PLAYERS TO WATCH
–RB AJ Dillon, a preseason All-American, carried the ball only six times in less than a quarter against FCS Holy Cross on Sept. 8, but gained 149 yards and was named ACC Running Back of the Week. Then, five days later against Wake Forest, he ran for 185 yards on 33 carries, scored a touchdown and was again lauded with the honor. He has reached 100 yards before halftime in two straight games. BC is 10-2 in his 12 college starts and he became the 19th runner in BC history with 2,000 yards in the game at Wake. Dillon is already 17th on the school’s all-time rushing list with 2,021 yards.
–QB Anthony Brown really threw five touchdown passes in the win at Wake Forest, joining Doug Flutie (1984) as the only Eagle with at least five touchdown passes (Flutie had six) and no interceptions in a game. It was BC’s first five-TD passing game since Matt Ryan did it in 2007.
–DE Wyatt Ray, who happens to be Nat King Cole’s grandson and Natalie Cole’s nephew, had a career game at Wake Forest. He set a BC record with four sacks and had eight total tackles and a quarterback hurry. His performance earned him the Walter Camp defensive player of the week award and ACC top defensive linemen honors. He leads the nation with 1.67 sacks per game.
–S Lukas Denis joined Dillon in preseason national accolades, claiming a second team All-American spot. He had seven interceptions in leading the BC defense last year. He had 22 passes defended over the last two seasons and picked off a UMass pass on the final play of the first half in Game 1, returning it 59 yards for a touchdown. He had nine tackles, seven of them solo, in Week 3 and his play this week will be important after Purdue threw for 572 yards last week.
SERIES HISTORY: This is the first meeting between Boston College and Purdue.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I think our guys are wired pretty good. They know that’s like Kool-Aid, don’t drink that now. Just go about your business. They’ve been through the meat grinder, this team, right? They know where they started last year. These seniors know where they’ve come from, what they’ve gone through, what the focus is. It’s on one thing: finding a way, somehow find a way to go beat a really good football team at their place on the road, sing the fight song, get to 4-0. Just somehow find a way. That’s kind of our mindset. I’ll beat that all week long. I don’t think I even need to, but I will.” — Coach Steve Addazio on his team being ranked not getting into the players’ heads.
