ACC Championship Game
By Judd Hall
It seemed like a war of attrition when it came to figuring out who would wind up playing for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship this season. Eight teams had a legitimate chance of making the trip to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida this weekend at one time or another during the year. And when all of the dust settled during that late jockeying for the divisional titles, we wound up with a rematch of last year’s championship game between Boston College and Virginia Tech.
The Eagles weren’t expected to have a chance at winning the league title this year after losing most of their offensive weapons, most notably quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Kevin Challenger. But they still found a way to win four straight games to claim their second straight ACC Atlantic Division title.
To win its first trip to a BCS bowl game though, Boston College must do it with Dominique Davis under center thanks to Chris Crane going down with a broken collarbone.
While this is a tall task to ask of any true freshman QB, Davis has answered the call admirably. The Lakeland, Florida native helped BC clinch its second straight divisional championship by completing 50 percent of his passes for 134 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 28-21 win against Maryland last Saturday.
Davis also gives BC head coach Jeff Jagodzinski a new wrinkle since he is a much better open field runner than Crane. That mobility will help out this weekend with running back Josh Haden seems to be out of the lineup with an injured shoulder. That shouldn’t be as big a loss as Montel Harris leads the Eagles with 798 yards and five scores during his freshman campaign.
The Eagles will have their work cut out for them against Virginia Tech’s defense. Frank Beamer’s Hokies are the sixth best defensive team in the country, giving up 274.5 yards per game this season. And they’re allowing only 99.8 rushing YPG in their last four matches.
With a run defense as stout as the Hokies possess, you know that they want Davis to beat them with his arm. Virginia Tech’s secondary has been clamped down on receivers recently, giving up 97 passing yards in its last two matches and an average of 115.3 YPG in the past four tilts.
While its defense is ready for action, Tech’s offense could be in a world of hurt on its own. The uncertainty at the QB position with Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor has lasted for much of the year. All signs point to Taylor starting under center, but he hasn’t has had little success against the Eagles during his career. In last year’s ACC title game, Taylor had 86 total yards. And he threw for 90 yards and one pick in his start against Boston College on Oct. 18.
Boston College’s defense will once again pose a problem for Taylor, freshman Darren Evans and company this Saturday. The Eagles possess the seventh best rush defense in the country with 87.3 YPG this year. And they’ve surrendered just 44 rushing YPG in their last three fixtures.
The Eagles can also rendering your aerial attack useless with a secondary that is No. 35 in the nation by giving up 189.3 passing YPG. And they are as opportunistic as they come to snaring errant passes with 25 interceptions, the most of any program in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
This is the first time in ACC title game history that we’re getting a rematch of the previous season. Last year, the Eagles won as three-point road ‘dogs against Va Tech, 14-10. Yet the Hokies claimed the Orange Bowl bid as five-point favorites, 30-16 last December in Jacksonville.
Las Vegas Sports Consultants believes this game is too close to call by making it a pick em situation with a total of 39½. Some betting shops have listed the Eagles as slight one-point favorites.
Boston College being a road “chalk” might not be such a good thing for bettors as they are 3-1 straight up, but 1-3 against the spread since Jagodzinski has been in charge.
The Hokies, on the other hand, are 4-4 SU and 5-3 ATS when installed as road underdogs over the last two seasons.
Even though the ACC title game is in its fourth year of existence, we still have a trend brewing. That’s because the favorites are just 1-2 SU and ATS in the last three contests.
You can watch this match on ABC at 1:00 p.m. EST.
vegasinsider.com