The football team aims for its first Bowl Subdivision Top 25 ranking this weekend as it ventures outside Mid-American Conference play.
It plays Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Boston College at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
The Chippewas are No. 26 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll and No 27 in the Associated Press Top 25, and could clinch a Top 25 ranking with a win Saturday. But coach Butch Jones called the Eagles the biggest challenge they have faced all season.
“We’re playing a team that’s challenging to win the ACC,” he said. “They’re a big, physical football team … and they’re going to challenge us in every aspect.”
Boston College (5-3 overall, 3-3 ACC) features a ground-led offense, with 25-year-old freshman quarterback Dave Shinskie averaging just 135.8 passing yards per game. Sophomore running back Montel Harris averages 99.2 rushing yards per game.
• Check out cm-life.com for a live chat for the football game against Boston College at 3 p.m. Saturday.
The Chippewas are second in the MAC in rush defense, allowing 113.8 yards per game. But Jones said he sees a stifling BC offensive line.
“They’re probably the best offensive line we’ve faced to date,” he said. “They’re 300 pounds across the board and have great skill … and they’re a team that’s in first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.”
And despite Boston College’s top two wide receivers averaging less than 55 yards per game — Rich Gunnell (54.9) and Colin Larmond, Jr. (53.6) — Jones said they can present certain challenges to the CMU secondary.
“Their receiving corps is very athletic,” Jones said. “And they’re all highly recruited kids.”
Disciplined Defense
Senior quarterback Dan LeFevour described Boston College’s defense as very physical and the toughest challenge CMU has faced all year.
“They’ve got a lot of guys that are very disciplined and do their job,” he said. “So you’re not going to fool them too much or catch them getting lazy — you’ve got to play sound football, just like them.”
The Eagles’ leading tackler is freshman linebacker Luke Kuechly, and their defense has sacked the opposing quarterback 11 times in eight games.
“Our offensive line has been doing their job and they have guys that are big,” LeFevour said. “And they play hard, so we have to match that at least and try to do the best we can against those guys.”
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Dave Jones
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Despite what team they’re playing and the history with them from a couple of years ago, I still seeing this game being very winnable. Just keep doing what they’ve been doing, and make a minimum of mistakes (like the ill-conceived 4th down plays when they played them a few years ago that burned them, ultimately making for the points that cost them the game).
If they were to win, it’s going to make Halloween, the best holiday of the year in my mind, all the sweeter.
Go CMU. Should be a fun afternoon…