2011 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Football: Wake Forest @ Boston College

Any hopes Boston College had of avoiding a last place finish in the ACC Atlantic division probably evaporated on its home field on the first day of October, a stunning fall for such a dependably solid program. The Eagles are at a point where even the star power of Montel Harris on offense and Luke Keuchly on defense can cover the glaring deficiency of talent in Chestnut Hill. Mathematically, at 0-2 in the conference, the Eagles have plenty of opportunities to not only avoid the basement, but to win the division. But practically, Boston College has already lost to both Duke and Wake Forest, the teams that were predicted by most pundits to finish last in their respective divisions, and the remainder of the Eagles schedule includes Clemson, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Florida State, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, and Miami, with only Florida State and North Carolina State visiting Chestnut Hill. Wins are going to be difficult to come by for a team that has already lost to Duke and Wake Forest at home.

The new-found ineptitude of Boston College shouldn’t overshadow a very successful beginning of the ACC season for Wake Forest though. The Demon Deacons followed up a heartbreaking overtime loss at Syracuse on the first game of the season with a win over North Carolina State and then a blowout over Gardner-Webb. The first four games have already produced as many wins as the entire 2010 season for head coach Jim Grobe, signaling that last year might have been an aberration rather than a sign of a significant decline for Wake Forest.

Wake Forest won on the strength of quarterback Tanner Price’s arm. The sophomore had almost 300 yards passing, compared to the 100 yards his team earned on the ground. Chris Givens was his primary recipient, with 132 yards on 7 catches and a TD that really broke the game open early in the second half, putting Wake Forest up 24-9.

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Boston College actually kept it pretty close in the first half. After Wake Forest scored on its first drive, each team traded field goals before the Eagles pulled within four points when Nate Freese hit his second field goal of the game, making the score 10-6 with just over six minutes to go in the half. Wake Forest answered with a five-minute, 73 yard drive to extend its lead to 17-6. Boston College, with only about a minute to work with before the half, did manage to drive and hit a 52 yard field goal right before the half to make the score 17-9.

The Boston College defense tightened up in the second half, save for the 47 yard Price touchdown pass to Givens in its first defensive series. After that play, Boston College intercepted a Tanner Price pass and then forced three consecutive three-and-outs before giving up a field goal. Before the final field goal by Wake Forest, the Eagles managed to cut the score to 24-19 with about six minutes to go in the game, but the Eagles final drive stalled around midfield as Boston College quarterback Chase Rettig was stopped on a 4 th and four run with less than two minutes to go in the game.

Rettig had a much less effective game than Price, and it shows in the stats. While Price attempted 29 passes and completed 19 for 252 yards, Rettig attempted a whopping 47 passes, with 23 completions for only 188 yards. Price had an 8.7 yards per attempt average, while Rettig had only a 4 yards per attempt average. On the other hand, Boston College’s Montel Harris was much more efficient than his Wake Forest counterpart, also named Harris. The Demon Deacons’ Josh Harris ran the ball 19 times for only 60 yards, barely 3 yards per carry, while the Eagles’ Montel Harris had 22 carries for 108 yards, for almost five yards per carry. Montel Harris is a much better back than his stats indicate, though. He is hindered by an offensive line that is not able to open up lanes for the running backs. That he was able to muster a 100 yard rushing day is a credit to just how good of a running back Montel Harris is for the Eagles.

Unfortunately for Boston College, having one outstanding player on each side of the ball (Harris on offense, Keuchly on defense), will not win many ball games. Keuchly’s amazing season, with 83 tackles after just five games, is an unfortunate reminder that Boston College used to field solid defenders at every position, while the offensive line used to be adept at run blocking. The 2011 version of the Boston College Eagles has significant issues all over the field, and they’re going to have to dig deep to avoid last place in the division – or win another game.

Wake Forest @ Boston College Football Recap