Kansas will take on Boston College on Friday night to kick off the third week of the college football season. The Eagles are heavily favored in this one at home and will look to take care of business and move on to Week 4 swiftly.
Looking For The Upset
Kansas comes into this game 1-1 following a 12-7 loss at home against Coastal Carolina. New head coach Les Miles would love to force a big upset this week to get his team on the map.
Jayhawks starting quarterback Carter Stanley is in his senior season, and he started off his season hot with 241 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in Week 1. However, in week two, the Kansas offense was slowed down significantly as Stanley put up just 107 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions.
Stanley needs a big bounce-back game here, and while Boston College has allowed an average of 246.5 passing yards per game, they may have too much talent for the Jayhawks to gain any momentum against.
The guy to watch in the running game for the Jayhawks is Khalil Herbert. The senior has 170 yards and a touchdown over the first two games of the season. While Coastal Carolina limited him to just eight carries in their last game, Herbert still managed 82 yards and the team’s only touchdown.
Kansas is scoring just 15.5 points per game and allowing 14.5. The Jayhawks are also racking up 312 yards per game while allowing 328. Boston College will be their biggest test of the season so far and would be a huge motivator for the rest of the season if they could sneak away with an upset.
Staying Unbeaten
The Eagles have started their season out exactly as planned as they are 2-0 and now face a Kansas team they should have no problem with as long as they don’t shoot themselves in the foot.
The Eagles’ starting quarterback, Anthony Brown, has looked great in their first two games, throwing five total touchdowns with 438 yards while carrying a .575 completion percentage. The junior was solid last year as well with 2,121 yards, 20 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Brown will hope to keep his interception total at zero in this one to give BC a nice clean game.
AJ Dillon has been getting it done on the ground for Boston College so far this season. Also a junior, Dillon has 167 yards off 40 attempts and three touchdowns over the first two games. If the Eagles can get out to an early lead on Kansas, Dillon will look to get a lot of chances to keep their offense on the field and control the game for BC. This could easily lead to one of his biggest games this season.
Boston College is putting up 40 points per game right now with this tandem and will look to push the envelope more in this one. They are allowing 20.5 per game and 403 yards. They are averaging 223 passing yards and 251 rushing yards per game, providing a very balanced attack.
Boston College’s season did not end the way they wanted it to last year as they dropped their last three against some teams that outmatched them, including Clemson and Syracuse.
With these weaker opponents to start off this season, BC could get the boost it needs to carry momentum into the rest of the year, with their QB and RB having another year of experience under their belts, they should have high expectations this season.
What To Expect
I expect Boston College to fully handle business in this game and come away with the win. Typically, when you see a favored team drop the ball, so to speak, it’s because of mistakes and turnovers against a weaker team. With Brown at quarterback, I think the Eagles will play nearly mistake-free and never leave the game in doubt.
