Lane Stadium as the head coach, and it seems unlikely that Tech will have a special teams gaffe like the one at ODU. I think Grant Wells will take care of the football and the Hokies will keep the turnovers to a minimum, giving Pry his first win. But as seen against Old Dominion, the margin for error is razor thin.

David’s Prediction: Virginia Tech 27, Boston College 23

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Last Game’s Virginia Tech-ODU Prediction Poll Results

Game Result: ODU 20, Virginia Tech 17

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2022 Virginia Tech Football Predictions Tracker - TSL Staff
Game	Chris (8-3)	Will (7-4)	David (8-3)	Result
@ODU
BC
Wofford
WVU
@UNC
@Pittsburgh
Miami
@NC State
Georgia Tech
@Duke
@Liberty

2022 Virginia Tech Football Predictions Tracker - Fans (7-4) (record based on W-L, not margin of victory)
Game	Fan Poll	Result	Score
@ODU	Hokies Win by 11+		ODU 20, Hokies 17
Boston College	Hokies Win by 1-10		Hokies 27, BC 10
Wofford	Hokies Win by 11+		Hokies 27, Wofford 7
WVU	Hokies Win by 1-10		WVU 33, Hokies 10
@UNC	UNC Wins by 11+		UNC 41, Hokies 10
@Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh Wins by 11+		Pittsburgh 45, Hokies 29
Miami	Hurricanes Win by 11+		Miami 20, Hokies 14
@NC State	Wolfpack Wins by 11+		NC State 22, Hokies 21
Georgia Tech	Hokies Win by 1-10		GT 28, Hokies 27
@Duke	Blue Devils Win by 11+		Duke 24, Hokies 7
@Liberty	Flames Win by 11+		Hokies 23, Flames 22