CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference will kick off three straight days of ACC football on Thursday, October 17, as Boston College will travel to Blacksburg, Virginia, to face off with Virginia Tech at 7:30 p.m. ET on
ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime.
Virginia Tech is celebrating its 30th anniversary of playing Thursday night football with this week’s contest against Boston College. The Hokies’ first Thursday night game was on September 22, 1994, against West Virginia, a 34-6 victory over the Mountaineers in the inaugural appearance.
The contest will mark the seventh time that the Virginia Tech and Boston College programs will face off on Thursday, tying the total of the Hokies against Georgia Tech. The Hokies and Eagles have split the six previous matchups on Thursday nights, with each team winning three times.
Thursday, Oct. 17, 7:30 p.m. ET
Boston College at Virginia Tech
Series: Virginia Tech leads series, 21-11
Last meeting: Virginia Tech, 48-22 (2023)
ESPN: Matt Barrie (play-by-play), Dan Mullen (analyst), Harry Lyles Jr. (sideline)
School Radio Feeds: Boston College /
Virginia Tech
SiriusXM Radio: SiriusXM 106 / SiriusXM 193 / SiriusXM 371
SiriusXM App: SiriusXM 371 /
SiriusXM 955
Virginia Tech leads the all-time series 21-11 and holds a two-game winning streak over Boston College. The Hokies lead the ACC and rank 10th nationally in red zone defense this season, holding their opponents to scoring on just 69.2 percent of their red zone trips. The Hokies’ running back Bhayshul Tuten leads the ACC in rushing touchdowns with nine, which ranks 10th nationally. Tuten is second in the ACC with 605 rushing yards and an average of 100.8 rushing yards per game. The senior has registered 707 all-purpose yards while scoring 10 touchdowns through six games this season and has scored at least one touchdown in eight straight games dating back to last season.
Like Virginia Tech, Boston College is coming off an open week last week. The Eagles boast the No. 1 scoring defense in the ACC, allowing just 17.2 points per game this season, which also ranks 20th nationally. Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku leads the conference and ranks second in the FBS, averaging 1.50 sacks and 1.9 tackles-for-loss per game. In the five games that he has played this season, quarterback Thomas Castellanos has four multi-touchdown games, including a career-high four versus Duquesne back on September 7. Castellanos has thrown 12 touchdown passes and rushed for one score this season after throwing for 15 touchdowns and rushing for 13 scores on the ground last year.
The Thursday night kickoff on ESPN will be the first of three
ESPN College Football Thursday Night Primetime games this season for the ACC, as Syracuse will travel to Pitt (Thursday, October 24) and Georgia Tech will host NC State (Thursday, November 21) on ESPN.