Boston College Eagles (7-5) vs Boise State Broncos (10-3)
This year’s First Responder Bowl will take place on Wednesday, December 26th at 1:30 PM EST. The game will be played at the old Cotton Bowl Stadium and can be seen on ESPN. Boston College will be playing in their fifth bowl game of the last six years. Boise State will continue one of the longest active bowl streaks as this is their 17th straight bowl appearance.
How They Got Here: BC Eagles
Steve Addazio has led Boston College to a 7-6 record four times in his five previous years and sits at 7-5 this season. While some thought that it was possible he would be fired this season, he was given a two year contract extension.
Like most of Addazio’s teams, the 2018 Eagles have been defined by a strong defense and a struggling offense. Senior ends Zach Allen and Wyatt Ray feature in a disruptive defensive line, combining for 26.5 TFLs and 15.5 sacks. Boston College has also been successful at taking advantage of their opportunities for interceptions. In the secondary, Taj-Amir Torres and Brandon Sebastian have combined 19 PBUs with 5 interceptions and Hamp Cheevers has 7 picks himself. Meanwhile, the offense struggled overall, but was able to find some success in creating big plays. QB Anthony Brown has thrown for 2121 yards, averaging 13.2 yards per completion and had 20 touchdowns. On the ground, AJ Dillon has carried the ball as many times as the next five leading rushers. While Dillion hasn’t been as good as last season, he still has over a 1000 yards and 10 touchdowns.
How They Got Here: Boise State Broncos
Bryan Harsin has led Boise State to 10 wins in four out of his five seasons as head coach. While he might not have brought them to the same heights as Chris Peterson, the Broncos have still been great under Harsin. This season BSU has dominated most teams they’ve played, but lost two one score games to good teams and then didn’t show up against Oklahoma State.
Boise State features an extremely efficient offense that averaged 35 points per game and was led by senior QB Brett Rypien. In his fourth year as the starter, Rypien has thrown for 3700 yards and 30 TDs while completing 67.3% of his passes. On the ground, Alexander Mattison had more carries than anyone else combined and ran for 1400 yards and 17 TDs. On defense, the Broncos do a great job of getting into the backfield and disrupting the offense. Defensive ends Jabril Frazier and Curtis Weaver were the team leaders and combined for 26 TFLs and 15 sacks.
Player to Watch: AJ Dillon (Boston College)
Dillon might not put up as big of numbers as Rypien or Mattison, but he’s more important to the outcome of the game. If he can breakout for a big game, Boston College might be able to hang with Boise. He’s also still been one of the best backs in country these last two years. In Dillon’s freshman and sophomore seasons he had 2700 total yards and 25 total TDs.
Betting Lines:
Boise State sits favored by 2 with the over/under set at 55.
Prediction:
Boise State is the much better team and should win comfortably. Their offense against BC’s defense will be the most interesting matchup, but the Broncos defense should completely stifle the Eagles. Unless Scot Loeffler was all that was holding BC back, Boise should cruise.