Five keys: Wake vs. Boston College

Wake Forest vs. Boston College

Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Venue: BB&T Field

Kickoff: Saturday at 3:30 PM EST

TV: RSN

Current records:

Wake Forest: 4-4, 2-4 ACC (Lost to Clemson 42-13)

Boston College: 2-6, 1-4 ACC (Beat Maryland 20-17)

Series history: The Eagles have an all-time series lead 10-7-2, and have won six of the last 10 meetings. However, the Demon Deacons won last season in Chestnut Hill 27-19.

What is on the line? Wake needs to win two more games to become bowl-eligible, while BC must win out.

Quotes of the week

"BC always plays great defense. They play a great team defense. They play a lot of zone coverages that you have to look out for, and they always have a great defensive line and linebacking corps. Defensively they have always been a great team, and they still are." - Wake Forest fullback/H-Back Tommy Bohanon

"I've seen they like to pass the ball. The quarterback [Chase Rettig] is a good passer. They have a pretty thick back [Andre Williams] that runs pretty well." - Wake Forest outside linebacker Justin Jackson

"We are disappointed we didn't play well against Clemson, and of course I thought Clemson played great. I think they've got a heck of a football team and thought there guys played lights out and we didn't play as well as we needed to compete to have a chance to win, but hopefully we'll bounce back and play better this week. We've got a Boston College coming to town that's got some confidence after beating Maryland last week. We know we're going to have a tough time this Saturday, but hopefully we can play better." - Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe

Keys to the game

1) Shake off the rust

Michael Campanaro has a game and a full week of practice under his belt after a three-week absence to recover from a broken hand. He caught six passes for 52 yards versus Clemson in his return to action.

However, the redshirt junior from Baltimore was rusty and lacked the conditioning to perform at the Wake needs him to. Expect Campanaro to make strides against a shaky Boston College defense that ranks sixth in the ACC in pass defense (239.2 yards allowed per game).

At the very least he will likely attract significant attention, creating opportunities for Terence Davis, Brandon Terry and others to make plays in the passing game.

2) Run, run and run some more

While Wake Forest's offensive line is battered and bruised BC's defense has been emaciated by the run thus far. The Eagles are one step away from the ACC's cellar in run defense, yielding an abysmal average of 248 yards.

Josh Harris and DeAndre Martin will surely get their touches. The duo has carried 185 times for 816 yards and nine touchdowns combined.

3) Pass-defense

Chase Rettig has morphed into one of the ACC's top passers with an 2,204 yards and 15 touchdowns to five interceptions.

"He's a big, strong-armed kid, got a great sense of their offense and a big arm to get the ball anywhere down the field and does a good job with his underneath stuff and they got two or three receivers," Grobe said. "The [Alex] Amidon kid is really special and the [Bobby] Swigert kid is a good player. They got a bunch of good receivers to throw the ball to, so we better improve. We've got to play better than we did against Clemson or some of the same things will happen, because Boston College is really, really talented throwing the football."

Wake's leader in the secondary Merrill Noel, one of the elite cornerbacks in the conference, sustained a sprained ankle against Clemson, making an already lean position group more vulnerable to BC's aerial attack.

This makes putting pressure on Rettig even more important.

4) Containing Williams

Boston College is at the bottom of the barrel in the ACC when it comes to running the football (82.5 yards per game); however, Williams is fourth in the conference in rushing with 126 carries for 584 yards and four touchdowns.

This is certainly not the challenge Army's triple-option offense or Florida State's deep stable of backs presents, but Williams is very capable of gashing the Demon Deacons for a big one if taken lightly.

5) No mistakes

BC does not have the offensive firepower of Clemson or Florida State, but managed to drive 85 yards in 13 plays for the game-winning touchdown against a stingy Maryland defense that kept Wake Forest from consistently moving the ball successfully.

This makes it even more important for the Deacs to not turn the ball over or commit foolish penalties.