Virginia @ Boston College preview
Alumni Stadium
Last Meeting ( Nov 14, 2009 ) Boston College 14, Virginia 10
Boston College (5-5, 3-4 ACC) needs to hold serve here and maybe knock off Syracuse the next week to lock up something like the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. Virginia (4-6, 1-5 ACC) is tied for last place in the Coastal and long off the rails of any bowl track.
Boston College continued its defensive dominance last Saturday, beating Duke 21-16 for its third straight win. Virginia lost at home to Maryland 42-23, getting outscored 21-3 in the second half.
BC ranks first in the nation in rushing defense, holding opponents to 74.6 yards a game, and first in the ACC in total defense (306.1).
Sophomore linebacker Luke Kuechly made a career-high 21 tackles Saturday, broke up two passes, forced one fumble, recovered another and was named ACC defensive lineman of the week. He leads the country with 146 tackles.
Boston College has 28 takeaways, tied for third in the nation, and has a plus-7 turnover margin. Junior strong safety Dominick LeGrande has recovered three fumbles and cornerback Donnie Fletcher has five interceptions. The Eagles are tied for first in the nation with 17 interceptions and have yielded just five rushing touchdowns.
Despite having the ACC's leading rusher in Montel Harris, Boston College ranks last in the conference in rushing (117.6 yards per game), scoring (19.4 points per game) and total offense (301.8 yards per game). Harris' seven rushing touchdowns are the only ones by BC all season. Last Saturday, Harris rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown, giving him 1,129 yards on 245 carries. The junior has 3,486 yards in his career, fourth on BC's all-time list.
Two true freshmen, quarterback Chase Rettig and wideout Bobby Swigert, form the main air linkup. Rettig is 65 of 123 for 855 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions. Against Duke, he went 12 of 24 for 230 yards, with two third-quarter touchdowns and no interceptions. Swigert leads the Eagles with 467 yards, 31 receptions and four touchdowns.
Boston College leads the Virginia series 4-0, winning 14-10 last year as Harris ran for 151 yards.
Virginia's Keith Payne leads the ACC with 14 rushing touchdowns, but had none against Maryland when he gained 68 yards on 18 runs. He has all but two of the Cavaliers' rushing touchdowns. Robert Randolph has the others.
Virginia has the ACC's No. 2 passing offense, averaging 266.9 yards a game. Marc Verica passed for 265 yards last Saturday and has 4,540 passing yards for his career. Against Maryland he was 25 of 43 for 265 yards with two interceptions and a touchdown.
Kris Burd and Dontrelle Inman rank as one of the top receiving duos in Virginia history. They are among the ACC leaders, Burd with 47 catches for 686 yards and five touchdowns, Inman with 41 catches for 654 yards and three touchdowns.
The Cavaliers rank last in the ACC in rushing defense, yielding 202.5 yards a game; 10th in in scoring defense (28.5 points per game), and 10th in total defense (400.0 yards per game).
Virginia has lost 12 straight November games.