By William Qualkinbush.

TCI takes a look at how the Clemson-Boston College game breaks down By the Numbers.

-92: Rushing yards allowed to quarterbacks by Clemson’s defense this season. The Tigers have absolutely stifled any attempt by any opponent to utilize the quarterback in the running game this season. Four times in six games, Brent Venables’ unit has allowed the opposing quarterback to rush for negative yardage. That includes mobile QBs Marquis Williams of North Carolina and Jacoby Brissett of N.C. State, both of whom were held in check by the Tigers. This week will present Clemson with its stiffest test in this regard, as Boston College’s Tyler Murphy is the second-best rusher in the ACC (118.5 YPG) and the national leader in rushing yardage by a quarterback. He also ranks 11th in the nation in yards per attempt with 8.3.

4.1: Difference in yards per attempt between Deshaun Watson and Cole Stoudt. Watson is tied for second in the nation with 10.5 yards per attempt, while Stoudt ranks 94th with 6.4 yards per attempt. Stoudt is listed ninth among the 13 qualified quarterbacks in the ACC in this regard. The dramatic difference between these two numbers underscores the differences in the offense when each quarterback’s skill set is considered. Watson is more apt to throw the ball downfield, while Stoudt is reliant on short and intermediate throws to move the ball more methodically. Against a Boston College defense that is largely built on solid base alignments and keeping everything in front of the safeties, Stoudt’s windows to throw will be small. The screen game with Artavis Scott worked well last week against Louisville—especially down the stretch—and Stoudt will lean heavily on it again this week against the Eagles.

5: Number of Clemson wins against Boston College since 2008. Dabo Swinney’s first trip to Chestnut Hill ended in a Clemson victory—the first of his coaching career—in spite of the fact the Tigers were an underdog heading into that game. It is the only time Boston College has been favored to beat Clemson since the Eagles joined the ACC in 2005. The Tigers are 5-4 against the Eagles since that point, but Swinney has all five wins. The past four victories have all been of the double-digit variety, including a 45-31 win in Chestnut Hill back in 2012.

7.8: Combined penalties per game for both Clemson and Boston College. They are the two least penalized teams in the conference, and both rank inside the nation’s top ten in penalties and inside the top 11 in penalty yards per game. Combined, they only average 68 yards per game in penalties. Even combined, the squads are penalized less than approximately one-fifth of the country’s teams. Five ACC teams have more penalties per game than the two combined, while three conference foes are penalized for more yards.

71.8: Percentage of Boston College’s plays from scrimmage that are runs. The Eagles have the second-largest discrepancy between run and pass in the conference, behind only option-oriented Georgia Tech, and they actually average 21 yards per game more than the Yellow Jackets on the ground. They keep teams off-balance by featuring Murphy in the read and triple option game, as well as powering ahead in more traditional two-back sets—the kind that Steve Addazio preferred last year with Chase Rettig and Andre Williams in the backfield. Freshman Jon Hilliman and sophomore Myles Willis share the load at tailback, combining for 724 yards on 157 carries thus far. The Eagles also feature a big-play rushing option at wide receiver in freshman Sherman Alston. Addazio was the architect who designed the jet sweep running game for Percy Harvin at Florida, and it appears Alston, who is averaging better than 12 yards a clip on the ground, may be used a couple of times per game in much the same way.