Wake Forest at Boston College Line
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
This Saturday the Boston College Eagles will host the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Boston College was able to beat Massachusetts 45-17 last Saturday for their first win of the season. The Eagles had lost their first two home games to Northwestern and Duke. Wake Forest wasn’t in action last week, but have looked like a completely different team in 2011. They are 1-0 inside the ACC with a 34-27 win over North Carolina State and their only defeat is a 29-36 overtime loss at Syracuse.
Taking a look at the week 5 college football lines, oddsmakers currently have Wake Forest favored by 2.5-points over Boston College with the total set at 48.5 points.
Wake Forest:
The Demon Deacons won just three games all of last season, but their win over NC State shows you just how improved they are under head coach Jim Grobe. Wake Forest could easily be 3-0, as they had a 26-14 lead going into the fourth quarter at Syracuse.
A big reason Wake Forest has got off to a strong start is the play of starting quarterback Tanner Price. The sophomore has completed 62% of his attempts for 867 yards with six touchdowns to one interception. Price had just 1,349 yards and seven touchdowns in nine starts as a freshman.
The improved play of Price has led to a lot more production out of the Demon Deacon wide outs. The biggest threat on the outside is junior Chris Givens, who leads the team with 20 receptions for 366 yards and three scores. Danny Dembry has also been a big factor offensively in the first three games, catching 16 passes for 230 yards and score.
Wake Forest has also had some nice success running the ball in the early portion of this season. Sophomore running back Josh Harris leads the team with 216 yards and senior Brandon Pendergrass has added 79 yards on just 19 attempts.
Last year the Demon Deacons managed just 287 yards of total offense against Boston College, but the Eagles defense hasn’t played all that well in their four games. They are allowing 165 rushing yards and 240 passing yards a game. I expect Wake Forest to have a lot throwing the ball against the Eagles in this one.
Boston College:
While the Eagles haven’t played anywhere close to expectations in their first four games, all three of their losses were without senior running back Montel Harris, who was the preseason ACC Player of the Year. Harris rushed for 1,243 yards and eight touchdowns a season ago and figures to add a lot of life to an offense that has done little of anything early on.
While Price appears to have made huge strides from his first season, Boston College’s Chase Rettig hasn’t shown anything to make you think he is a better player in his second season. Rettig has completed just 53% of his passes for 864 yards with four touchdowns to three interceptions.
Without Harris in the lineup, the Eagles have averaged just 110 rushing yards a game to start the year. They had just 57 yards in the loss at UCF and only 81 yards against a Duke. Harris is going to help them move the chains and stay on the field, but defenses are going to be able to key on the run until Rettig starts throwing the ball with more success.
The Demon Deacon defense held Harris and company to just 298 yards of total offense, but the Eagles did have 165 yards on the ground. In 2011 I have really been impressed with Wake Forest on the defensive side of the ball. They are allowing just 84 yards a game on the ground and only 203 yards through the air. If the Eagles don’t have success running the ball, the Demon Deacons could end up running away with this one.
Betting Trends:
Wake Forest is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games as a favorite of 0.5-3.0.
Boston College is 2-9 ATS in their last 11 home games.
Be sure to check out what Steve Janus has picked to win in week 5 of college football. The expert college football handicapper cashed in a 6-1 premium card in week 4!
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