By Will Vandervort.
By Will Vandervort
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Here is an inside look at the intangibles as the 17th-ranked Clemson Tigers visit Boston College in a key ACC Atlantic Division matchup.
About the Eagles: Boston College is 1-2 and 0-1 in the ACC with the lone win coming against Maine on Sept. 8. The Eagles are an offensive minded team this year behind quarterback Chase Rettig, but the defense is still very hard-hitting and fundamentally sound as always.
The Eagles offense: Rettig leads the ACC with 311.7 yards per game with six touchdown passes to one interception to this point. Wide receiver Alex Amidon has 25 catches for 366 yards, while Tahj Kimble and Jonathan Coleman have 10 catches each for more than 145 yards a piece.
The Eagles defense: The Eagles are only as good as their linebackers, and once again, their linebackers are good. 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.
The Eagles Special Teams: 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 on kickoff returns where the Eagles rank last in the ACC.
Series record: Clemson leads 10-9-2
At Boston College: Boston College leads 6-5-1
Last meeting: Clemson won 36-14 in 2011
First meeting: Clemson won 6-3 in the 1940 Cotton Bowl
Clemson’s biggest margin of victory: 22 points (34-12) in 1958 and (36-14) in 2011
Boston College’s biggest margin of victory: 15 points (31-16) in 1983
Stat worth noting: Clemson has won each of its last two games over Boston College when coming off a loss, and both have come under head coach Dabo Swinney. The Tigers beat BC, 27-21, at Alumni Stadium in 2008 following a loss to Georgia Tech the week before. Clemson then beat the Eagles, 25-7, at Death Valley in 2009 following a heartbreaking loss to TCU.
Memorable game: In 2008, then as the interim head coach, Dabo Swinney led the Tigers to a 27-21 victory over Boston College for his first win as a head coach. Clemson’s C.J. Spiller had 242 all-purpose yards that afternoon. The game was also memorable because the Tigers racked up 240 yards in the first half while building a 17-0 halftime lead. But BC rallied from behind thanks to several Clemson miscues to take a 21-17 lead in the fourth quarter. But Spiller returned the ensuing kickoff 64 yards to set up an Aaron Kelly touchdown from Cullen Harper and then the defense came through with two big stops as the Tigers hung on for the six-point victory. At the time it was Clemson’s first win over the Eagle since they joined the ACC in 2005. The Tigers have won three of the last four meetings since.