Two .500 ACC teams each aim for 3-2 in ACC play Saturday as Duke hosts Boston College at Wallace Wade Stadium. Here are the keys to the game.
Walker Eget’s health
Starting quarterback Walker Eget missed some time during Friday night’s win at Virginia with a finger injury, but later returned to help lead his Blue Devils to victory.
Duke head coach Manny Diaz was asked about Eget’s status during his press conference on Monday and said that the signal caller “should be good to go” for Saturday’s game.
Eget, who started the season slowly, has now passed for over 200 yards in three straight games, making his availability key in a game against a Boston College defense that ranks 27th in passing yards allowed.
Containing the QB run
Eagles starter Mason McKenzie has run like a man possessed this
season and could cause serious issues for the Blue Devil defense.
Last week, Duke faced a solid rushing QB in Beau Pribula and limited his impact to 66 yards on 21 carries.
McKenzie leads Boston College in rushing yards with 614, adding five scores on the ground. Duke’s ability to neutralize this aspect of the Eagles’ attack will be paramount in attempting to secure a victory.
Exposing Boston College’s passing game
The Eagles rank just 103rd in the country in passing offense this season, an area that Duke’s battle-tested secondary will look to expose throughout the afternoon.
The Blue Devils will look to build on last week’s performance when they held the Cavaliers to just 158 yards through the air.
Penalties
A mainstay of our keys to the game will continue to be huge as Duke moves through the season, and this week is no different.
Both squads are in the lower third of the FBS in fewest penalties per game, with Boston College sitting at 99th and Duke slotting in at 104th.
The Blue Devils showed improvement in this department in Charlottesville as they were penalized just four times, well below their season average of 7.43 per game.
Third down
Perhaps the most lopsided set of statistics heading into this game comes on third down when the Eagles’ offense is on the field.
Boston College currently converts on 37.5% of its third-down attempts, good for just 90th in the country. Inversely, Duke is ninth in the nation in this stat defensively, holding opponents to 29.2% on the money down.
The Blue Devils continued to look the part on third down last week, holding Virginia to 29.4% in the low-scoring affair.
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This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: Duke vs. Boston College: 5 keys to the Blue Devils, Eagles matchup
