Sep 10, 20213 min read

Boston College vs UMass Preview & Prediction

Preview & Prediction for The Battle of The Bay State

Boston College will be taking a short road trip west to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst this Saturday at 3:30pm. This Saturday will be the 20th Anniversary of 9/11 and the Eagles will be wearing their special Red Bandana uniforms to honor Welles Crowther and all the brave men and women who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. BC has the unique opportunity to wear the Red Bandana uniforms twice this season. The official Red Bandana Game is still set to happen November 5th vs Virginia Tech at home on a Friday night.

"If we're playing a game on 9/11, how can we not wear the jerseys? It's the right thing to do. It's what we should do. It's what we're going to do." - Coach Jeff Hafley

The UMass Minutemen are coming off a 51-7 loss against Pittsburg who also plays in the ACC with Boston College. Pitt and BC have a similar level of talent, both have an elite quarterback, and both played each other last year to the very end with BC winning 31-30 in overtime. We expect BC to put up a similar performance to what Pitt did against UMass last weekend.

This will absolutely be another blowout game in favor of the Eagles. We expect Hafley to continue to stay pretty vanilla in their play calls for this game so there is still no tape for future opponents. This time we really do not expect Phil Jurkovec to play past halftime along with most of the starters. In the game against Colgate, Coach Hafley chose to keep playing his starting quarterback well into the third quarter. Hafley later admitted that he probably should have pulled Jurkovec earlier and that this time he was lucky that none of his starters got injured. We think BC will come out even stronger this Saturday. Expect a quick lead that the Eagles will keep pilling on to.

While this is the first road test for Boston College, it still could be considered a geographical home game for the Eagles. The game will take place at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium on the campus of UMass Amherst. So if you can take the short road trip, go support the Eags this Saturday when they play for The Battle of The Bay State!

Current Line: BC -37.0 (o/u 58.0)

Chance of winning: 97.2%

According to ESPN's Football Power Index BC has a 97.2% chance of winning this game. Currently the spread for the game is around -37.0 in favor of BC, with the over/under around 58.0.

Does BC cover the spread?

Yes, we think that BC will score at least 37+ points more than UMass. We strongly believe BC will cover the spread, this should be a safe bet - but remember no bet is safe - the line is significant, and Hafley will likely pull most of his starters with a huge lead which could significantly reduce points gained in the second half and possibly allow UMass to score. Even with the starters out though we still believe the Eagles will not allow the Minutemen to score, which is why the spread is favorable. The under is also favorable because we do not expect UMass to score.

Final Score: 52-0 (BC WINS)

Give or take a touchdown for Boston College and possibly give one TD to UMass. Expect the Eagles to win by at least 40 points. The big thing to watch again will be the defense. It's very possible UMass scores a TD or a field goal, but we really don't expect UMass to score any points at all. If that happens, it would be a significant step forward for Hafley's new defense even if it is against a lesser opponent again. Back to back shutouts would be huge for a defense on the rise still trying to find their identity, and something that will be fun to root for again this Saturday.

How to watch the game:

Go to the game! It's about a two hour road trip from Boston, and will be the first time in about 40 years that BC is playing at Amherst. It would be a rare and fun gameday experience if you are up for the drive. If you are in the New England region and want to watch from home, the game will be airing on NESN+. For fans outside of New England, the game is available via FloSports.