By Will Vandervort.
By Will Vandervort
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Here is a position-by-position breakdown of Saturday’s Clemson at Boston College game.
Quarterback: Clemson’s Tajh Boyd continues to have a stellar season. Though he had a few rough patches against the FSU defense, he still threw for 237 yards and three touchdowns against the nation’s top-ranked defense. For the season, Boyd is completing 68 percent of his pass for 984 yards with nine touchdowns and only two interceptions. Who had BC’s Chase Rettig as the ACC’s top passer a month into the season? If you said yes, you are lying. No one thought Rettig would be this good, but right now he leads the ACC with 311.7 yards per game with six touchdown passes to one interception to this point. Advantage: Clemson
Running back: With Sammy Watkins unable to go at wide receiver, this probably is the biggest edge of any of the matches in the game. Clemson’s Andre Ellington leads the ACC in rushing with 383 yards and has scored five touchdowns. The Eagles have no backs over 120 yards this season and their running backs have only scored one touchdown. Advantage: Clemson
Wide receiver: With Watkins not making the trip, this position battle might be a little closer than once thought. But with that said, despite the Tigers being down Watkins and Martavis Bryant (groin), Clemson still has DeAndre Hopkins, Brandon Ford, Jaron Brown, Charone Peake and Adam Humphries. But don’t undersell BC’s receivers, either. Alex Amidon has 25 catches for 366 yards, while Tahj Kimble and Jonathan Coleman have 10 catches each for more than 145 yards. Advantage: Clemson
Offensive line: The Tigers will be without reserve guard Kalon Davis (hamstring), but should they stay healthy, this unit has proven to be one of Clemson’s strengths. The Tigers allowed only two sacks to FSU’s great defensive line last week, while rushing for 136 yards. In a weird way, BC has done a complete 360 with their offensive lineman. The Eagles are still big, but instead of lining you up and smashing you in the mouth with the running game; they now drop back in pass pro, allowing their quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards per game. Advantage: Clemson
Defensive line: It’s difficult to say who really has the edge here. Like Clemson, the Eagles are getting very little pressure on the quarterback, while having issues filing the lane and getting gap control in the running game. Sound familiar? The question for the Tigers is will they do anything different up front to help a line that seems lifeless at times in trying to stop the run and put pressure on the quarterback. Advantage: Boston College
Linebackers: What is it with Boston College linebackers? Senior Nick Clancy leads the country in tackles with 14.3 per game, while junior Kevin Pierre-Louis ranks sixth with 12.0. Let’s not forget Steele Divitto who checks in 37th with a 9.3 per game average. One wonders if the Tigers will change things up at linebacker too this week, but one thing is certain, Stephone Anthony and Tig Willard will be starting. Anthony has 38 tackles to lead the team, while Willard is second with 24. Advantage: Boston College
Secondary: Boston College is only allowing 202 yards per game and has allowed one touchdown through the air this year. But they only have one interception. Clemson is giving up 236 yards per game and has allowed four touchdowns—three last week—but the secondary has forced five interceptions, which ranks second in the ACC. So what to do? Having watched the Tigers secondary in last week’s loss to FSU, it’s hard to take the Tigers over anybody at this point. Advantage: Boston College
Special teams: Up until last week I thought Clemson was pretty solid in special teams. Then they gave up a 30-yard punt return, a long kickoff return and then a 90-yard kickoff return that changed the course of the game. Kicker Chandler Catanzaro is one of the nation’s best and Spencer Benton and Bradley Pinion are a nice one-two mix at punter, but the coverage teams really cost Clemson last week. BC leads the ACC in punt return average. Their punting is solid and placekicker Nate Freese is perfect like Catanzaro with his kicks – 7-for-7 so far this season. The only thing not solid is kickoff returns where the Eagles rank last in the ACC. Advantage: Boston College
Prediction: This game was hard to pick. I want to believe Clemson will come out and prove it is the better team with way more superior talent and take it to the Eagles, but when have they ever proved that to anyone at Boston College. Even the one time, in which they won at Alumni Stadium, the Tigers blew a 17-0 halftime lead and needed a C.J. Spiller 64-yard kickoff return to get back on top late in the fourth quarter. Let’s face it, the loss at FSU, coupled with all the weird things that happen at BC, plus Watkins strange stomach bug, and the fact BC’s strength (offense) is Clemson’s weakness (defense), the Tigers are on upset alert. Boston College 41, Clemson 38