Boston College vs. Wake Forest – Gambling Odds and Prediction – BC Interruption

Welcome back Eagles fans! Hope everyone had a great Bye-Week. Hopefully over this time we were all given enough time to make the Clemson match nothing but a distant memory. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the challenging season for the Eagles continues to move on into this weekend as the have prepare to face another juggernaut in the ACC, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Even as an Eagles fan, I have to give a ton of credit to the Wake Forest organization over the years. They have gone from a a stingy opponent in the ACC to a potential top-10 powerhouse. It took Dave Clawson two years under his belt but starting in 2016 the Demon Deacons have been invited 6 bowl games, finished above .500 each year (aside from the outlier COVID year which they still made a bowl appearance), and capped an 11 win season last year for the first time since 2006.

The Demon Deacons are sitting at #13 in the country and much of the success has fallen on the shoulders of QB Sam Hartman. Despite sitting out the first game, Hartman has still managed to throw for 1,442 yards with a 16/2 TD to INT ratio and a QBR of 175.8. To have this success he also has had the pleasure of connecting with WRs A.T. Perry and Jahmal Bank who combined compose of rougly half of Sams total passing yards.

It is no secret that this offense is deadly as their only loss this season came in double-OT against the visting Clemson Tigers with both QBs putting on a clinic combining for 96 total points. As a team, Wake Forest averages 41.17 PPG and an average of 440 YPG which is a daunting statistic to stomach.

With this high-powering offense at the helm, it is to not much surprise that the Eagles come into this match, once again, as double-digit underdogs sitting currently at +21 and the O/U at 61.5.

As much as I hate to re-visit BCs last matchup against Clemson, a few things stood out. BCs defense stood firm for the whole first half (as I predicted) giving the offense enough opportunities to really get something clicking. Yet, that engine never started as the Eagles were unable to find the endzone all game. Could this be another deja vu scenario for BC?

Tempting as it might be to say yes, I do think that this Deacon defense is a bit more susceptible than Clemsons and that BC could do some damage. Wake Forest allows, on average, 385 total yards to opponents per game with 235 of those coming through the air. I think it is very plausible that Jurkovec and this offense could strike a few matches and get hot for a few drives and find a bit more success than they did almost two weeks ago.

In terms of coming up with a verdict on this matchup, I still think that BC caves on this one based purely off of the talent on the otherside of the ball. However, when it comes to the odds of this game, I have to say that BCs defense has really showed some improvement and progress over the last month or so. They hung with one of the best teams in the country for a full half and I can foresee them doing something similar down in Winston-Salem. The difference here being that Jurkovec and team are able to move the ball effectively down the field and capitalize on some defensive stops. While I dont predict a BC win, I envision it being a more enticing showing for Hafley and company. Give me the points in this one.

Prediction: BC +21 | Under 61.5 | Wake Forest ML (-1781)