For three years, from 1993-1995, this rivalry was rapidly shaping up to be one of the Big East's best.  Characterized by good sportsmanship and exciting games, plus a clash of cultures, the Boston College - Virginia Tech matchups were tasty fare for any college football fan.

In 1993, BC ripped the Hokies 48-34 behind uber-quarterback Glenn Foley.  In 1994, feeling a lack of respect from the Eagle players, the Hokies put the defensive clamps on BC and beat them 12-7 in Chestnut Hill.  Then, in 1995, in the season opener for Tech, BC spoiled the spectacular debut of future Hokie legend Jim Druckenmiller with a nail-biting 20-14 victory in Lane Stadium on a Thursday night.

And then the Hokies went up to Boston in early 1996 and thrashed the Eagles 45-7.  And things just haven't been the same since.

That was followed by 17-7 and 17-0 wins by the Hokies, meaning that Tech has soundly thrashed Boston College 79-14 over the last three years.  The Eagles may have felt as if they were close in the last two games, but truth be told, the Hokies own Boston College now.

Now BC brings an 8-2 team that is wondering how good it is into Lane Stadium, looking for respect.  Unfortunately for them, they will run up against a sellout Tech crowd and a Hokie team that is looking to put the finishing touches on a perfect season.

And in the BCS age, for a team like the Hokies in the national championship hunt, it isn't enough just to win.  The Hokies have to win big, and they know it.  Boston College couldn't be catching Tech at a worse time.

Sept. 4  Boston College 30, Baylor 29 
Sept. 18 Boston College 14, Navy 10 
Sept. 25 Boston College 27, Rutgers 7
Oct. 2 Boston College 33, Northeastern 22
Oct. 9 Temple 24, Boston College 14
Oct. 16 Boston College 20, Pittsburgh 16
Oct. 23 Miami (Fla.) 31, Boston College 28 
Oct. 30 Boston College 24, Syracuse 23 
Nov. 13 Boston College 34, West Virginia 17 
Nov. 20 Boston College 31, Notre Dame 29 

Talk about your cardiac kids.

A quick look at Boston College’s schedule and results reveals that five of their eight wins have been by a total of 12 points. This team has won a ton of close games this year, including one-pointers over Baylor and Syracuse, a two-pointer over Notre Dame, and four-pointers over Navy and Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, the Eagles’ two losses have been to a Temple team that they led 14-0 (the final was 24-14, Temple) and a Miami team that they led 28-0 (where the final was 31-28, Canes).

So you can look at this one of two ways:

• (a) BC is within an eyelash of being 10-0.
• (b) BC is within several eyelashes of being 3-7.

To be honest, Option (b) may be closer to the truth. This team seems to be hanging by a thread. They seem to be one of those strange teams that either plays up to the level of the competition, or down to it.

A look inside the game reports reveals that the most alarming and troubling game for BC fans is the Northeastern game, won 33-22 by BC. This was not a blowout that Northeastern made close by scoring a late touchdown. No, this was a game that 1-9 Northeastern won statistically (401 yards of offense for Northeastern to 307 for BC), and which took three non-offensive touchdowns by BC to win. The Eagles scored on a fumble return, a blocked punt, and in interception return to avoid a loss that would have been extremely embarrassing, to say the least.

The Eagles’ other entries into the hall of shame include a narrow road victory over 4-7 Navy, a one-point overtime home win over 1-10 Baylor, and a 24-14 road loss to Temple. The good Boston College teams of the past would have ripped those teams, not squeaked by them, or in the case of Temple, lost to them.

On the other side of the ledger, BC beat WVU worse than the Hokies did and won a road game over a Notre Dame team that admittedly isn’t very strong at 5-6, but they did have the Eagles down 14-0 at one point. Boston College showed great poise in this game.

Summing it Up

Overall, no matter how you slice it, Boston College’s 8-2 record is a weak 8-2, and that’s not the kind of thing I say lightly. The fact is, their 8 victories are over teams with a combined record of 26-58, only one of which, Syracuse, had a winning record at 6-4. Their two losses are to 6-4 Miami and 2-8 Temple.

It is this list of unimpressive wins and one bad loss that keeps Boston College in the 40-50 range in the computer rankings, despite being 8-2.

Sidebar: are we sure Boston College is going to help Tech’s strength of schedule in the BCS? Sure, the Eagles are 8-2, but their opponents are 34-70. That’s good message board fodder, so talk amongst yourselves.

Here’s a rundown of how the Eagles fare statistically:

From 

Notable Individual Statistics

• Miami

The Outlook

I'r "A" game.