Boston College

Like last week, there were a lot of positives that came out of Chestnut Hill. The defensive line again delivered a ton of pressure on the quarterback. The secondary essentially took away the Eagle's downfield passing game. The offensive line delivered their best effort run blocking since the Duke game. Seniors Marcus Davis, Martin Scales, and Randall Dunn made huge plays.

At the same time, I came away with a sour taste in my mouth. Boston College has been poor running the football this season, yet dictated the pace of the game by running between the tackles against the Hokie 4-4 scheme. The linebackers were terrible taking on lead blocks by H-backs and got pinned inside on counter and zone plays, and the defensive tackles (especially J.R. Collins and Luther Maddy) played with poor pad level and looked like they were playing on roller skates on throughout the game. And perhaps most disturbing, Logan Thomas had his worst game since East Carolina last season.

My Hate Week began with a sense of apathy and frustration despite the victory, but the dam broke after I read the following from noted sportswriter, author, and (former) Tech faculty member Roland Lazenby.

A lot of stuff happened on Saturday, and I felt like writing about it.

Late season losses by top teams usually blur the national championship picture, but not this year. Stanford and Baylor upsetting Oregon and Kansas State, respectively, cleared the path for a Notre Dame-SEC national championship. Notre Dame has one game remaining, a road trip to Los Angeles against USC. The Trojans are 1-3 in their last four games and may be without quarterback Matt Barkley, if the report of a separated shoulder is true. Alabama and Georgia were 4th and 5th in last week's BCS rankings and they both host games during rivalry week. Auburn hasn't beaten a BCS team this season. Three wins in a row, and suddenly Georgia Tech has a pulse, but their competition has been anything but stiff. That upset isn't improbable, but is unlikely. In any case, I think the favorites will prevail. Which team can you tolerate hoisting the crystal, Notre Dame or the SEC representative?

Les Miles' speech definitely comes from the heart, but there's some showmanship in there too. I would strap it up and play for The Hat in an instant.

Also, there's this GIF.

Against Florida State the Hokies played their hearts out. However, getting up for a big game in Lane hasn't been Tech's problem. Amping up for noon(-ish) kickoffs, in half empty stadiums, against average to poor teams, on the road, has been. Those conditions are exactly what Tech will encounter in Chestnut Hill.

Boston College is a terrible team. They have just two wins, a blowout against Maine, and 3 point squeaker versus Maryland (in that game the Terps started their former fourth-string quarterback). They rank 95th in total offense, 104th in scoring offense, 107th in total defense, and 77th in scoring defense. Opponents average 81.8 plays against BC. And, they lost to Army. None of that matters though, because as we saw at Miami and at Pitt, Tech has a habit of losing to bad teams on the road.

The Eagles do have some playmakers though. Chase Rettig is having a solid junior season (57% completions, 2,813 yards, 16 TDs, 9 INTs), and he's third among ACC QBs in yards per game.

Wide receiver Alex Amidon is having a spectacular season. He leads the ACC and ranks fourth nationally in receiving yards per game (115.7), and is 10th among all receivers with an average of 7.3 receptions per game.

Linebacker Nick Clancy leads BC in tackles (107), and is one of their better defenders. He suffered a concussion against Notre Dame, sat out the first two practices this week, but was cleared Wednesday.

This week I exchanged questions with Bill Maloney, the founder of Eagle in Atlanta. We talked about Coach Spaz, Chase Rettig, the rebuilding job at BC and the chance the Eagles could "steal" this one. My answers to his questions are up on his site too.

Here's to hoping the Eagles are as poor as Bill says.

TKP: So if there's one thing that makes me feel better about this Tech season it is that they are not the worst team in the ACC. Insert your Eagles. They're 2-8 and have only beaten Maine and a Maryland team playing a linebacker at quarterback. Is this going to be it for Frank Spazizani?

ATL: Spaz is done. While that is still speculation on my part, I think the moves BC has made (replacing our AD) and not commenting on Spaz's future indicate that this is all nearing an end. Even a strong finish won't be enough. The program is suffering on the field and in the stands. We need a new face and a new leader.

TKP: That being said, what does the future look like for this Eagles team? Are there any signs for a positive future?

The Hokies don't begin spring practice until March 28, but other teams on their schedule have been pitching around the oblong. Here's a look at their opponents that are already popping pads.

Boston College

Start: Feb. 18
Game: March 31

Montel Harris re-aggravated his left knee injury after BC's first spring practice. He's being held out for the rest of spring, a move that seems more precautionary than anything.

The Eagles have a brand new offensive coaching staff, so getting the new system installed is the highest priority.

Who: Virginia Tech Hokies (11-5, 0-2) @ Boston College Eagles (6-10, 1-1)

When: Saturday, January 14 @ 3:00 p.m.

TV: ACC Network (Tom Werme and Cory Alexander)

Where: Conte Forum (8,606), Chestnut Hill, MA

The Opponent: Looking solely at the stats coming into this game, the Hokies should cruise over Boston College. But then you throw in Tech’s last two games, the 1-9 record for the Hokies all-time at BC, and the fact that BC is coming off a win over a Clemson team that crushed FSU by 20. Tech’s only win at Chestnut Hill was an overtime victory in 2008. That’s it. And we all remember BC dominating the Hokies on Senior Night last year in the singular game that probably kept Tech out of the tourney. So who knows what’s going to happen.

BC is easily the worst statistical team in the ACC. Coming into league play, many thought this could be the worst ACC team of all time, even worse than last year’s 1-15 Wake squad. But then they beat Clemson so the worst they can actually do is 1-15. The Eagles have lost to Holy Cross (by 22), UMass (by 36), Boston U (by 14), and 3-14 Rhode Island. Their best win outside of Clemson? Stony Brook. Plain and simple, this is not a good basketball team.

Here’s their projected starting lineup:

I picked a great year to watch each game twice. This is a really fun team, on both sides of the ball.

I saw a Darryl Slater tweet about this being the only season under Frank in which a QB has completed at least 22 passes in three games. Is that true?

Sadly, it's going to be tough down the stretch. Guys are dropping like drunk sorority girls trying to navigate the TOTS stairs at last call.

But this is a solid group of football players, and I'm excited about the fourth quarter of the season. Let's take a look at how they did on Saturday:

1. Antone Exum - He got lucky on the first play of the second quarter, but otherwise I thought he had another nice day. He made a beautiful play on that near-INT and tattooed some BC scrub. Nice work.

2. Josh Oglesby - Go back and watch the last drive of the first half. Josh had a really tough catch, but more importantly, killed it in the pass protection department. Job well done.

3. Logan Thomas - What do you do if you're supposed to tackle him? Not only does he blast fools, he lets them know exactly what happened. I'd like to see him take it up the middle of the field more when he pulls it down, otherwise, I really have no criticism. Just a beast.