2021 Wake Forest Football Opponent Preview: Boston College Eagles

Game Date: Saturday, November 27th, 2021

Opponent: Boston College Eagles

Conference: ACC

Head Coach: Jeff Hafley (6-5, 5-5)

2020 Stats

Record: 6-5

Highest Ranking: N/A

Post-Season: N/A

Wins: @Duke, Texas State, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, @Syracuse, Louisville

Losses: #12 UNC, @#23 Virginia Tech, @#1 Clemson, #2 Notre Dame, @UVA

Yards per Game: 385.9

Yards Allowed per Game: 416.8

Points per Game: 27.8

Points Allowed per Game: 28.4

BC is interesting. QB Phil Jurkovec had a pretty beastly season, passing for 2,558 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 5 picks on 61% completion percentage. Those stats put him top 20 in yards and top 30 in touchdowns, and he was reliably good, averaging a QBR of 71.3. BC as a team was mercurial, barely scraping by Syracuse and Texas State, but also going toe-to-toe with Clemson, only losing by 6 in Death Valley after being up to start the 4th quarter. Of course, I think a lot of that is down to the inherent volatility of last season across the entire sports landscape, and the fact that Jeff Hafley was in his first year of head coaching anywhere means that the season was certainly good for the Eagles, but also it’s worth noting that a single season is way too small of a sample size to really get a bead on, for better or for worse. Also, as much as the offense was fairly explosive, the defense was even more porous, meaning that the Eagles had a negative net differential in both yards and points per game despite their 6-5 record. Basically, I’m neither terrified of Boston College nor am I taking the game as a given, because if they’re able to build on their successes last year, they could have one heck of a squad next season, but given the up and down nature of sports, especially with new coaches. It’s also worth noting, however, that Coach Hafley has quite the record as a recruiter, so it’s very much within the realm of possibility that this could be the beginning of something good for Boston College. Only time will tell. I will say, though, Coach Clawson has more of a track record, I’d tend to give the Deacs a little bit of the edge given how unsure I am which way this game will go when considering all the other variables.

What do y’all think? Let me know in the comments. Thanks as always for reading, and Go Deacs.

—SF