BC hopes to chill No. 2-ranked Tigers
BOSTON — The best Boston College team in a decade is standing in the way of No. 2-ranked Clemson’s fourth consecutive trip to the ACC championship.
The 17th-ranked Eagles have frosty weather and — they hope — running back A.J. Dillon.
The way Clemson is playing, it’s going to take a lot more than that.
“We’re in our championship phase” of the season, co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott said this week as the Tigers prepared for a showdown Saturday night in Chestnut Hill, Mass. “And we’re just continuing to get better.”
The 2016 national champions, who lost to playoff winner Alabama in two other years, are in the middle of a historic streak.
With a victory against Boston College, the Tigers (9-0, 6-0) would claim their fourth consecutive Atlantic Division title and remain on track for another playoff berth.
They already have won three consecutive road games by a combined 171 points, an ACC record. They have outscored their opponents by 204 points over the past four games — also a league record — including a 77-16 victory last week against Louisville .
“We’ve been racking off a bunch of records and things that haven’t been done,” Scott said. “I don’t believe there’s been an ACC team with four [consecutive] division trophies since they started the two divisions. So that’s something our guys will have an opportunity to accomplish.”
A Boston College win would leave the schools tied for the division lead, giving the Eagles (7-2, 4-1) a chance to reach the ACC title game for the first time since Matt Ryan led them to the first of back-to-back appearances in 2007-08. For those who were here when the team went winless in the ACC in 2015, it’s the payoff for the hard work through the bad years.
“Guys are playing with a little bit more of a chip on their shoulder, as you would expect with a big game coming up,” said linebacker Connor Strachan, a fifth-year senior. “It’s exciting to play the game you love, but with a little weight behind it.”
Dillon, the ACC preseason player of the year after rushing for 1,589 yards as a freshman, has gained 897 yards in seven games so far this season, missing two with a left ankle injury.
In his absence, Ben Glines ran for 90 yards against N.C. State and 107 against Louisville; David Bailey had 112 yards rushing against the Cardinals. Against Virginia Tech, when Dillon tweaked the injury but still racked up 96 yards, Travis Levy took over the responsibilities and ran 11 times for 75 yards.
Boston College coach Steve Addazio is hoping Dillon will serve as the feature back against Clemson. “I would say we need all of them, but certainly one guy you would like to have ready to go is No. 2,” he said. “A.J., God-willing, will be healthy again, and we can get 30 carries out of him.”
Clemson held Dillon to 57 yards a year ago and a 3.2 yards per carry average that was one of his worst of his career. The Tigers lead Football Bowl Subdivision this year in rushing defense, allowing just 2.24 yards per carry.