Boston College Looks for Win Number One vs Maine

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The Boston College Eagles (0-2, 0-1) head into Week 3 of the college football season still looking for their first win of the season. On Saturday night at Alumni Stadium, the Eagles will host the Maine Black Bears (0-2, 0-0 ) in search of that first win. There were two glaring takeaways from last Saturday night’s loss in Blacksburg, VA. First, the BC ground game was nowhere to be found. Boston College ran the ball 26 times for a net four yards, an average of 0.2 yards per carry. Second, the Eagles were 2-of-15 on third down conversions. The offensive line in the first two weeks of the season has had a hard time creating running lanes for the backs. This has put the offense in too many third and long situations. Pass blocking is still an issue as well as the line allowed QB Phil Jurkovec to be sacked five times vs Virginia Tech. The good news, if there is any, is the more reps this line gets together the better they should play. Hopefully, the second half of the season is better than the first.

On defense, the Eagles hung in there vs the Hokies. Yes, they gave up 284 total yards (144 net on the ground, 140 in the air). For the most part, this unit kept the Eagles in the game while giving the offense time to figure things out. Until the offense gets untracked, this unit is going to be called upon to keep the team in games. A potential tough task giving how unforgiving the Atlantic Coast Conference can be.

The 0-2 record to start the season for BC is just the second time since 1994, and the first time since 2011. The Eagles have finished at .500 or better in six of the 13 seasons in which they started 0-2 since 1951. In the 94 season, BC ended up 7-4-1. In program history, Boston College has started seasons 0-2 25 times. The series with Maine dates all the way back to September 20, 1913 with the Black Bears winning that game 6-0 in Orono, Maine. In fact, Maine won the first three meetings between the schools. All of those games were played in Maine. Since then, the Eagles have won the last six meetings between the two. The last time out was in 2015 with BC winning 24-3. Boston College has fared very well against teams from the FCS. Since subdivision took place in 1978, BC is 32-3, and they have won 32 in a row. The three losses all took place in 1978.

With his four catches for 78 yards last week against Virginia Tech, WR Jay Flowers is now ninth in career receptions with 136. He is the tenth receiver in Eagles history to go over 2,000 yards. Flowers stand at 2,175. He led BC receivers with those four balls last week. Eight different pass catchers were included in the passing game last weekend.

The Eagles pass defense is playing solid through two weeks. They ranked eighth in the country, and first in the ACC yards allowed per game (125). They have held their opponents to under 160 yards through the air.

Maine is 3-8 all-time vs the ACC, with nine of those games vs BC. A win on Saturday night would be the second for the Black Bears in school history vs a Power-5 school. The other win was against Mississippi State in 2004. This will be the 29th game vs an FBS school. Maine will be looking for their fifth win. Maine’s defense has six sacks on the young season, which ranks them fourth in the CAA. It is half of their total for all of last season. They are #1 in pass defense in the CAA, and #6 in FCS. They allow just 116 yards through the air. On offense, QB Joe Fagnano has thrown only one inteception in his last 137 attempts. He is averaging 171 yards in the air through two games. His favorite target is Shawn Bowman who ranks 15th in the CAA with four catches a game.